The pallet’s physical label and its electronic despatch record must identify the same logistics unit and contents. Printing successfully is only one part of that process.
An SSCC, or Serial Shipping Container Code, identifies a logistics unit. An advance shipping notice (ASN), also described as despatch advice, communicates information about a shipment. The printed SSCC is the link between the pallet and its electronic record; it is not, by itself, a list of everything on the pallet.
GS1’s logistics guidance connects each unit’s SSCC with the trade items recorded in the despatch advice. For a print-and-apply project, the useful question is therefore not just “Can the machine print SSCC labels?” but “Which system proves that this SSCC belongs to this completed pallet?” GS1 Logistic Label Guideline.
| Pallet composition | The warehouse or production system owns the record of products, quantities and relevant batch information actually assembled. A label printer should not infer that composition from the last case scanned. |
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| SSCC allocation | Identify the controlled allocator and the point at which the number becomes bound to a unit. Define how unused, cancelled and reprinted records are handled. |
| Label job | The label-control system receives the approved identity, template and authorised fields. Specify a job reference and an acknowledgement that can be associated with the correct physical pallet. |
| Applied-label confirmation | The line establishes that the intended label has been applied and, where specified, checks the expected SSCC on the pallet. Printer-ready and print-complete signals alone do not establish this. |
| Despatch advice | The business system prepares and sends the agreed message from the released contents record. Define how corrections, receiver acknowledgements and communication failures are handled. |
| Release to dispatch | Agree which combination of physical checks, data status and business approval allows release. Do not leave this responsibility ambiguous between the conveyor PLC and warehouse system. |
A mixed pallet can contain more than one product or batch. Keep that detail in a controlled record rather than squeezing an incomplete contents list onto the label. Where parent-child aggregation is required, define exactly which case or logistics-unit identities are associated with the pallet and when that association closes.
An SSCC identifies the logistics unit, not each product type within it. A mixed pallet needs a reliable contents record linking the unit to its constituent goods. Additional identifiers depend on the packaging hierarchy and customer requirements; they should not be improvised by the labelling station.
Not necessarily. The ASN normally belongs to the business or warehouse integration scope, while the labeller prints and applies an approved identity. The project must state which software creates and sends the message, and which acknowledgements are required before release.
A damaged-label replacement and a newly created logistics unit are different events. For the same unchanged unit, recovery should refer to the existing controlled identity; rebuilding or splitting a unit requires the applicable allocation rules to be reviewed. Record the reason for the action rather than letting an operator generate an unrelated number.
Keep the expected contents record, label job reference, applied barcode result, despatch message and exception outcome for the same test pallet. That linked evidence establishes whether the physical and electronic records stayed together. It is more informative than a photograph of a scannable label alone.
Technical references: GS1 Logistic Label Guideline. External references explain general principles; they are not specifications or availability statements for a Lancing machine.
This is an integration-planning framework. The final data fields, message format and release rules must be agreed with the receiving customer and the owners of the warehouse and production systems.
Send a sample pallet label, an anonymised despatch-message example, the pallet-building sequence and the required failure responses. State whether pallet contents can change after label application.