GDSN — The Global Data Synchronization Network includes the GS1 Global Registry and certified commodity catalogs, as well as the Data Quality Assurance System and the GS1 Global Product Classifier (GS1 GPC). These components form an environment that effectively ensures the secure and continuous synchronization of accurate and reliable commodity data.
Trading partners using the GDSN always have the most up-to-date product information in their information systems. In addition, any change made to one company's database will be automatically and immediately communicated to all of its partners.
When supplier and consumer are confident that data is accurate and up-to-date, they can more easily, quickly, and efficiently accomplish common core tasks.
The GDSN® is a single source of reliable product information.
What data synchronization is for?
Every company has a database that provides information about the products it deals with, whether it sells them or buys them.
Databases of this kind play the role of catalogs used, for example, for placing orders, other such interactions with suppliers. Difficulties begin when one company needs to change something in its database, such as adding a new product or changing its address. At the same time, it suddenly turns out that the information in the database is outdated and does not correspond to reality.
This is where data synchronization comes to the rescue, which is made possible by the GDSN global network.
What is GDSN?
In March 2004, the two leaders in the development of standards for bar coding of goods Ean International and UCC (which by that time had agreed on all issues of their unification into a single organization GS1) announced the beginning of work on the creation of the Global Product Register, which, according to the developers' plan, would not only include ALL goods produced on the globe and would allow to search for the necessary goods, using the Global Product Classifier (GPC), created for this Register, but also would be constantly kept up to date on the basis of the Global Product Classifier (GPC), created for this Register.
The GDSN network structure is shown in the diagram below
Members of the GDSN network are:
- Global Registry. It is a repository of information about all goods and all members of the Network. Of course, it stores only the most necessary information about them.
- Certified databases, custodians of standardized commodity data. They serve manufacturing firms that supply data on manufactured goods and/or trading firms that are recipients of product data. There are currently more than 40 such certified databases registered on the Web.
- Producer/Vendor firms must be registered in at least one certified database in which they register their goods (GTIN) and their location (GLN).
- Trading firms/Buyers must be registered in at least one certified database through which they subscribe to receive information from selling firms.
The process of data synchronization on the Web is as follows. When a manufacturing firm releases a new product, it places the data about it in the database in which it is registered.
1. Data uploading
Database commodity data is transmitted to the Global Registry.
2. Data registration.
If a buyer firm is interested in some product (requests information about the product), this request is sent to the database in which this firm is registered.
3. Subscription request.
The request is forwarded to the Global Registry, and from there to the database where the company-manufacturer of the requested product is registered.
4. Data publication.
Data about the requested product is transmitted by the seller's database to the buyer's database, which transmits this information directly to the buyer's firm.
5. Recipient Confirmation.
Confirmation of receipt of information goes from the buying firm to the selling firm through their databases.
GS1 GDSN, Inc. was established to manage this Global Data Synchronization Network.
In order to develop a Global Registry of goods and a Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) between databases (Data Pools), GS1 GDSN Inc. was established within the GS1 organization.
The task of this organization is to create certification databases through which subscribers (trading houses, store chains, etc.) and publishers (companies, manufacturers of goods) will exchange actual and reliable information about goods (including price lists)..
What gives companies membership in the Global Data Synchronization Network?
A manufacturing company, becoming a member of the Global Network, gets the opportunity to make itself known in a "full voice". Its products, through the Global Registry, can be searched through the Global Product Classifier by an employee of any trading company. A trading company, becoming a member of the Global Network, gets an opportunity to track the appearance of new potential suppliers and goods using the Global Product Classifier. If, for any reason, the selling firm and the buying firm cannot establish contact and directly exchange information between their databases, membership in the Global Data Synchronization Network will allow the buying firm to receive the latest information about the goods of the selling firm.
All transactions (message exchange) made by members of the Network are based on standards developed by the GS1 organization. The first and the most important is the standard describing the structures of business messages - GDSN XML Business Message Standards.
All product data stored in databases must be standardized. You can find out what conditions the data must meet here.
| More information can be found on the GS1 |