The Benefits of using the GLN
The GS1 Global Location Number can be used to uniquely identify any location or legal entity anywhere in the world—from physical places that may ship, receive, process, or hold inventories; to functional entities like a hospital pharmacy, nurses’ station, or specific department; to digital locations like an ERP system.
The benefits of using GLNs include the following:
- Patient safety and improved inventory management – GLNs are key to knowing where a product is at any time within its supply chain. They ensure that the product is available when and where it is needed. They also help enable faster, more accurate returns in the event of a recall.
- Verification of returns – GLNs help ensure authenticity of products for rebate or resale, if eligible.
- Accuracy – GLNs can facilitate pricing, contract, and chargeback accuracy by allowing for a single globally unique identifier for each trading partner location.
- Flexibility – GLNs can be encoded into a GS1-128 and a GS1 DataMatrix barcode as well as an Electronic Product Code (EPC®)-enabled Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag to support multiple trade item identification needs.
- Global visibility and traceability – GLNs provide a globally unique answer to the “who?” and “where?” portion of EPC Information Services (EPCIS) critical tracking read events for track and trace across the supply chain.