Start of Online
Applications
GS1 Japan began accepting online applications toregister GS1 Company Prefixes on October 1, 2015.
As a result, the number of new users has increased
and the administrative work has become moreefficient.
Until that time, the only way to apply for a GS1

Company Prefix was by submitting a paper form forregistration application. The previous procedure ofapplying for a GS1 Company Prefix was as follows:
1. Obtain (buy) a registration application form.
2. Pay the registration application fee by a banktransfer.

Fig. 1 Registration application form used in the pastFig. 2 Flow of the online application

Register the e-mail address

Fill in the company information

Select a payment method for the application fee

Pay the registration application fee

Receive a notiﬁcation of the GS1 Company Preﬁx

3. Fill in and submit the registration application form.
There were several problems with the previous
application process for the GS1 Company Prefixes.
First, the procedure was complex for the applicant.
The registration application form was attached to theGS1 Company Prefix manual, and to obtain the form,
the applicant needed to purchase the manual. The
applicant also needed to pay for the manual, on topof paying for the registration application fee, which
doubled the financial burden.
There was also a burden on the receiving side (GS1Japan). The information written on the application
form needed to be converted into data and sent to
the management system, but the information could
not be properly converted into data if thehandwriting was difficult to read or if any information
was missing. Therefore, the content of theapplication forms needed to be checked, which
required a considerable amount of work.
Another problem was that exchanges of theregistration application form and the registration
notification letter were conducted through mail,requiring considerable time for the GS1 Company
Prefix to be sent to the applicant.
The flow of the online applications is as follows:

possible items, which has successfully eliminated theneed for employees to read handwritten information,
resulting in a considerably reduced burden for thereceiving side.
Also, the applicant no longer needs to obtain or mailin the registration application form, and it takes lesstime to be notified of the GS1 Company Prefix afterapplying.
This reduced burden and improved convenience forthe applicants has helped to increase the number ofregistration applications. The year-on-year change in
the number of registration applications was 105
percent before the introduction of the online
applications; but after the online applications, theyear-on-year change rose to 122 percent. The
number of applications now exceeds 1,000 permonth. In March 2016, the percentage of online
applications, out of all applications for GS1 Company
Prefixes, was about 80 percent.
Applications using the former registration application
form will continue to be available for thoseapplicants who have difficulties using a computer,and for those who need to register with a paper form
for the convenience of their company procedures,
but the percentage of online applications is expected
to rise further in the future.

The introduction of online applications has
automated the systematic checking of almost all

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E jan@dsri.jp

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