Free SSCC Label Generator

What an SSCC is and what goes on the label

When a retailer or distribution center asks for SSCC labels, they want every pallet you deliver to carry its own number that their scanners can read at the dock. The SSCC, short for Serial Shipping Container Code, is GS1's 18-digit number for a logistic unit, such as a pallet, a parcel or a roll cage. It identifies that one unit rather than a product, so two identical pallets packed on the same day still get two different numbers.

The 18 digits are made of an extension digit, your GS1 company prefix, a serial reference that you count up yourself, and a check digit calculated with the same mod-10 rule as product numbers, as the check digit calculator shows step by step. In GS1's example, 106141411234567897, the extension digit is 1, the company prefix is 0614141, the serial reference is 123456789 and the check digit is 7. When the SSCCs are made here from your prefix, the label prints that number in its parts, as 1 0614141 123456789 7, so anyone reading it can see where the prefix ends; SSCCs you paste in are printed as one unbroken number, because the page can't know how long your prefix is.

The form above lays the label out after the GS1 logistic label. Sender and receiver sit at the top with up to five lines each, the data follows in large plain text so people at the dock can read it when a barcode won't scan, and the barcodes come last, with the SSCC barcode at the very bottom. They are GS1-128 barcodes, in which each piece of data follows an application identifier, a two- to four-digit number shown in brackets in the readable text under the bars, and the SSCC always follows (00).

Numbering pallets from your company prefix

Your GS1 company prefix comes from the GS1 member organization in your country and has between 4 and 12 digits. Its length decides how much room is left for the serial reference, because the extension digit, the prefix and the serial reference always add up to 17 digits, so a 7-digit prefix such as 0614141 leaves 9 digits and a 10-digit prefix only 6. GS1 leaves the extension digit (0 to 9) to the company as extra room for numbering, so whatever scheme you choose, keep it consistent so that no number repeats.

Under Number them for me you enter the prefix, the number of pallets, up to 1,000 at a time, and the first serial number, while the extension digit stays 0 unless you open it and choose another. The serial number is padded with zeros and every SSCC gets its own check digit, so extension 0, prefix 0614141 and first serial number 1 give 006141410000000012, followed by 006141410000000029 and 006141410000000036. Under the fields the first SSCC is shown split into its four parts, so you can see where your prefix ends and your own numbering begins, and if the serial number is too long for your prefix, the form says how many digits fit.

GS1 says an SSCC must not be reused for at least one year after the unit was shipped, because a receiver who has seen the number before may book the new pallet as the old one. Unless you untick the box under the buttons, this page keeps your prefix, your sender address and the next serial number in your browser when you download the PDF or open the editor, so the next run starts where the last one ended, and none of it is sent to us. That memory belongs to this browser on this computer, though, and a colleague's computer, another browser or cleared browser data starts again at 1, so keep your own record as well, such as a spreadsheet with the date, the customer and the first and last SSCC of each run.

If your shipping software already makes SSCCs, choose I already have SSCCs and paste them, one per line. An 18-digit number with the wrong last digit is refused with the digit it should end in, while a 17-digit line gets its check digit added and is listed under the form, so you can check it. An SSCC that lost a digit on the way would otherwise become a different valid number, which is why it is worth pasting all 18 digits whenever you have them.

Contents on the label, or the SSCC alone

Many retailers ask for the SSCC barcode alone because of the advance shipping notice, or ASN, which GS1 calls a despatch advice. You send it electronically before delivery, listing each pallet's SSCC with what is on it, so at the dock the receiver scans the SSCC and their system books in the contents from your notice. If your customer works this way, leave the contents empty and the label carries just the SSCC barcode. Copy the SSCCs and Download the list (CSV), under the numbers, give you the run's SSCCs for that notice, the CSV with one row per pallet and the contents beside each number. Open the CSV in a spreadsheet and the column with the spaced SSCC stays exactly as printed, while the column of bare 18-digit numbers can lose its last digits to rounding unless you import it as text.

When the contents should be on the label too, the GTIN of the items goes into the barcode behind (02), made 14 digits long, and their count behind (37). The two belong together, since (02) names the trade item and (37) says how many the pallet holds, so the form asks for whichever one is missing. They describe a pallet of identical items, so leave a mixed pallet's contents to your notice. A pallet that is itself a trade item uses (01) instead, which never appears with (02) and isn't part of this form.

The batch or lot goes in behind (10) and can have up to 20 letters, digits and simple punctuation, but no spaces. For a date you choose best before (15), use by (17) or production date (11) and pick the day. Barcodes hold dates as YYMMDD, so 31 December 2027 becomes 271231, while the plain text on the label shows 31.12.27. Mistakes such as a wrong GTIN check digit are explained under the form, and both buttons stay off until they're fixed.

Printing the labels and testing a scan

The 4×6 inch label (102 × 152 mm) is the most common shipping label size for desktop thermal printers, and the PDF then has one page per pallet at exactly that size. The A6 label (105 × 148 mm) comes four to an A4 sheet for an office printer, and the PDF then puts four labels on each A4 page, in the places of the four labels on the sheet. The bars and lines in the PDF are vector shapes, so they stay sharp at any printer resolution, and the text is real text, except letters the PDF's font lacks, such as the Polish ł, which go in as a sharp image.

GS1 asks for larger barcodes on pallet labels than on products, because pallets are scanned from further away, so the bars here are never narrower than 0.495 mm or lower than 32 mm. When all the contents won't fit into one barcode at that size, the contents barcode carries fewer fields, and the page names the ones printed in plain text only. With a GTIN, a count, a best before date and a batch, for example, the barcode holds the GTIN and the count on either size, while the date and the batch are printed in plain text only.

A 203 dpi thermal printer prints these bars well enough to scan, since even the narrowest is about four printer dots wide. Set the print dialog to actual size rather than fit to page, then print one label and scan it, ideally with the kind of scanner your customer uses, to see that the SSCC reads as 00 followed by your 18 digits. GS1 recommends labels on two adjacent sides of each pallet, both with the same SSCC, so print two copies with collating switched off, which puts each pallet's pair together.

Many pallets, and changing the layout

For a whole delivery, set the number of pallets or paste the list, up to 1,000 SSCCs at a time. Show all lists every SSCC of the run to compare with your record, and the arrows under the preview page through the labels one by one. Download PDF gives every pallet's label in the same order, one per page at 4×6 or four to an A4 page at A6, without an account, and since everything runs in your browser, your prefix, addresses and contents are never sent to our server.

Edit in the label editor opens the free label editor with the label laid out as separate text, lines and barcodes that you can move and change, or add to with a logo or your customer's order number. A run of pallets arrives as one label per row, each with its own SSCC in the barcode and in the text, and printing the whole run there needs a free account, which includes five batch exports a month, as the page on bulk barcode labels explains. For the products and cartons themselves, the barcode generator makes EAN, UPC and ITF-14 barcodes, and barcode labels covers printing them.