What is GS1?

GS1 is a global, not-for-profit organization that develops and maintains universal standards for supply chain identification, barcodes, and data sharing, across sectors. They are popularly known as the recognized source for Universal Product Code (UPC) barcodes. UPC is a barcode symbology consisting of 12-digits, used globally to uniquely identify every retail product for tracking and sales purposes. GS1 creates the ‘common language’ that companies worldwide and their trading partners use to identify, capture, and share products, shipments, locations, assets, and trusted data consistently that links their physical and digital supply chains.

What Does GS1 Do?

GS1 establishes standards like Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) for products, which is the most influential GS1 standard, and several others including Serial Shipping Container Codes (SSCC) for shipping containers, Global Location Number (GLN) for locations, and GS1-128 barcodes. What is SSCC?

The Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) is an 18-digit unique number that acts like an identification tag or license plate for shipments like cartons, pallets, or logistic units. It provides tracking and tracing of each shipment at any point in the supply chain from the manufacturer through the warehouse, retailer, and customer.

SSCCs follow global GS1 standards that ensure every code is universally understood by suppliers, transporters, and retailers around the world. These codes are encoded into barcodes (usually GS1-128), allowing shipments to be scanned quickly and accurately.

Using SSCC labeling, businesses optimize supply chain visibility, minimize errors in matching shipments to purchase orders and invoices, and speed up handling times. Equally important, SSCCs play a major role in electronic processes such as the Advanced Shipping Notices (ASNs), which notify customers about incoming shipments and help accelerate receipt and invoicing.

Why Should Companies Adhere to GS1 Standards?

Manufacturers, distributors, and retailers must comply with GS1 standards to meet the retailer's mandates, avoid chargebacks, and have access to global markets. GS1 compliance provides accurate traceability, faster payments, fewer errors, and better partner relationships. Non-compliance leads to rejected shipments, fines, and loss of business opportunities.

Why Integrate GS1 into ERP like NetSuite?

Embedding GS1 standards, such as generating SSCC numbers directly within an ERP like NetSuite, automates compliance within the core supply chain workflows, negating the need for manual processing or even utilizing external tools. SSCCs can be linked to fulfillments, POs, and inventory for end-to-end traceability, support Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) integration, and scale easily with the business-all while maintaining a single source of truth for audits and reporting.

Which all micro-verticals can this solution be applied to?

This solution fits multiple micro-verticals, including Logistics, Supply Chain, Retail, and Wholesale Distribution.

Our client is a renowned global leader in manufacturing of commercial and consumer electronic products in the sectors such as IT, audio-visual, and data. They focus on smart and simple products that improve lives and boost efficiency in a number of industries. They are dedicated to making products that are smart and simple at the same time, making lives simpler and more efficient every day. Their products are available in thousands of stores, distributors, retailers, and resellers in more than 25 countries around the world, with local distributors and support throughout North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

With a wide distribution network and following their retail partners' compliance requirements, they required their NetSuite environment to support their stringent SSCC number generation requirements.

The client had to meet the GS1 compliance, customer-specific SSCC labeling standards, and EDI integration. Manual creation of SSCC numbers and labels was slow, error-prone, and was risky from a compliance perspective. This could have put relationships with major retailers and distributors at stake. They needed to:

1. Auto-generate unique SSCC numbers for every carton or logistics unit.

2. Ensure that each SSCC number is compiled with the GS1 18‑digit structure and associated application identifiers.

3. GS1‑128 barcode labels in a customer-specific PDF layout with information such as ship-from/ship-to details, purchase order number, carton count, store/department codes, the encoded SSCC, etc.

4. Link each of the SSCC numbers back to the corresponding item for fulfillment and purchase order for downstream traceability, ASN (EDI 856) alignment, auditing, and automated receiving at the customer's side.

5. Apply configurable and flexible business rules supporting carton-level and pallet-level labeling, mixed shipments, and customer-specific formats.

In order to meet these requirements, our team proposed a feature-rich NetSuite customization solution that handled the SSCC number generation and label output within the existing fulfillment workflows. The key elements included:

1. Automate SSCC number creation at the time of packing fulfillments, with adherence to GS1 18-digit syntax with configurable extension digit, GS1 company prefix, serial reference, and check digit logic.

2. Smooth integration with warehouse management platforms for capturing cartonization data, ensuring unique SSCC for each logistics unit.

3. Advanced PDF/HTML template generation, customized to customer specifications, including GS1-128 barcodes and all shipment data elements: SSCC, PO number with barcode and text, ship-from and ship-to addresses, and carton sequence.

4. Custom records link each SSCC number to its item for fulfillment and purchase order for full traceability and reconciliation.

5. Business-rule controls that define and enable when labels are to be printed on demand or automatically-and at what level, such as per carton, pallet, or to any custom merchant requirements without disrupting NetSuite workflows.

