Q: Why should I join GS1 Kenya?
A. Any company, organisation or individual who wants the
benefits from the world's only open,global standard for product
identification and barcoding must join the non-profit GS1
organisation. With the growth of electronic commerce, the GS1
system is growing rapidly beyond its retail base. Virtually
everyone in the supply chain, including the likes of transport
operators and packaging manufacturers should consider GS1
membership to improve efficiency and to maintain their
competitive edge.
Q: Do you provide me with the actual barcodes or how do I
go about it?
A. We primarily deal with the numbers; there are design houses
that have the capacity to provide the bar codes symbols.
However, for convenience we do charge a small fee for the
organisations that would prefer that we provide the actual
codes for them.
Q: Do you keep a register of the numbers I have assigned to
my products?
A. No. We recommend you keep an up-to-date record of the
numbers you have been assigned to your products and provide
us with a copy of the same.We have started an internal data
register that will in future facilitate a regional product data
catalogue
Q: What is GS1 Barcode Verification?
A. GS1 verification is an objective testing of barcodes done with a
verifier which meets the ISO standard, followed by additional
observations on the physical aspects and measurements of the
barcode in relation to the GS1 specifications to ensure that bar
codes can be scanned by relevant scanners in different scanning
environments and conditions verification is relevant to all levels
of packaging including retail units, packaging inners or display
cartons,shippers,and pallets if GS1 labels are used on the pallet.
Q: Do barcodes always have to be printed black on white?
A. Scanners read the barcode by recognising the pattern of bars.To
do this they must be able to distinguish between the bars and
the background colour black and white gives the best contrast
level, but it is possible to use other colours, which may
compliment the package design. Some colours must not be
used in certain ways. Red must not be used as a bar colour, and
blue, green, brown and gold should not be used as background
colours.Black,blue,green and dark brown are recommended for
the bars.
Q: What are EAN-128 requirements all about, does it
include my Product and is it the same everywhere.
A. Supermarkets need certain information in the bar codes on
trade units and pallets. You can obtain a copy of the
requirements from GS1. Some overseas supermarkets do
require them on products.
Q: What is the smallest barcode I can use for retail point of
sale items?
A. Larger is always better for good print quality. We suggest 100%
magnification, and increasing up to 150% or decreasing to 50%
as print quality allows. Many factors influence the size of
barcode symbols, the most important of which is the print
quality achievable on the label, or packaging material. Some
printing methods are not precise enough to produce quality
symbols at smaller sizes. Because of this designers should
discuss proposed symbol size with printers before making a
decision on size.
Q: When do I need to change the barcode numbers?
A. When the product changes.The term "product changes" means:
any change or improvement to a product. Should the
manufacturer decide to create a variant (e.g. with different
ingredient) in parallel with the standard product and then a
separate unique number has to be allocated. Minor product
changes or improvements do not require the allocation of a
different GTIN.Examples: label artwork redesign, minor product
description change with contents unchanged, minor
ingredients change. When the product changes affect the
product quantity, the product dimensions, the packaging type,
the product name or brand, or the product description, a
separate unique number (GTIN) must be allocated.
The companies with the 600 series of bar codes must try to phase
out the numbers, as this prefix is identified with GS1 South Africa
only.
In case of any further queries, please contact our Members’Services
Executive, Faith Wangari mailto: info@gs1kenya.org |
