EDI Packing Product Hierarchy (GTIN Implementation)
GTINs are globally unique identifiers for “trade items” (i.e., any item that may be priced, ordered, or invoiced at any point in any supply chain). When goods are traded between trading partners, various packaging levels can be involved depending on the type of product and the extent of exchange. Some products may have only one packaging level (e.g., implants). Other products may have several packaging levels.
While many sectors typically have three packaging levels (i.e., each, case, and pallet), there are often a large number of packaging levels found in U.S. healthcare. For example:
- Primary packaging (e.g., blisters with tablets/syringes in sterile packaging)
- Secondary packaging (e.g., box of two blisters/with 10 packed syringes)
- Multipacks (e.g., 7 boxes)
- Case (e.g., 3 multipacks)
- Pallet (e.g., 24 cases).
A GTIN needs to be assigned to each packaging level at which a product is traded between sellers (e.g., manufacturers, distributors, and group purchasing organizations (GPOs)) and buyers (e.g., distributors, GPOs, and hospitals) within the context of traditional EDI transactions. The figure illustrates how a unique GTIN is assigned to the bottle, homogeneous case (i.e., 6 bottles), and the pallet (i.e., 18 cases).
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