Creating an SSCC code

Creating an SSCC code means placing four parts in sequence to form a single unique 18-digit number. It starts with an extension digit (0–9, free to choose) to expand numbering capacity. Next comes your GS1 company prefix, the part GS1 assigns to you. Then you add a serial reference that you increase by one for every logistic unit. The eighteenth digit is a check digit.

The first seventeen digits (extension digit + prefix + serial reference) must fill exactly seventeen positions; pad the serial reference with leading zeros where needed. You calculate the check digit with the standard GS1 mod-10 method, the same one used for a GTIN. A free barcode validator confirms your SSCC is correct before it reaches the label.

On the logistics label you place the SSCC in a GS1-128 barcode with Application Identifier (00), with the number also printed human-readable below it. The pitfall of manual work is a duplicate or skipped serial reference. Label software that auto-increments the serial and builds the code from your ERP makes every SSCC guaranteed unique — and avoids reusing a number within the GS1 minimum period of twelve months.