The GS1 General Specifications is the core standards document of the GS1 system describing how GS1 barcodes and identification keys should be used.

A barcode reader (or barcode scanner) is an optical scanner that can read printed barcodes, decode the data contained in the barcode and send the data to a computer.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) does not useelectromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects.

An identifying inventory number can be used to track inventory goods.

GS1 standards, services and solutions are designed to improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in a wide variety of sectors. They form a business language that identifies, captures and shares key information about products, locations, assets and more.

GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit, international organization developing and maintaining standards including barcodes. The best known of these standards is the barcode, a symbol printed on products that can be scanned electronically.

EDI is:

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the concept of businesses electronically communicating information that was traditionally communicated on paper, such as purchase orders and invoices.

EDI standards DO NOT describe the rigorous format of electronic documents, and the EDI standards were designed, initially in the automotive industry, to be independent of communication and software technologies.