EDI standards are established protocols and formats that define how electronic data is exchanged between businesses, ensuring consistency and accuracy.

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What is EDIFACT? | UN / EDIFACT Standard Overview

UN / EDIFACT Standard Overview

What is UN/EDIFACT standard?

United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport (UN/EDIFACT) is the International EDI standard ISO 9735-1987, developed under the UN

The general standard is adopted by national and sectoral standards bodies to better reflect the needs of each industry.

At least twice a year, the standard is updated globally. The reason of this update is to create a new directory of data and messages, in addition to improving the usability of existing EDIFACT messages.

The UN/EDIFACT standard has been developed for trade and transport management. The concept of “trade” was interpreted in a broad sense (orders, deliveries, insurance, payment of goods, customs formalities). Currently, the use of UN/EDIFACT has expanded to include accounting, customs control, pensions, health care, social insurance, judicial practice, employment, statistics, construction, finance, insurance, manufacturing, tourism, trade, freight, and container transportation.

The UN/EDIFACT standard is developed and supported by two international organizations: United Nations Economic Commission for Europe — UN ECE and the International Organization for Standardization. – ISO

EDIFACT Subsets

EDIFACT is predominant outside of North America. Due to its complexity, branch-specific subsets of EDIFACT have been developed. These subsets are subsets of EDIFACT and contain only the functions relevant to specific user groups, such as:

  • EANCOM consumer goods industry
  • ODETTE European automotive industry.
  • CEFIC chemical industry
  • EDICON standard used in the construction industry
  • RINET – the Insurance industry
  • HL7 standard is used in healthcare.
  • IATA air transportation
  • SWIFT banking
  • UIC 912 rail transport
  • EDIFICE electronics, software, and telecommunications industry. EDIFICE has played an important role in the implementation of RosettaNet standards in Europe. EDIFICE became the European RosettaNet User Group.

EDIFACT Messages: Structure and Syntax of the Standard

EDIFACT is a special, structured data language that describes all types of commercial activities, based on information logistics. Using elements and segments of standard informational messages, you can create a description of any document, generate its electronic form and transmit it in open telecommunication networks without fear of interception of private commercial information.

UN / EDIFACT Structure

Any document in UN / EDIFACT standard has a hierarchical structure. The entire electronic document is called a message. A message consists of data groups combined in some way, for example, a data group describing customs payments, a group of data describing the attributes of documents, etc. In turn, the group consists of typical data segments that describe document attributes in more details. The standard provides about 200 different types of segments from which messages are composed. The segments themselves also have a hierarchical structure and consist of data elements that can be simple (data field) and composite (usually 2-3 data fields).

The following is the structure of an EDIFACT transmission:

  • Service String Advice
  • Interchange Header
  • Functional Group Header
  • Message Header
  • User Data Segments
  • Message Trailer
  • Functional Group Trailer
  • Interchange Trailer

EDI Guide

Example EDIFACT

UNA:+.? ‘
UNB+UNOB:2+ XYZCORPORATION:ZZ+COMPANYX:ZZ+190521:1604+906019++++++1′
UNH+1+ORDERS:D:96A:UN’
BGM+220+4500265532+9′
DTM+137:20190425:102′
RFF+CT:CompanyX’
NAD+BY+2010::91′
CTA+OC+2010:G. Smith ‘
COM+044-1010605:TE’
COM+044-1010662:FX’
NAD+SE+0000906300::92′
CTA+SC+0000906300′
NAD+DP+++Consulting Inc St+ Begun + Laval++8003+CA’
CUX+2:CHF:9′
LIN+10++TH300010:BP’
PIA+1+000000000000500807:SA’
IMD+A++::92:HIR0010H12′
QTY+22:1:PCE’
DTM+2:20190423:102′
LIN+20++T0004671:BP’
PIA+1+000000000000501516:SA’
IMD+A++::92:CCGT060204NS LT1110S’
QTY+22:10:PCE’
DTM+2:20190423:102′
LIN+30++T2001171:BP’
PIA+1+000000000000501328:SA’
IMD+A++::92:LTPNG-R20-3.0′
QTY+22:1:PCE’
DTM+2:20190423:102′
UNS+S’
UNT+28+1′
UNZ+1+906019′

Principles and Technologies of Application of the UN / EDIFACT Standard

The EDIFACT Standard has three types of reference books:

The first type is directories that are based on the ISO standards. It includes directories of currency codes, country codes, units of measurement, modes of transport, delivery conditions, and some others.

