European Article Numbering
Also known as: EAN, International Article Number(IAN) or Global Standards One(GS1)
European Article Numbering(abbreviation: EAN-13) is an international system for converting article numbers to a bar code. Using the EAN code and barcodes, checkout operations and inventory records can be automated.
The United States uses a different standard, Universal Product Code(UPC), from which EAN is a derivative. An example of a standard within EAN is ISBN, the international standard for identifying books.
GS1
The EAN standard is managed by GS1. This international organization with 112 members worldwide develops and manages various standards around product identification and the exchange of data and characteristics.
