So why is identifying a location important?
Imagine this:
- One of your shipments has been long delayed, how do you find out where it is?
- One of your products has a serious defect and must be recalled. Some of them have been shipped out, where are they now?
- An expired over-the-counter drug was accidentally delivered to many of your trading partners, including hospitals. How can you prevent them from being used/distributed further that could potentially harm a patient?
Did you know that a Global Location Number (GLN) is used to identify:
- Legal entities (Company ABC)
- Moving assets (Forklifts, Trucks)
- Locations (Shah Alam, Selangor)
- Areas, sections, and even individual shelving (Warehouse)
GLN gives companies complete flexibility to identify any type or level of location or legal entity required, to further bring value to a company’s intellectual properties (IPs) and business requirements. Information about “what” will be more useful when added with “who” and “where”.
Did you know that GTIN and GLN are NOT the same?
GS1 GTIN Membership does NOT come with the GLN License Service!
However, GTIN and GLN complement each other as a Global Identification Standard.
GS1 GTIN Membership VS GLN License Service
|
Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) |
Global Location Number (GLN) |
|
To uniquely identify a product or trade item |
To uniquely identify a legal entity, asset or location |
|
13 or 14 digits in length |
13 digits in length |
|
To identify a product for track & trace |
To determine the origin and destination of a product for track & trace |
|
Generated from a GS1 membership’s GS1 company prefix (GCP) |
Standalone number allocated by GS1, not part of standard GS1 Membership |
|
Linked to a GS1 Standard or Small Block Membership |
Linked to a GS1 GLN License Service |
Global Location Numbers (GLNs) are officially required in the following regulatory environments:
- Used in Russia for their Certificate & Declaration of Conformity for goods from outside of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU)
- Used for COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Malaysia by the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA), MOH Malaysia.
- Used for supply chain track & trace by leading manufacturers & retailers such as Pharmaniaga, Duopharma Biotech, Johnson & Johnson, AEON, Caring Pharmacy and many others.
GS1 Malaysia is working closely with MOH-NPRA to promote GLN Best Practices within the healthcare industry to fulfil global trends for the track and trace of healthcare products in the fight against counterfeit products and unauthorised barcode numbers.
Connect with GS1 to learn more!
I am interested! How do I sign up for GLN?
As the GLN License Service is not part of your standard GS1 Membership, kindly register for your GLN License Services here: http://www.gs1my.org/sites/default/files/GS1_GLN_License_Service_Application_Form.pdf