Document Library: Standards: ISBN-13

ISBN-13: For Retailers....

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?

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

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

• What about manual communications with trading partners?

• What about electronic communications with trading partners?

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

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

When must I be ready to use ISBN-13 and GTIN-14 in communications with trading partners?

• You must be prepared to accept ISBN-13 and GTIN-14 in orders before you begin placing orders using these identifiers.

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

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

When can I use ISBN-13 and GTIN-14 exclusively in communications with trading partners?

• It is quite likely that there will be trading partners who do not complete the implementation of ISBN-13 prior to January 1, 2007. Thus, it is prudent for retailers to plan to continue placing orders (and receiving inventory) using both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 even after January 1, 2007.

What about manual communications with trading partners?

• Placing 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 ordering 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 trading partners?

• Being capable of placing and receiving orders in 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 trading partner 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.

How can I efficiently cope with the transition with all my trading partners?

• The BISAC Supply Chain EDI Committee, 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.