The second type of directories, are the ones included in the EDIFACT standard., by default

The third type of directories is developed by different organizations responsible for issuing codes. Here is the list of organizations 3055 Code list responsible agency code

There are four main components in EDIFACT that are subject to standardization, when preparing documents for exchange between business partners.

  • data elements
  • standard data segments
  • standard messages
  • syntax rules

Data elements are the smallest, non-dividing parts of information, for example, the document date, the name of the destination, the amount of tax. More than 600 data elements used in international trade and transport have been published in a special UNTDID directory.

EDIFACT Standard Principles

The UN / EDIFACT standard is based on the following principal:

1. Standardize data at the segment and element level. Any document intended for electronic exchange should consist of typical segments. This means that the segment of the supplier’s address or delivery address is described by the same elements, regardless of what kind of document it is – invoice, order, declaration, etc. The practice has shown that to describe almost any document, it is enough to have no more than 100 typical segments. The fields inside the segments are standardized the same way, and the ratio of fields to segments is one-to-many, i.e. the same field can be included in different segments.

2. Record the fields used in segments as code. It is assumed that the partners exchanging electronic documents have identical code tables (directories). The composition and content of the reference books is standardized at three levels – international, national and corporate.

3. The independence of standards from the language of communication. The peculiarity of the UN / EDIFACT standards is that more than 90% of the electronic message consists of different codes. Another feature is that only the content of the document is transmitted, without a form. The document form is restored when the message is decoded.

Book a FREE one-on-one EDIFACT consultation session with our in-house experts.

EDIFACT Messages

The EDIFACT standard which provides a set of standard messages has greatly simplified international and multi-branch trade and the exchange of electronic business documents between countries and various industries.

The standard message UN / EDIFACT has a six-letter identifier that reflects the short name of the message, for example:

  • CUSDEC – CUStoms DEClaration
  • CUSRES –CUStoms RESponse

Some of the standard EDIFACT messages with X12 equivalent are listed in the table below.

X12 Transaction Number EDIFACT Transaction ID Transaction name
850 ORDERS Purchase order message
855 ORDRSP Purchase Order Acknowledgment
846 INVRPT Inventory Inquiry/Advice
856 DESADV Shipment Notification ASN
810 INVOIC Invoice
997 CONTRL Functional acknowledgment
860 ORDCHG Purchase Order Change – Buyer Initiated

Due to the independence from the language and the transfer of only the contents of the document, the restoration of the form of the document takes place on the receiving side in accordance with the rules that apply in this place.

Benefits of EDIFACT

EDIFACT benifits

EDIFACT has a competitive advantage that positively affects the efficiency of a company and improves business processes. The main advantages of EDIFACT:

Profitability – reducing the volume of papers to be processed leads to a decrease in personnel and administrative costs.

Efficiency – large volumes of commercial data can be transferred from one computer to another within minutes

Accuracy – the use of EDIFACT eliminates human errors that are inevitable when manually keying in data.

EDIFACT is a key component of a just-in-time strategy that ensures prompt customer satisfaction. EDIFACT in conjunction with the Internet allows real-time electronic transactions and accelerates the interaction between trading partners.

Easy EDIFACT Integration

Our company has many years of proven experience in implementing EDI and EDIFACT projects. We offer our clients Fully managed EDI Service and HTTP Web Service.

Contact us today for a free consultation and we will help you find the best option for your business.

EDIFACT Free consultation

Electronic Data Interchange: Key Information You Need to Know

 

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


EDI (or Electronic Data Interchange), has been part of business for long time; However, questions about its functioning, pros and cons are still not clear for new EDI users and those who have been using EDI for years in their business.

To help better understand EDI, we created this e-book “Electronic Data Interchange: Key Information You Need to Know”, where you find answers to most of the frequent questions like What is EDI? Benefits of EDI, EDI communication (EDI-VAN) and (EDI -INT) and much more.

It was built for beginners and those who have strong EDI technical knowledge. We are certain you will get important information out of this eBook, that is certainly useful to your EDI projects.