6. A foundation for scaling thousands of cartons, with optional extensions to align generated SSCCs with future or existing EDI/ASN integrations, ensuring that the physical label and electronic shipment data remain in sync.

1. Accurately translating and reflecting complex GS1 SSCC standards in a fully configurable and automated NetSuite solution ensuring uniqueness.

2. Producing error-free SSCCs and labels while accommodating business-specific logic and packaging scenarios.

3. Ensuring smooth integration with warehouse management data and preserving existing packing workflows.

4. Designing PDF labels to meet stringent partner specifications. The PDF layout had to be flexible enough to extend to other retailers’ format as needed.

5. Ensuring that label data (addresses, PO, store/department, carton count) was always drawn from the right NetSuite records so that physical labels matched EDI and ASN information.

6. Achieving compliance with comprehensive supply chain audit demands. Achieving compliance with comprehensive supply chain audit demands.

Once the solution went live, the client could automatically generate GS1‑compliant SSCC numbers as part of their standard packing and fulfillment process using NetSuite. Labels were produced in the correct format without manual intervention, greatly reducing the time warehouse staff spent preparing shipments. The retailers and distribution partners received labels that are correctly formatted and consistent with SSCC data, which improved the scan rates, reduced disputes, and smoothed inbound receiving. This linkage between SSCC number, fulfillments, and purchase orders greatly improved traceability in audits and inquiries from customers.

Key Achievements

1. Fully automated GS1‑compliant SSCC number generation at carton level within NetSuite.

2. Standardized GS1‑128 label output in PDF aligned with major retail and distribution partners’ specifications.

3. Stronger alignment to EDI/ASN processes by consistent SSCC referencing.

4. Reduced manual effort for warehouse labeling; fewer chargebacks/complaints on non-compliance labels.

5. Easy integration with existing warehouse management systems for capturing cartons while keeping the workflow intact within NetSuite.

Proper SSCC labeling is in place, and EDI is integrated; the client is ready to extend compliance to more trading partners, along with improvements to logistics workflows using advanced warehouse and transport management tools. The client will be well-positioned to expand into new markets and onboard more retailers with complex labeling requirements.

Are you ready to automate your supply chain compliance and labeling with Oracle NetSuite ERP?

The expert team at Jobin & Jismi is here to offer bespoke, scalable solutions. Contact us today to talk about how we can help streamline your processes.

Q: Can SSCC label design be customized?

Yes, the label layout can be customized per client's requirements for barcode placement, address field, PO number, and branding elements, among other retailer needs.

Q: Can the labels include all shipment details?

Yes, labels can be customized to include all relevant shipment data such as the PO number, ship-from/ship-to addresses, carton sequence, and SSCC barcode according to your specific standards and those of your retailer.

Q: How are labels generated and printed?

Labels are generated automatically in PDF format after SSCC numbers are created. These can be printed with compatible barcode printers or standard office printers, depending on the setup. The system allows for configuration of label design and barcode placement for consistency and compliance.

Q: Is the SSCC label design customizable and printed on NetSuite?

Yes, SSCC label design is fully customized within NetSuite using advanced PDF customization options. You can personalize every label layout, including the positioning of barcode and text fields, branding elements, and additional data fields according to retailer standards and specific shipment needs. The generation and printing of the SSCC labels occur directly in NetSuite workflows, triggered by item fulfillments, ensuring a seamless integration without the need of any external systems.

Q: Which industries require GS1 SSCC compliance by regulation?

1. SSCC compliance is mandatory in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and related supply chains for regulatory requirements such as the Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) in the US and similar laws globally for tracking and tracing shipments to ensure patient safety.

2. In the food and beverage sector, many countries mandate SSCC for traceability, especially for products subject to recalls or regulatory oversight, to ensure food safety and compliance with labeling laws.

3. In some regions, organizations supplying goods to Defense or Army Canteens are required to follow SSCC compliance. Companies exporting goods to markets with strict traceability requirements must use SSCC to comply with international regulations.

4. Certain countries, including the UK and Australia, require SSCC numbers for customs declarations and international trade compliance.

Q: Which industries benefit most from the SSCC number generation solution by Jobin and Jismi?

Manufacturing, consumer goods, industrial manufacturing, wholesale distribution, 3PL logistics, and food & beverage see maximum ROI through our SSCC number generation solution and EDI integration with automated compliance, reduced chargebacks, and faster ASN processing. Any B2B shipper to large retailers benefits significantly.

Q. Can this solution be adapted for other customers? 

Yes, the solution is highly configurable. We can adjust GS1 prefixes, label layouts, carton/pallet rules, and Warehouse Management System (WMS) integrations for any industry including manufacturing, apparel & fashion, freight forwarding, retail, wholesale distribution, pharmaceuticals, logistics and supply chain. Works for multi-country operations with different GS1 prefixes per region and scales from 100s to 1000s of cartons daily without workflow disruptions.