GS1 is an open, neutral, not-for-profit, standards development organisation best known for providing a system of unique numbers, data carriers (e.g. barcodes) and information sharing standards relevant to products, relationships, assets, locations, services and processes.
GS1 standards improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in 25 sectors including Retail Food and Grocery, DIY, Transport and Logistics, Healthcare as well as Construction. Its scale and reach – local Member Organisations in 112 countries, 1.5 million user company members and over 6 billion transactions every day – help ensure that GS1 standards create a common language that supports systems and processes across the globe.
The GS1 system of standards is the most widely used supply chain standards system in the world.
Across the Globe
GS1 numbers and barcodes enable organisations of any size to order, track, trace, deliver and pay for goods across the supply chain, anywhere in the world. GS1 is recognised by the International Standards Organisation (ISO), the European Standardisation Committee (CEN) and the American National Standards Institute. Today, over two million member companies in 145 countries use GS1 standards as part of their daily business communications, representing some five billion scanning transactions a day.
In Ireland
GS1 Ireland locally administers the global multi-industry system of identification and communication for products, services, assets and locations - the GS1 System. We also offer a wide range of services to help businesses use these standards and technologies, including technical support, implementation advice, consulting and training through our Professional Services division.
Our fundamental role is to allocate GS1 numbers, and to maintain and promote the use of internationally recognised supply chain standards. This, in turn, allows Irish companies to adopt the world's best practice supply chain management techniques. The GS1 Standards for identification, data capture and data sharing enable organisations to identify their products with Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), to encode those GTINs in barcode format and to capture data through bar code scanning. The most frequently used retail barcode in Ireland is the EAN 13.
GS1 Ireland is the only organisation in Ireland officially affiliated to the global organisation GS1 for the licencing of GS1 Identification Keys and dissemination of GS1 Standards. GS1 Ireland provides member users with registration in the global GS1 database GEPIR which is utilised by retailers and trading partners to validate the GS1 Global Company Prefixes (GCPs) used by their supliers.
