New: Automated SSCC Label Generation in Procuros
If you sell to retailers like Rossmann, dm, Müller, Edeka, Zalando, or Douglas, you probably already know the letters “SSCC” – “Serial Shipping Container Code” (in German: NVE – “Nummer der Versandeinheit”).
Here’s the problem nobody warns you about:
More and more retailers now require suppliers to label every pallet and carton with a scannable SSCC barcode, and to send the exact list of those codes digitally (via API/EDI) before the shipment arrives as part of the DESADV (Despatch Advice), also known as Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN). It lets the retailer’s warehouse scan-and-go instead of manually checking every carton – a real efficiency win for them.
For the supplier, it’s often a nightmare.
Most brands – especially ones that grew up in B2C – never needed this. Their ERP or fulfillment provider has no concept of an SSCC counter, let alone a label generator. So today, suppliers are stuck with one of two workarounds:
- Use the retailer’s own web portal (if they have one) to manually build the packing list and print labels – which usually stops working the moment you switch to proper EDI, because most retailers can’t accept the shipping notice from two places at once.
- Use a standalone tool (like GS1 Print) to generate labels manually from scratch, order by order – functional, but slow, error-prone, not scalable, and often not compliant with specific SSCC label requirements of retailers.
Either way, you end up doing by hand exactly the kind of work EDI was supposed to eliminate.
We think that’s backwards. So we built an automated SSCC label generation directly into Procuros, as a native part of the shipping notice flow, not a bolt-on tool you have to leave your EDI process for.
What that means in practice:
- A packing list builder to construct the transport-unit hierarchy (cartons, pallets etc.) exactly as it was physically packed
- Automatic SSCC number generation with a managed counter, so every code is guaranteed unique
- Automatic creation of a DESADV based on the packing list incl. the SSCC number(s), and automatic transmission to the retailer
- Retailer-specific label generation, ready to print and attach
- Support for both in-house warehouses and external 3PLs – via our Portal or directly through the Procuros API from your own ERP/WMS
We’re rolling this out now with early customers. If SSCC/NVE requirements are eating time in your fulfillment process, let’s talk. Reach out to our team via help@procuros.io or leave a comment below.
🔗 Find out more about our SSCC-Labels feature on our website.
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