GLN (Global Location Number)
A GLN (Global Location Number) is a 13-digit GS1 identifier for a legal entity, a function, or a physical location: the company you are, the warehouse you ship from, the department that receives the invoice. Trading partners use it to address you and your places in EDI documents and GDSN publications. GDSN will not register an item without one, and retailer EDI documents route on it.
What a GLN identifies
A GLN answers two questions: who a party is, and where a place is. The GTIN handles the question of what a product is.
GS1 issues a GLN as a 13-digit number built from your GS1 Company Prefix, a location reference you assign, and a check digit. That is the same structure as a GTIN-13, so a validation rule written for one will pass the other. Length checks will not catch a GTIN pasted into a GLN field.
GS1 defines several GLN types, and trading partners routinely ask for more than one:
| GLN type | What it identifies | Typical example |
|---|---|---|
| Legal entity | The company that signs the contract | The supplier of record on a vendor agreement |
| Function | A department or role inside a company | Accounts payable, the group that receives the invoice |
| Physical location | A place goods or people occupy | Dock 4 at the Reno DC, a store, a storage bin |
| Digital location | An electronic endpoint | An EDI or AS2 mailbox |
A single-plant manufacturer may need exactly one GLN. A distributor with four DCs, a returns center, and separate remit-to and order-from functions may carry eight or ten. Both are ordinary. The trouble starts when three teams independently request GLNs for the same warehouse, which is why one person or team should own assignment and keep the list.
Why GDSN will not start without one
GDSN identifies an item registration by a three-part key. One third of that key is your GLN.
| Key part | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| GTIN | The trade item | 00012345678905 — a 50-count box of 3/8-16 x 2" Grade 8 hex bolts |
| Information Provider GLN | Who publishes the data | Your legal-entity GLN |
| Target Market | Where it is sold | 840 (United States) |
Change the GLN and the GS1 Global Registry treats it as a different registration entirely. Practical consequences:
- No GLN, no registration. Your data pool cannot register the item in the Global Registry without an Information Provider GLN.
- Publications are addressed GLN-to-GLN. The retailer hands you their recipient GLN; you publish from yours to theirs, scoped to a target market.
- Merging companies is expensive. If an acquisition means republishing 40,000 GTINs under a new Information Provider GLN, every affected item has to be registered again under the new key.
The GLN is the address on the envelope. It says nothing about whether the contents are any good — whether the bolt has a thread pitch, a coating spec, a GPC brick, and a net content in the right UoM. That payload is a separate problem.
Who issues a GLN
GS1 issues GLNs through its national Member Organizations: GS1 US, GS1 UK, GS1 Germany, and so on. Membership follows your country of company registration.
From there, two routes exist. A GS1 Company Prefix lets you issue your own GLNs and GTINs from a shared number pool. Several GS1 MOs also sell a standalone GLN to a party that will never assign a product number — a 3PL, a broker, a retailer's DC.
Either way, each GLN carries a registry entry holding its type, legal name, and address. Retailers and data pools look those entries up, and a blank or stale one causes onboarding to bounce.
Membership and verification take time. Do not discover this the week a retailer's new-item deadline lands.
Where GLNs break in practice
Most GLN problems are mapping problems rather than numbering problems.
- Wrong GLN on an ASN. A ship-from or ship-to GLN that does not match the retailer's record on an EDI 856 is a routing failure, and at retailers with routing-compliance programs, a chargeback.
- Stale registry data. A DC moves; the GS1 registry still lists the old street address. Downstream partners verifying your GLN see a mismatch.
- Retired GLNs reused. GS1 sets a minimum period before a GLN may be reallocated to a different party or location, and in practice you should treat retired GLNs as permanently retired, because old EDI documents and GDSN registrations still point at the original meaning.
- Retailer internal numbers mistaken for GLNs. Retailers keep their own vendor and DC codes and map them to GLNs.
- GLN in a GTIN field. Because the two share the same 13-digit structure, nothing errors. The item just registers wrong.
GLNs are governance work, not enrichment work. Anglera does not issue GLNs and does not replace the PIM that stores them. It completes the attributes, classifications, and units that travel under GTIN + GLN + target market.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a GLN to publish to GDSN?
Yes. GDSN identifies every item registration by GTIN plus Information Provider GLN plus Target Market. Without an Information Provider GLN, your data pool has nothing to register in the GS1 Global Registry. You also need the recipient's GLN to publish to a specific retailer. Get the GLN before any GDSN onboarding work starts, since membership and verification take time.
What is the difference between a GLN and a GTIN?
Both are 13-digit GS1 numbers built from your company prefix and closed with a check digit, so they are easy to confuse in a spreadsheet column. A GTIN identifies a trade item: a 50-count box of 3/8-16 Grade 8 hex bolts. A GLN identifies a party or a place: your company, your Reno distribution center, your accounts-payable department.
Is a GLN the same as a DUNS number?
No. A DUNS number is a nine-digit identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet and tied to a business entity and its credit file. A GLN is issued through GS1 and identifies parties and places for supply-chain messaging. Different issuer, different registry, and no conversion between them. Retailer onboarding forms often ask for both: the DUNS for the vendor record, the GLN for EDI and GDSN routing.
Do I need a GLN for every store or just the DC?
It depends on how the trading partner addresses shipments. If they order and receive at the DC, one ship-to GLN per DC may cover it. If they route direct-to-store deliveries, each store that appears as a ship-to on an EDI 850 or 856 usually needs its own GLN. Ask the partner which level their ASN and invoice matching runs at before assigning hundreds of numbers.
Can I reuse a GLN after closing a location?
GS1 sets a minimum period before a GLN may be reallocated to a different party or location, so reuse is restricted rather than forbidden. In practice, treat retired GLNs as permanently retired: trading partners, historical EDI documents, and GDSN registrations still point at the old meaning. Issue a new GLN for the new location, and update the GS1 registry entry and every retailer's vendor record for the old one.