SSCC

SSCC structure

Every SSCC has the same 18-digit layout.

• Extension digit: one digit the company uses to extend its numbering capacity.
• GS1 company prefix: the number licensed to the company creating the SSCC.
• Serial reference: the company's own running number for the logistics unit.
• Check digit: a final digit calculated from the other 17, which lets scanners catch misreads.

How SSCC labels are used

Say a distributor ships six mixed pallets of beverages to a retailer's distribution center. Each pallet gets a GS1 logistics label with its own SSCC. The advance shipping notice sent ahead of the truck lists the contents of each SSCC: which items, quantities, lots and expiry dates.

At the retailer's dock, the receiver scans each pallet's SSCC, the expected contents appear, and the whole pallet is received in one scan instead of opening it and scanning every case. If a pallet goes missing in transit, its SSCC identifies exactly which one and what was on it.

SSCC vs LPN vs GTIN

An SSCC identifies one physical unit, this particular pallet, and is never shared with another. A GTIN identifies a type of item, so every case of the same product carries the same GTIN. A license plate number is a warehouse's internal container ID. It can be any format, and many warehouses use the SSCC as the LPN for pallets that arrive with one or leave with one.

Common SSCC label mistakes

Receivers who depend on SSCCs reject or delay pallets with bad labels.

• Reusing an SSCC for a new pallet. GS1 rules restrict when a number can be used again.
• Printing duplicate labels for different pallets after a reprint.
• A wrong check digit from hand-built numbering.
• An ASN whose SSCCs don't match the labels on the truck.
• Labels placed where they are hidden or scuffed. Follow the receiver's routing guide on placement, which often calls for two adjacent sides.

How NextStock handles SSCCs

NextStock prints GS1 SSCC pallet labels as part of its B2B freight flow, alongside delivery notes, bills of lading and load packing lists, and records proof of delivery per stop after dispatch. Labels print directly to thermal printers. See B2B freight and loads and how it fits distributors.