|
Certain industries utilising barcodes have a governing body to
control the
numbering systems used. This ensures that each number is unique and keeps a
track of the numbers and the people who 'own' them.
The Retail, Periodical and Book
sectors keep such a record in the UK, but other countries may vary. If you are
supplying any products or publications it will be necessary to contact the
relevant numbering authority. There is a charge which varies according to
the authority for issuing these unique numbers.
Retail (Grocery, Clothing, Hardware etc)
The Retail Sector is governed by the various EAN bodies and the UCC (the
European Article Number and the Uniform Code Council). There are EAN organisations around the world which are responsible for different
countries with the exception of the USA which is governed by the UCC. A
definitive list of all of these organisations with contact details can be
obtained from the EAN International website at www.gs1.org
UK Only - In the UK the organisation that administers the EAN system is the
e-centre. Once you have decided to barcode your products for the retail trade the
e-centre is the first place you should contact:
10 Maltravers Street
London
WC2R 3BX
Telephone 0207 655 9001 web: www.gs1uk.org
You become a member by completing an application form and paying a joining fee and an annual subscription. They will then issue you with a unique number. This is known as your
company prefix and forms the first part of the 13 digit EAN. The first two digits of the number will be 50 which denote the UK as the country where the
company is registered.
If you need a number for the USA or Canada your distributor may allow you to use one of their
numbers but failing this the e-centre will allocate a Universal Product Code to
you for an extra charge.
Point of Sale
On receiving your unique manufacturer’s number you will need to allocate further digits to each product you wish to
barcode
followed by your check digit. This makes a total of 13 digits. There are no rules for allocating these
figures but the simpler the system the less likely you are to run into problems. Different
sizes, weights and colours or any product identified as a separate stock control unit should be numbered separately.
The symbologies used for the retail Point of Sale numbers are EAN-13, EAN-8,
UPC-A and UPC-E.
For further details on the EAN/UPC range including ordering information for
the Axicon bureau, download the .pdf here.
Outer Packaging
For the outer packaging of your goods you can utilise the EAN/UPC-128 or ITF
14 symbologies which are the same system as for an EAN but you will add a ’0’ at the
beginning to make 14 digits in all. It is very important however that
the number used is different to any EAN-13 you have allocated to a
product i.e. the outer packaging and the product inside the outer packaging must
have different numbers. For a UPC outer case with 14 digits it is
necessary to add '00'.
For further details on the ITF-14 range including ordering information for
the Axicon bureau, download the .pdf here.
Periodicals
UK Only - The National Serials Data Centre are in control of the numbering
system for the periodicals sector. If you need a barcode for your magazine or newspaper but do not yet have an ISSN then contact the National Serials Data Centre where the office is open from 10am until 4pm:
Telephone 01937 546959
Your ISSN is converted into a 13 digit EAN code by the addition of 977 before the first seven digits, and then the last two digits before
the check digit are used as a Sequence Variant to show when a price increase takes place.
The sequence variant is there to
indicate to retailers whether or not there has been a price change (beginning
with 00 and increasing by one for each price change). The actual price is
not shown but this alerts the retailer to a price change. Special sequence
variants are used for a 'one-off' increase. Please contact us for further
details on this.
The ISSN has a 2 digit add-on after the main barcode which displays additional
information. For the ISSN this displays the issue number of the
publication (to coincide with the week or month number it is on sale).
Sometimes the publishers actual issue number is shown here.
For further details on the ISSN range including ordering information for
the Axicon bureau, download the ISSN pdf here.
Books
UK Only - If you need a barcode for your book but do not yet have an ISBN you
should contact 'Whitakers'. This is the organisation that issue ISBN’s:
Telephone 0207 420 6008
The office is only open in the morning, 9am until 1pm.
The “Bookland” EAN-13 below the code is generated by starting with the 978 ISBN prefix, followed by the ISBN
number (minus the ISBN check digit) and ending in a new check digit. As
there is no UK country code used here '978' denotes the Land of Books!
The ISBN can have an add-on after the main barcode which displays additional
information. An add-on comprises additional bars and spaces containing
extra data. For
the ISBN the add-on is five digits long and can be used for the price, or other information
such as a stock number. the 5 digit add-on will commence with a '0'
followed by a price in £'s.
For further details on the ISBN range including ordering information for
the Axicon bureau, download the ISBN .pdf here.
< Back to
Introduction Forward
to Symbologies >
| 