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Applying Transparency Codes at the Factory

By Todd Welch, founder of T-Code Manager. Published October 13, 2026.

Applying Transparency codes at the factory means every unit is coded once, during production, before it ever splits into channels. Your warehouse doesn't label anything, FBA shipments go in ready and units sold anywhere else already carry their codes.

It also means handing your codes to someone outside your company and trusting their process. Here's how brands set it up, what to send the factory and how to check the work.

Why brands code at the factory

As of October 2026, Amazon requires brands using Amazon-issued codes to be able to put a code on every unit they make, regardless of where it's sold. Coding during production is the most direct way to meet that.

• One step for every channel. Amazon, your website, wholesale and retail all get coded units. See Transparency codes for non-Amazon orders.
• No labeling labor in your warehouse.
• Lower cost per unit at volume. Amazon's service provider page describes packaging-based coding as the lowest per-unit cost for enterprise brands, with an upfront investment.
• Fewer handoffs. Units come in coded instead of waiting in a labeling queue.

The ways codes get applied in production

Amazon's Transparency pages describe several routes. Which one fits depends on your packaging, your volume and your factory.

Codes printed on the packaging

Your packaging printer adds the codes to the packaging during production. Amazon's pages describe this as designing codes into your packaging. Each box is printed with a different code, so it takes a printer that can handle variable data.

Codes printed on the packaging line

Variable data printing equipment installed on the packaging line prints a code on each unit as it runs. This works when your factory has, or will install, that equipment.

Pre-printed labels applied at pack-out

You send your code download to a Transparency service provider, and they print the labels and ship them to your manufacturing location. Amazon describes pre-printed labels as low cost and fast, with no equipment or packaging changes. The factory applies one label per unit at pack-out.

Labels printed at the factory

The factory prints labels from your code files on its own label printers and applies them. It's Amazon's self-print route, done at the factory instead of in your warehouse.

Co-packers

Co-packers apply codes to finished goods, multipacks or repackaged inventory, and then package and ship the products.

Amazon says its team will help you choose a method after you enroll. Its service provider page lists partners for each route.

Setting it up with your factory

1. Agree on the method and the placement

Decide which method you're using and exactly where the code goes. Follow the labeling guidance in your Transparency account. Give the factory a photo or a physical sample showing placement. The code should sit flat on one surface, not wrap around an edge, and it shouldn't cover the product's own barcode.

2. Order codes for the run

Order codes for the planned units plus an allowance for spoilage, like misprints, damaged boxes and line setup. Every code costs money, so agree on that allowance up front instead of sending a huge file and hoping. See ordering codes in bulk for how pricing tiers work.

3. Send codes securely

• Send only the codes for this run, split by product.
• Name each file with the product, the GTIN and the run.
• Send them through a secure channel to a named person, not a general inbox.
• Keep the originals in your own archive.

Unused codes are valid codes. Treat the files the way you'd treat anything else that can be used to make your product look genuine.

4. Ask for a record back

Agree that the factory reports, for each run:

• Units coded per product
• Codes spoiled or voided, with the reason
• Codes sent but not used

Ask whether unused codes will be returned to you or destroyed, and get that in writing.

5. Check at receiving

When the units arrive:

1. Open a few cartons from every pallet and scan the codes.
2. Confirm each code belongs to the right product. A code from another product's file means files got mixed up at the factory.
3. Check placement and print quality against your sample.
4. Count units and compare to the factory's report.

6. Reconcile the run

Codes sent should equal codes applied plus codes spoiled plus codes unused. If they don't, ask before the next run. Here's how to reconcile Transparency codes.

What about FBM?

Factory coding doesn't remove the FBM step. When you confirm a self-fulfilled order, you still give Amazon the code for every unit. With pre-coded units, that has to be the code that's actually on the unit you're shipping.

That means your packers record the code from each unit at pack-out, usually by scanning it, so the codes you report match what's in the box. The FBM labeling guide covers the rest.

Stock you already have

Units made before you enrolled, or before the factory started coding, still need codes if they're going to Amazon after protection is active. Plan to label those in your warehouse or at a prep center, and ask Amazon's team about older stock before protection switches on.

Factories that label for several brands

If you run a factory or co-packer that codes for several brand customers, the challenge is keeping each brand's codes completely separate on the same line. The guide for 3PLs and prep centers covers that, and the Warehouse / 3PL plan gives each client its own products and code inventory.

Where T-Code Manager fits

If your factory prints codes on the packaging or on the line, that step happens in their system, not ours. T-Code Manager covers the rest of the job: printing labels on scan for units you code yourself, like older stock or a product the factory doesn't handle, dispensing codes for FBM orders with the order ID logged, and showing how many codes every product has left with low-stock emails before you run out.

Start a free 14-day trial. No credit card required. Or see plans and pricing.