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GS1 Digital Link connects customers to the information they need

GS1 Digital Link connects GS1 identification numbers to the web. With the global standard, different information is available via a single link and may be adapted at any time without having to renew the link.

What can GS1 Digital Link do?

GS1 Digital Link offers numerous possibilities:

The simplest use case is to generate a link for a specific GS1 article number (GTIN). GS1 Digital Link enables you to create the digital twin of your products. 

Scan the following QR code with your mobile phone and you will be redirected to the GS1 General Specifications which are identified with the GTIN 7612345003993:

 

Was kann Digital Link

 

Encoded in the QR code is the link generated via the GS1 Digital Link Resolver, https://id.gs1.ch/01/7612345003993, which contains the GTIN of the GS1 General Specifications. GS1 Switzerland provides its members with a GS1 Digital Link Resolver so that they can exploit the full potential of the standard without any additional effort on their part.

Why should GS1 members use the GS1 Digital Link Resolver from GS1 Switzerland? 

There are numerous reasons. The following list is not meant to be exhaustive.

The use of GS1's web address in the GS1 Digital Link shows that the distributor of this link also has the authority to establish such links. GS1 Switzerland only allows the owners of the GTINs to set up redirections.

GTINs are rarely changed. A product usually carries its GTIN for the entire cycle of its existence. Accordingly, the GS1 Digital Links are long-lasting, as the GTIN is used for this purpose. If a link on your own website changes, the QR codes on the packaging do not have to be replaced.

Many approaches, especially local ones, are not known to the wider world because nobody knows where and how to access these solutions. Global companies in particular need a kind of search engine to find out where which information is available. Linking these local solutions via the GS1 Digital Link Resolver network ensures that your data may be discovered.

GS1 Digital Link enables all GS1 System users to take advantage of the possibilities opened up by the standard, and in particular by a GS1 resolver, in addition to existing implementations of the GS1 System.  There are many different approaches to how and to what degree GS1 Digital Link may be used. Let the use cases inspire you.

Basics

The GS1 Digital Link standard essentially consists of two parts. The first part is the new language, which is technically called "syntax". This means that a language is created which works on the web but may also be used within the GS1 world. The second part is the so-called GS1 Digital Link Resolver, i.e. a practical solution offered by GS1, by our members themselves or by a third party. GS1 Digital Link apps may also be created using the GS1 barcodes that are already available. However, this requires that the app is capable of constructing a GS1 Digital Link from the data.

Several different contents may be linked per GTIN. For example, links to product-related videos and product information websites.

With the help of the so-called "LinkTypes", specific links may be queried in the GS1 Resolver:

https://id.gs1.ch/01/7610032000010?linkType=gs1:relatedVideo

 

[https://id.gs1.ch/ ]=
Address of the GS1 Resolver
[01]=

The type of GS1 identification number being requested.
"01" stands for the GTIN

[7610032000010]=The GTIN for which links are queried
[?linkType=gs1:relatedVideo]=the type of link that is being queried for

 

The different LinkTypes can be found here.

How does GS1 Digital Link work?



Digital Link

 

The user may search for data in the global resolver as well as in our local resolver with the help of the GTIN.

The technique used here is not new. Every query that is made on the web is redirected countless times before it reaches its destination. However, we do not notice the majority of these redirections, because these system-related redirections are hidden from our eyes. Most users, however, know about the possibility of shortening very long web addresses, for example, via corresponding services on the Internet. The GS1 Digital Resolver works according to this principle.



Use Cases

Below you will find some use cases that we have already implemented. We will continuously expand this list.

 

Logo Gilgen Logistics

Gilgen Logistics

www.gilgen.com

Since August 2021, Gilgen has been labelling each of the components and assemblies with a QR code in which the GS1 Digital Link has been encoded. The GS1 Digital Link contains the GIAI (Global Individual Asset Identifier) and is used for maintenance and to record the history of the components. The approach ensures that the QR codes printed on the components and assemblies never have to be changed again, because if adjustments are made to the continuing links, these corrections can be made on the GS1 Digital Link Resolver itself.

 
                                    

 

GS1 trustbox Logo

GS1 Switzerland - trustbox - increase the reach

www.trustbox.swiss

Our B2C solution, trustbox, already provides well over 40,000 product declarations for the Swiss market. Despite the intensive use and the central importance of trustbox in the Swiss market, trustbox is known abroad only in exceptional cases. Few know that every market participant may look for comprehensive product information on the publicly accessible trustbox website. GS1 Switzerland has registered the GTINs published in trustbox in the GS1 Digital Link Resolver. The trustbox customers now have the possibility, without any additional effort, to place a QR code on the products, which may be scanned by any app and leads the consumer directly to the corresponding publication in trustbox. 

                                    Use Case 1 QR

Der Link https://id.gs1.ch/01/7612345002002 leads you to one of the example products that we have registered in trustbox. 


Video of the use case trustbox :
German version   | French version

 

Sondia Schutzmasken Verpackung transparent

Maskes from Switzerland - protective face masks by Sondia

www.sondia.ch
Our member, Sonderegger Engineering AG, produces protective face masks in Switzerland and uses GS1 Digital Link so that consumers can easily and quickly access details about the face masks. In this use case, GS1 Digital Link provides not only general details about a product, but specific details about the exact packaging you just scanned.

The details you may access are not stored at GS1 Switzerland. The data comes directly from the source, as the company operates its own GS1 resolver. It is therefore not necessary to keep the details of the face masks up to date in different systems. GS1 Switzerland forwards all requests directly to the company resolver. On our part the effort is limited to registering new GS1 company prefixes (GCP) once in our GS1 Resolver.



                                     Use Case 2 QR

https://id.gs1.ch/01/7649993794003/10/K9N9a6J?17=230923, barcoded in a GS1 DataMatrix, is more than just a GTIN. The lot or batch number and the expiry date of these face masks are also encoded here.


Video of the use case Sondia :
German version  | French version

Offer by GS1 Switzerland

Members of GS1 Switzerland who use the GS1 System may contact system support directly to discuss the possibilities. The use of the GS1 Digital Link Resolver is included in the membership fees. Please note that our basic offer gives you the possibility to manage registrations in the GS1 Resovler via the office during the usual business hours of GS1 Switzerland. As always, adjustments will be carried out as quickly as possible and within a maximum of three working days. 

Offer by our service provider EVRYTHNG

EVRYTHNGOur GS1 Digital Link Resolver is provided by EVRYTHNG and operated on our behalf. EVRYTHNG has been operating a global solution for many years, which not only manages product data at the GTIN level, but also completely serialised products (internet of things). Parties who are interested in using GS1 Digital Link, but also have additional needs such as direct access to registrations or would like to have products serialised automatically, may contact EVRYTHNG.

Contact details EVRYTHNG: www.evrythng.com/GS1