PZN Barcode

This Symbology is also known as IFA PPN, IFA Pharmacy Product Number, IFA securPharm, 2D PZN

This Barcode Symbology is supported by the following Neodynamic products:

Overview

PZN BarcodePharmacy Product Number (PPN) is a globally unique article number for products in the area of health care in which the national article number is embedded. It consists of a two-digit prefix (Product Registration Agency code a.k.a. PRA-Code or PRAC) followed by the national product number (PZN in Germany) and a two digit check digit. Depending on the type of product, the PPN-Code is made up of different elements either the PPN alone or in combination with additional data elements like Batch Number LOT, Serial Number, Expiry Date, Date of Manufacture, and GTIN. The specification of this application is maintained at Informationsstelle für Arzneispezialitäten GmbH (IFA).

NOTE: PPN is at the end a DataMatrix 2D barcode so all settings (like module size) for DataMatrix will be taken into account when generating a PPN symbol.

How to encode IFA PPN using Barcode Professional

Introduction

A PPN barcode symbol encodes the so called Element Strings which are composed of an Data Identifier (DI) plus a data field. Each DI identifies the meaning and format of the data following it. The following are the DI supported by IFA PPN:

Product Code (Data Identifier: "9N")

The PPN consists of three parts. The first part is the "Product Registration Agency Code" (PRA-Code or PRAC) which is the fixed number 11. The second part is the national product number, this being the unmodified PZN (PZN8). And the last part is the two-digit check digits calculated over the complete data element (i.e. 11 + 8-digits PZN).
Sample Value: 9N#110375286414 (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

Batch Number LOT (Data Identifier: "1T")

The batch number is generated by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur. It's an alphanumeric value from 1 up to 20 characters long (0-9 A-Z & two allowed special characters "-" and "_")
Sample Value: 1T#12345ABCDE (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

Expiry Date (Data Identifier: "D")

The Expiry Date is generated by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur and it has the format "YYMMDD" i.e. YY = 2 digit Year (00-99, as the expiry date is in the future, it is a 21st Century date); MM = 2 digit Month (01-12); DD = 01-31 (Expiry date with day, month and year) or DD = 00 (Expiry date with month and year only)
Sample Value (Expiry date 17-Jun-2016): D#160617 (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

Serial Number (Data Identifier: "S")

The serial number is generated by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur. It is mandatory for the medicinal product verification process. For products, where verification is not mandated, it is optional. It's an alphanumeric value from 1 up to 20 characters long (0-9 A-Z)
Sample Value: S#12345ABCDEF98765 (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

Date of Manufacture (Data Identifier: "16D")

The Expiry Date is generated by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur and it can be used for internal purposes or when agreements between market partners require it. It has the format "YYYYMMDD" i.e. YYYY = 4 digit year; MM = 2 digit month (01-12); DD = 01-31 (Manufacture date with day, month and year) or DD = 00 (Manufacture date with month and year)
Sample Value (Date of Manufacture 15-Mar-2012): 16D#20120315 (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

GTIN (Data Identifier: "8P")

The manufacturer generates a GTIN following the GS1 rules. It is to be used for products where, in addition to the PPN a GTIN is given, e.g. for dietary supplements.
Sample Value: 8P#01234567891234 (# is used to separate Data Identifier from its Data Value)

Examples

NOTE: PPN is rendered as a DataMatrix 2D barcode so all settings (like module size) for DataMatrix will be taken into account when generating a PPN symbol.
  • Encoding single PPN
    The following example encodes a single PPN (Product Code). The Data Identifier for Product Code is "9N" but in this case can be ommited (it's mandatory only when concatenating multiple elements). The Data in this case can be just a PZN8 value as Barcode Professional will atuomatically take care of prefixing it with "11" and calculating & appending the 2-digit checksum.

    Code property = 03752864 will produce the following barcode image:

    IFA PPN barcode for Product Code 03752864

  • Encoding multiple PPN elements
    The following example encodes a Product Code (03752864) + Batch Number LOT (12345ABCDE) + Expiry Date (17-Jun-2016) + Serial Number (12345ABCDEF98765). When concatenating many elements, the character # must be used to separate Data Identifiers from its data as well as to separate elements between them.

    Code property = 9N#03752864#1T#12345ABCDE#D#160617#S#12345ABCDEF98765 will produce the following barcode image:

    IFA PPN barcode for Product Code (03752864) + Batch Number LOT (12345ABCDE) + Expiry Date (17-Jun-2016) + Serial Number (12345ABCDEF98765)