GS1 identification keys

GS1 ID Keys give companies efficient ways to access information about items in their supply chains, and share this information with trading partners.

ID Keys enable organisations to assign standard identifiers to products, documents, physical locations and more.

Because GS1 ID keys are globally unique, they can be shared between organisations, increasing supply chain visibility for trading partners.

To build a GS1 ID key, your organisation must become a member of GS1 and obtain a GS1 company prefix. This will form the basis of your ID keys.

There are 12 GS1 ID keys, allowing organisations to connect physical events and related information, as in the table below.

ID Key	Used to Identify	Example
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)	Products and services	Can of soup, chocolate bar, medicines, medical devices
Global Location Number (GLN)	Parties and locations	Companies, warehouses, factories, stores, hospital theatres, imprests, pharmacies
Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC)	Logistics units	Unit loads on pallets, roll cages, parcels, medicine totes, ward boxes
Global Returnable Asset Identifier (GRAI)	Returnable assets	Pallet cases, crates, totes
Global Individual Asset Identifier (GIAI)	Assets	Medical, manufacturing, transport and IT equipment
Global Service Relation Number (GSRN)	Service provider and recipient relationships	Patients, Loyalty scheme members, doctors at a hospital, library members
Global Document Type Identifier (GDTI)	Documents	Tax demands, shipment forms, driving licences, patient records, pathology order forms
Global Identification Number for Consignment (GINC)	Consignments	Logistics units transported together in a shipping container
Global Shipment Identification Number (GSIN)	Shipments	Logistics units delivered to a customer together
Global Coupon Number (GCN)	Coupons	Digital coupons
Global Model Number (GMN)	Product model	Medical devices (in the European Union)