GLN وباركود الموقع: تحديد الأماكن في سلسلة التوريد

GLN & Location Barcodes: Identifying Places in the Supply Chain

The Global Location Number (GLN) is a 13-digit GS1 identifier for physical and functional locations. Just as GTINs uniquely identify products, GLNs uniquely identify warehouses, stores, factory floors, delivery docks, and even specific departments within a building.

GLN Structure

A GLN follows the same structure as a gtin-13/" class="glossary-term-link" data-term="GTIN-13" data-definition="13-digit product identifier for EAN-13, the global standard." data-category="GS1 Standards & Identifiers">GTIN-13:

[GS1 Company Prefix] [Location Reference] [Check Digit]

The company assigns location reference numbers from the same prefix used for products. The check digit uses the standard Modulo 10 algorithm.

Types of Locations

GLNs identify three types of locations:

1. Physical locations: Warehouses, stores, factories, offices
2. Functional entities: Departments, business units, legal entities
3. Digital locations: EDI endpoints, web service addresses

A single building might have multiple GLNs: one for the legal entity (company), one for the physical warehouse, and one for the receiving dock.

GLN in Barcodes and EDI

GLNs appear in:

• GS1-128 barcodes: Using AI(410) for ship-to, AI(411) for bill-to, AI(412) for purchase-from, AI(414) for physical location
• EDI documents: Identifying trading partner locations in purchase orders, invoices, and ASNs
• EPCIS events: Recording where supply chain events occurred

Benefits of GLN

Without GLNs, companies use their own internal location codes, which are meaningless to trading partners. GLNs provide:

• Universal addressing: Every supply chain location has a globally unique identifier
• Partner onboarding: New trading partners can reference locations without bilateral code mapping
• Regulatory compliance: Some regulations require GLN-identified locations for traceability
• Analytics: Standardized location identification enables cross-partner supply chain analytics

GLN Management

Best practices:

• Assign a GLN to every location that ships, receives, or stores goods
• Maintain a GLN registry that maps each GLN to its physical address and purpose
• Publish GLNs in GS1 GEPIR or the GS1 Registry Platform for trading partner lookup
• Update GLNs when locations change function (but keep the same GLN for the same physical site)
• Retire GLNs when locations close (do not reassign for 48 months minimum)

GLN in GS1 Digital Link

In the GS1 Digital Link framework, GLNs can be encoded in web URIs:

https://id.example.com/414/1234567890128

This enables location-specific information access via QR codes placed at physical sites.

Implementation

1. Identify all locations in your supply chain that interact with external partners
2. Assign GLNs from your existing GS1 Company Prefix
3. Register GLNs with GS1 (GEPIR or Registry Platform)
4. Include GLNs in EDI documents (N1 segments with qualifier UL)
5. Add GLNs to shipping labels when required by trading partners