Document Library: Standards: ISBN-13

ISBN-13: For Publishers....

Communication and GTIN Considerations

GTIN is the acronym for Global Trade Item Number, a family of product identification numbers that encompasses the various versions of the EAN and provides a unified worldwide numbering system.

Index

• What is the GTIN?

• How do various members of the GTIN family relate to each other?

• What is the relationship between the ISBN-13 and the GTIN family?

• Why is the GTIN of interest to publishers?

• When must I be ready to use ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) in communications with customers?

• When can I use ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) exclusively in communications with customers?

• What about manual communications with customers?

• What about electronic communications with customers?

• Some customers may be using ISBN-10 in communications, some ISBN-13, and some GTIN-14. How can I communicate using the identifier that each customer is using?

• How can I efficiently cope with the transition with all my customers?

What is the GTIN?

• GTIN is the acronym for Global Trade Item Number, a family of product identification numbers that encompasses the various versions of the EAN and provides a unified worldwide numbering system.

• A GTIN may be 8, 12, 13, or 14 digits in length, represented as GTIN-8, GTIN-12, GTIN-13, and GTIN-14 respectively.

• The ISBN-13 is an GTIN-13 digit number and part of the global GTIN system that is widely used to identify most types of consumer goods.

How do the various members of the GTIN family relate to each other?

• The relationship of key GTIN family members is illustrated in the following example (shown in data transmission format):

   

     018000894765     Item Identifier, U.P.C.
  00018000894765     U.P.C. in a GTIN Compliant database
  10018000894762     GTIN-14 for standard case pack
   

• The GTIN-14 is already in widespread use by general retailers in the US and Canada, notably for ordering and receiving by case lots in grocery, hardlines, and mass merchandise distribution.

What is the relationship between ISBN-13 and the GTIN family?

• Although the transition to the ISBN-13 is a separate event from the introduction of the GTIN family, the ISBN-13 has the same structure as the GTIN-13.

• Since the ISBN-13 has the same structure as the GTIN-13, the ISBN-13 can fit into the GTIN family as well. (examples in data transmission format
  
         1402706723   Title Identifier, ISBN-10
    9781402706721   Title Identifier, ISBN-13

   

  09781402706721    ISBN-13 in a GTIN Compliant database
  19781402706728    GTIN-14 for standard case of the title

Why is the GTIN of interest to publishers?

• Since many general retailers order books, publishers should be prepared to receive orders using the GTIN-14 as the product identifier (conveying the ISBN-13 or a packaging level of a product identified with the ISBN-13).

When must I be ready to use ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) in communications with customers?

• You must be prepared to accept ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) in orders before you begin using it in external communications such as promotional pieces or catalogs.

• However, even though ISBN-13 will not become a standard until January 1, 2007, you may not have total control over when customers ask to begin placing orders using the ISBN-13, expressed in either GTIN-13 or GTIN-14 format.

• Customers (libraries, retailers, wholesalers) may convert their systems to ISBN-13 before you have converted yours, so you should make provision to accept orders in either GTIN-13 or GTIN-14 format as early as possible during the transition period.

When can I use ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) exclusively in communications with customers?

• It is quite likely that there will be customers who do not complete the implementation of ISBN-13 prior to January 1, 2007. Thus it is prudent for publishers to accept orders using both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 even after January 1, 2007.

What about manual communications with customers?

• Accepting orders in ISBN-13 format in manual communications (phone orders, for example) doesn't mean that the internal fields in your systems have to be converted from ISBN-10 immediately. The acceptance process can be as simple as recording the ISBN-13s in an order and converting them to ISBN-10s for your processing, either manually or as part of the data entry process.

• However, it is important to note that an ISBN-13 with a '979' prefix has no 10-digit counterpart, so you must not delay the change to 13 digits too long.

What about electronic communications with customers?

• Being capable of accepting orders in ISBN-13 or GTIN-14 format doesn't mean that all of your internal systems have to be converted immediately, just the portions that handle communication. These systems can accept the identifiers sent by the customer and convert them to ISBN-10s for your processing.

• On the other hand, you should not delay the change to 13 digits too long and should be fully ISBN-13 compliant by January 1, 2007.

Some customers may be using ISBN-10 in communications, some ISBN-13, and some GTIN-14. How can I communicate using the identifier that each customer is using?

• Monitoring the implementation status or identifier chosen by each customer is not recommended. It would be extremely difficult to know which customers are ready to use ISBN-13 (or GTIN-14) and which are not, and then to coordinate the changeover for each.

How can I efficiently cope with the transition with all my customers?

• The Supply Chain EDI Committee of BISAC/BISG, in its EDI Strategies for the Book Industry and the 13-digit ISBN, recommends that trading partners be able to communicate by using all three identifiers (ISBN-10, ISBN-13 and GTIN-14) during the transition period.

• This approach will enable each trading partner to use the identifier for which their system is ready.