The UCC-12 (U.P.C.) Code for identifying trade items
The UCC-12 (U.P.C.) is a standardized numeric code and barcode symbology that uniquely identifies a trade item at its lowest level. For example, in the hardlines industry, each size and model of a television is coded with a different UCC-12. In the softlines industry, each size and color of a particular style of shirt is coded with a different UCC-12. Furthermore, a 3 pack of undershirts (sold as a consumer unit) has a different UCC-12 than an individual undershirt of the same color and size. Additionally, a vendor pre-defined assortment could be assigned a UCC-12 to facilitate ordering.
The UCC-12 is a fixed length 12-digit number composed of three parts:
- A manufacturer’s ID number – this number is assigned to the supplier by the Uniform Code Council, Inc. (UCC)
- A unique product identifier or item number – this number is assigned by the supplier and does not contain any real information; typically, they are simply assigned sequentially by the supplier
- A modulo-10 check character.
For more information about U.P.C. assignment, please refer to the Trade Item Identification &
Communication Guidelines, available from the UCC. For detailed information on printing and scanning the U.P.C. bar code symbol, refer to the U.P.C. Symbol Specification Manual, also available from the UCC.
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