IBM identifiers

Identifier types

As alternatives to GS1 registration, IBM can generate identifiers for the following attributes (you can also choose to generate and use your own unique identifiers):

• Organization prefix
• Product identifiers (supports a lot or serial number)
• Location (facility) identifiers (supports a sublocation extension)
• Logistic unit identifiers (shipping container)

To upload data that uses an IBM identifier, the fully qualified URN must be specified.

Organization prefixes

An IBM organization prefix is 13 digits (for example: 1234567890123).

Product and location identifiers

Except for organization prefixes, IBM identifier formats referenced in this document are strings that follow the RFC 2141 URN syntax specification (comparable to GS1 URNs). The URN specifications exclude the following octets and characters from the URN character set and if used must be %encoded:

octets 1-32 (1-20 hex)
\
"
&
<
>
[
]
^
`
{
|
}
~
octets 127-255 (7F-FF hex)

IBM identifiers also cannot contain a colon :, comma ,, or period . character, which are reserved for use as URN delimiters. IBM identifiers must conform to the required URN formats.

IBM identifiers and formats

The following IBM identifiers and URN formats are supported in Transparent Supply:

Public Location Identifiers

For data privacy and security, public locations do not convey the entitlement of master data in the same manner as owned locations. When you use public locations, more fields are required in the destinationList or sourceList to ensure that the entitlement of master data is conveyed to partner organizations in the supply chain.

An organization that is shipping products to a public location must update the destinationList to include:

• The public location
• A location that is owned by the receiving organization (for example company headquarters)

DestinationList Example

<destinationList>
      <destination type="urn:epcglobal:cbv:sdt:location">urn:ibm:ift:location:unlocode:loc:usnyc</destination>
      <destination type="urn:epcglobal:cbv:sdt:owning_party">urn:ibm:ift:location:loc:PARTNER_PREFIX.PARTNER_ID</destination>
</destinationList>

An organization that is receiving products from a public location must update the sourceList to include:

• The public location
• A location owned by the shipping organization (for example company headquarters)

SourceList Example

<sourceList>
      <source type="urn:epcglobal:cbv:sdt:location">urn:ibm:ift:location:unlocode:loc:usnyc</source>
      <source type="urn:epcglobal:cbv:sdt:owning_party">urn:ibm:ift:location:loc:PARTNER_PREFIX.PARTNER_ID</source>
</sourceList>

The following IBM public location type identifier formats are supported for publicly owned ports, farms, and growing regions:

• The following IBM public location type variables and values are supported: