GS1 Germany and EPCglobal

Retailers, consumer goods manufacturers and service providers exchange a great amount of information along the global supply chain. Involved partners have agreed on standards to safeguard smooth data transmission. These specifications, as in the case of product identification, are managed by the international organization GS1. Its mission is to replace existing European and American ID and communication standards by introducing a standard global numbering system. One of the central standards is the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) which is used for articles and services.

The European headquarters of GS1 is in Brussels, Belgium. Its management comprises representatives from the nationalorganizations. National organizations are responsible for developing and allocating standards in their home countries and are in turn managed by a supervisory body which is made up of top managers from retail, logistics and the consumer goods sector.

 GS1 Germany also acts as the German representative of  EPCglobal, the international standardization organization for the Electronic Product Code (EPC). More than 1,250 companies from 12 sectors have already joined the initiative. Its objective is to develop compulsory specifications for the implementation of Radio Frequency Identification and the EPC. Delegates from different sectors convene in international working groups to define their specifications for EPCglobal standards, which are then harmonized in the next step. EPCglobal ensures that the solutions passed are in line with the needs of users. Currently six working groups are operating under the umbrella of the organization:

In addition, EPCglobal is cooperating with seven international research institutions, called Auto-ID Labs. These institutes develop the EPCglobal network as well as the EPC/RFID applications.