My Product Manager's data quality reports show that not (correctly) specifying the packaging information of the product is one of the most common mistakes made. A product can consist of several packaging elements and needs to be entered correctly at every level in the trade unit hierarchy. This information is used by retailers to comply with legal requirements for waste processing.
How can you see if your products have this error?
Check in the data quality report, which you can find in My Product Manager at “My Reports”, if there are products with the error or warning:
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‘If target market is 056(BE) or 442(LU), and any repeat of additionalTradeItemClassificationSystemCode is not equal to 64 or gpcCategoryCode is not one of ('10005844' or '10005845'), PackagingTypeCode SHALL be used at least once’,
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‘If targetMarketCountryCode is equal to '056' (Belgium) or '442' (Luxembourg), and packagingMaterialTypeCode is used, and not equal to COMPOSITE, then packagingMaterialCompositionQuantity SHALL be used’,
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‘If target market is 056(BE) or 442(LU), and any repeat of additionalTradeItemClassificationSystemCode is not equal to 64 or gpcCategoryCode is not one of (10005844, 10005845) and PackagingMaterialTypeCode is equal to METAL_STAINLESS_STEEL, METAL_STEEL, OR METAL_ALUMINUM then packagingMaterialThickness should be provided’.
Then follow the steps below to correctly fill in the packaging information. In this way, the product sheets are also visible to the data recipients after all system checks have been re-executed.
How do you solve the error or warning?
It depends on how you register or edit the product sheets in My Product Manager.
Webinterface My Product Manager
STEP 1
Log in to the My Product Manager web interface with your login details and go to 'My Products'
STEP 2
Use the search function and enter the description, GTIN or brand of the product. To open the product sheet, click under 'GTIN' on the 14-digit GTIN of the product.
Then click on ‘Edit data' to edit the product sheet.
STEP 4
Use the fields below to specify the packaging information per level in the trade unit hierarchy. NB: When filling in a field, another related field must also be filled in:
Indicate whether or not the packaging contains packaging items/reusable items,
Click on '(Click to select)' to select the value 'Yes'
Click on 'Yes' to select the value 'No'
Determine the main packaging element,
Choose a code from the list of packaging types, for example the code 'BO' for a bottle.
If a product consists of several packaging elements, choose only the code for the main element of the packaging. Other packaging elements, which can be detached from the main element, are indicated with the packaging type code 'PUG' (no specification).
Click on '+ add new’
Additional fields become available:
Select the correct value for the packaging type of the product
There may be several main packaging elements, for example a plastic pot with yogurt or cream cheese encased in a sleeve packaging. Enter a packaging type code for both main packaging elements: 'PT' for the pot and 'SY' for the sleeve packaging. The lid of the pot is part of the pot and can be detached from it, which is why you mark it with the code 'PUG'.
Exception: bottle caps made of the same material as the bottle (e.g. PET) get the same code (packagingTypeCode): 'BO'. Only recode them if they are made of a different material (e.g. METAL: 'PUG').
Indicate the packaging level of each packaging element,
In the 'Packaging level' field, indicate the level of the packaging, choose from three (3) levels:
1 = Primary: a package developed as a single sales unit for the consumer. This is the packaging level for products that you have designated as 'Base Unit' or 'Intermediate Pack', for example: a PET plastic bottle sold to the consumer will have packagingTypeCode = 'BO' and packagingLevel = 1. Even a multi-pack (eg. a six-pack) gets packaging level 1.
2 = Secondary: a grouping of several primary packages. This is often a trade unit or outer box, indicated with 'External packaging'.
3 = Tertiary: packaging for the transport of the sales units. This is often the level of the pallet, indicated with 'PALLET'.
If a package level does not have an article code (GTIN), enter the data at a higher or lower level in the hierarchy. Go to the 'Packaging' tab and click again on the text '+ add new’ to be able to repeat the same fields.
What do you have to do if a consumer unit contains another consumer unit?
If the units in the packaging (e.g., multipack) have their own article code (GTIN), then you only enter the packaging material of the unit (e.g., a single can) with the article code (GTIN) of that unit. For the multipack or packaging around the components themselves, you only fill in the packaging material of this packaging that was used for 'bundling' the underlying consumer units.
If the units in the package do not have their own article code (GTIN), then you fill in the packaging material of the units (e.g., small bags of chips) with the larger packaging (the larger bag), for example: one large bag containing several small bags of chips.
Attention! Always start by entering the packaging information of the product in the hierarchy that has an article code (GTIN). Example: a box whose pallet does not have an article code (GTIN), start by entering the data of the box and then add the data about the packing information of the pallet.
Provide a detailed description of the main packaging element,
In the 'Packaging type Description' field (packagingTypeDescription) of the main packaging element, provide a detailed description of the whole product, including all packaging elements, for example: 'PET bottle with HDPE cap, wrapped in plastic wrap with a paper/plastic handle'.
Click on '+ add new’
Additional fields become available
Specify the language in which the packaging description is entered
Enter the packaging description that corresponds to the selected language
Name all materials that belong to the packaging type code,
Enter all materials that belong to the packaging type in the 'Packaging Material Code' field (packagingMaterialTypeCode). If it concerns a composite packaging material, you fill in the field 'Packaging Material Code' (PackagingMaterialTypeCode) 'COMPOSITE', depending on the material used.
Click on '+ add new’
Additional fields become available
Enter the weight of the materials
Enter the weight in the 'Packaging Material Quantity' (packagingMaterialCompositionQuantity) (+ UOM) field. Mention the amount as accurately as possible, to three decimal places.
Click on '+ add new'
Additional fields become available
Enter the amount of packing material and the unit of measurement
Overview of completed fields
STEP 5
Click on ‘Save’ or ‘Validate & next’ to verify and validate the change and the entire product sheet. Are there other errors and/or warnings? Then resolve these as well.
STEP 6
Click on 'validate and release', the updated product sheet is now available for data recipients
Via another GS1 GDSN-datapool or via een machine-to-machine-connection
STEP 1
Log in to the user environment of your system and open the product sheet.
Then enter the packaging information per level in the trade unit hierarchy:
Whether or not the packaging contains packaging items/reusable items:
Specify the packaging type of the product, the packaging level, the packaging material, the weight of the packaging material and the corresponding unit of measurement:
Overview of the fields:
STEP 2
Save the changes and put the updated product sheet at disposal of the data recipients by releasing or republishing it to the data pool.
STEP 3
After release or republishing, check the CIC messages and the My Product Manager data quality report if the product sheets show any more errors and/or warnings.