GS1 Company Prefix
The GS1 Company Prefix is an integral part of GS1's standards. It serves as a foundation for generating the GS1 identifiers such as GTIN, GLN and SSCC codes, as well as barcodes.
The GS1 Company Prefix is a globally unique number granted by GS1 to companies, organizations, and individuals worldwide. The Company Prefix is customer-specific, ensuring that no other operator can use the same identifier or number series derived from it. However, it is possible for an operator to possess multiple GS1 Company Prefixes.
An annual fee is charged for the GS1 Company Prefix as long as identification keys generated from the Company Prefix are in use.
Choose a GS1 Company Prefix based on how many codes you need
GS1 Finland offers six different Company Prefixes. Company Prefixes of different lengths can be used to generate a different amount of GS1 identifiers, such as GTIN, GLN and SSCC codes. The GTIN code and the GLN number have the same structure, so you can create the same amount of them with a Company nPrefix of a certain length. For example, an 11-digit Company Prefix can be used to create a GTIN code for ten consumer products or sales lots. In the same way, the SSCC, GSIN and GSRN identifiers are similar in structure, in which case an equal amount of them can be formed from a Company Prefix of a certain length. For example, it is possible to create an SSCC code for one million pallets from an 11-digit Company Prefix. Other GS1 identifiers can be created from Company Prefixes in an almost unlimited way.
GS1 Company Prefixes offered by GS1 Finland
- 11 digit GS1 Company Prefixes can be used to generate 10 GTIN/GLN codes or 1 million SSCC/GSIN/GSRN codes
- 10 digit GS1 Company Prefixes can be used to generate 100 GTIN/GLN codes or 10 million SSCC/GSIN/GSRN codes
- 9 digit Company Prefixes can be used to generate 1000 GTIN/GLN codes or 100 million SSCC/GSIN/GSRN codes
- 8 digit GS1 Company Prefixes can be used to generate 10,000 GTIN/GLN codes or 1 billion SSCC/GSIN/GSRN codes
- 7 digit GS1 Company Prefixes can be used to generate 100,000 GTIN/GLN codes or 10 billion SSCC/GSIN/GSRN codes
- GS1 Company Prefix for variable-measure products*, can be used to generate a variable-size GTIN code for 100 different products.
* The GS1 Company Prefix for variable-measure product is also called the GS1 Company Prefix for variable-weight product. In the Finnish market, this Company Prefix is mainly used to mark products of different weights, but the standard also enables, for example, the price of the product or the number of meters to vary.
GTINs are required for each product variant and packaging levels
If you're using a GS1 Company Prefix to generate GTINs, it's important to note when assessing code need that each variant of each product you sell requires a unique barcode, and that determines how many GTINs you need. Each product variant (size, color, flavor, etc.) needs a unique GTIN code. For example, if the product has four different color and four different size options, you need a total of 16 GTIN codes for it. Please note that also the different packaging levels of the product hierarchy (sales lot, transport packaging, pallet, etc.) usually need their own code.