Special Cases

Article Numbers

Article numbers are used simply to uniquely identify a product and, as a general rule, have no other significance than this. But in order to address some unique market conditions and by general agreement of the different training partners, the general rule may be waived and significance more than just article identification may be attached to the article number. This situation arises where no international standards have been adopted and most retailers in the Philippines are interested only in tracking prices in the category. This need may arise due to some unique Philippine retail conditions, such as consignments and concessioners.

In order to be able to address such special cases and at the same time give the manufacturer the ability to track products to the smallest consumer unit, the GS1 Philippines has reserved company numbers beginning 91 to 95 for this purpose. This means that the GS1 Philippines-13 number structured in the following manner:

4 8 0 9 1 X X X X X X X C
4 8 0 9 2 X X X X X X X C
4 8 0 9 3 X X X X X X X C
4 8 0 9 4 X X X X X X X C
4 8 0 9 5 X X X X X X X C

This do not only identity products to the smallest consumer unit but also includes a price point that will enable retailers to track prices as market conditions and practices dictate.

If the practice in the Philippines is such that a great majority of retailers track the industry products by price and no international norm has been previously established then the industry as a whole can make the request that they be granted special numbers. The request will be studied by the technical committee and if found valid will be recommended to the executive committee for final approval.

Variable Weight

There are grocery items that varies in weight, such as frozen foods, fruits, meat, produce, etc. These items use in-house numbers with the format;

290-CCCC-MMMMM-C

Where,
	290	- Prefix Number for vendor packed , variable weight
	CCCC	- Company Number
	MMMMM	- Item Number
	C	- Check Digit

The company number varies from 4 to 7 digits depending on the membership category.

The same format is applied as that of the regular article numbering. The only difference is the prefix number. Instead of using the country code 480 use 290 for vendor packed, variable weight.

The GS1 Philippines In-Store Number, Variable Format with Prefix 20

In order to facilitate equipment standardization, the GS1 Philippines has recommended that the Prefix 20 for in-store variable weights (i.e. meat, vegetables, delicatessen, etc.). Furthermore, the general form for the GS1 Philippines in-store number, variable weight format is as follows:

In-Store Prefix	2 digits	The Prefix Value is 20
Code Number	5 digits	Assigned at the store's discretion
Weight Check Digit	1 digit	Check Digit for the subsequent weight

Digit calculated according to a special algorithm given below:
Weight Digits	4 digits	The weight is expressed in Kilos (The Form will be X.XXX kilos)
Check Digit	1 digit	Calculated according to a standard algorithm discussed earlier

The GS1 Philippines In-Store Number, Variable Weight Format with Prefix 29

In order to facilitate equipment standardization, the GS1 Philippines has recommended that the Prefix 29 be reserved for vendor packed, variable weight format. Products using the Prefix 29 are exclusively for use in the Philippines. In other words, products using the Prefix 29 are not to be exported.

Caution: The use of the Prefix 29 for source marked variable products is a national solution and not a global. Therefore, source marked products, which make use of this code Format are not to be exported.

Initially, the prefix 290 will be used for this purpose, i.e. source marked variable weight. The general form for the GS1 Philippines in-store number, variable weight format using Prefix 290, is as follows:

In-Store Prefix	3 digits	The Prefix Value is 290
Manufacturer Number	4 digits	The Company Number assigned by PANC to the vendor.
Item Number	5 digits	The unique number assigned by the vendor to the item.
Check Digit	1 digit	Calculated according to standard algorithm.

Greeting Cards and Recording Companies

The golden rule of product numbering is that each different product must have a unique number.

This rule creates problem for some industries like Greeting cards and Recording industries because of large variants available for each manufacturer. This is also complicated in some cases as this is being sold on a consignment basis to some retailers.

A solution was arrived at after series of meetings and dialogues conducted (separately and jointly) with the two industries, the retailers and the equipment/software suppliers.

The numbering structure which will be used is:

4 8 0 9 S X X M M M P P C

Where,
	480	- Country Code
	9SXX	- Company Number reserved for special industries; S, represents an industry (e.g. I=1 for recording industry and I=2 for greeting cards industry);
	XX	- is for the company number
	MMM	- Product Code
	PP	- Price look-up
	C	- Check Digit