Understanding Global Location Numbers and Global Trading Item Numbers

Global Location Numbers (GLNs) and Global Trading Item Numbers (GTINs) are two sets of industry-wide unique identification numbers for business locations and items respectively. Introduced in the healthcare world as voluntary industry initiatives, the idea of using GLNs and GTINs is to eliminate errors in conducting business due to duplicate or sometimes confusing use of codes to refer to locations and goods in different systems amongst trading partners. The use of GLNs and GTINs in purchasing transactions makes sure that the right goods are requested and delivered to the right locations.