We invite you to download this e-book from EDI2XML Resource Page

Free EDI eBookFree EDI consultation

 

All About EDI: 11 Complete Answers about Electronic Data Interchange

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


We often get asked questions about EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), so we decided to write this article to answer the most common questions we get. We also provide you with useful links in case you’d like to explore further.

1. What is EDI? (Electronic Data Interchange)

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) In simple words, EDI is the process of electronically exchanging business documents (in a pre-defined format) between trading partners. EDI replaces the faxing of paper and mailing documents.

Any standard business documents (e.g. a purchase order, invoice, shipping notice etc.) can be transferred by EDI, considering both parties have been setup to exchange with the appropriate EDI communication.

Useful Reading: EDI Document Library

2. Who uses EDI?

Electronic data interchange EDI Organizations of all types and sizes are able to utilize EDI. EDI communication is used in Government and various industries such as banking, healthcare, retail, automotive and others. Any company that buys, sells goods or services can potentially use EDI.

3. To be EDI capable or EDI compliant – what does it mean?

In simple words, EDI capable or EDI compliant is the ability to exchange business documents electronically in a specific format based according to an EDI standard.
Being EDI compliant, means your company has complied with the pre-agreed EDI standard which allows you to send and receive EDI documents to any business/trading partner located anywhere in the world.

4. What are the EDI standards?

All EDI transactions are determined according to EDI standards. Many industries have developed their own EDI standards to fit their requirements and business terms. EDI standards are built on the concept of making electronic business documents uniform, without regard to a country or place of origin. EDI standards regulate the correct order and location of the units of data in an EDI document. Below are some of the most commonly-used standards:

ANSI ASC x12 Uniform standard, developed by the American National Standards Institute, and Accredited Standards Committee X12 (ASC X12) to support companies across different industry sectors in North America.

EDIFACT Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce, and Transport (EDIFACT), developed by the United Nations. EDIFACT is the international standard but is widely used by multiple industries in Europe.

RosettaNet A standard widely used in the global semiconductor industry, but also in electronic components, consumer electronics, telecommunication, and logistics. RosettaNet is widely used in the USA, but it is also well accepted and even supported by governments in Asia.

Useful Reading: RosettaNet and B2B EDI Integration: All you need to know

PEPPOL (Pan-European Public Procurement Online) allows public organizations and their suppliers to exchange standard-based electronic documents over its network. PEPPOL simplify the trading process between private companies and government.

Useful Reading: B2G Integration: PEPPOL EDI Data Interchange

ODETTE A standard used by the automotive industries in Europe, developed by the Organization for Data Exchange by Tele Transmission in Europe.

SWIFT (Society of Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) The main goal is to exchange messages between financial institutions and banks. Financial and bank institutions from over 200 countries used SWIFT.

Tradacoms Standard mainly used in the UK retail sector.

5. What is EDI Mapping?

Mapping is the process of taking data from EDI format, to a company specific format and vice versa.

6. What does an EDI document, an EDI message or EDI transaction set, mean, is there a difference between them?

In the EDI environment each business document, such as an invoice or a purchase order, is called an EDI message or EDI transaction set or EDI document. Technically, there is no difference between them… The most commonly used EDI documents, especially in the retail and manufacturing industries, are as follows:

  • 810 Invoice
  • 846 Inventory Inquiry message
  • 850 Purchase Order
  • 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment
  • 856 Ship Notice/manifest (ASN)
  • 997 Functional Acknowledgment

Useful reading: The most used EDI messages in the supply chain management

What is Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) 856 transaction set?

What is EDI 846 document?

Why EDI 846 is important to do business with big-box retailers

7. What are EDI Communication Protocols?

EDI protocols are the communication platform used for constant transmission of data between business partners.

Companies can either exchange documents directly to their Trading Partners (Point-to-Point) or through an EDI Network (VAN).

Direct

Direct EDI also known as Point-to-Point, allows companies to establish a single secure connection with their Trading Partner. Following are the most common communication protocols used to exchange EDI data in a point-to-point or direct connectivity:

  • FTP/SFTP – File Transfer Protocol/Secure File Transfer Protocol. These file transfer protocols allow businesses to connect with their partners via the Internet in order to exchange EDI documents.
  • AS2 A secure way to exchange documents over the Internet by using digital certificates and encryption of the EDI data. Communication protocols EDI AS2 FTP sFTP

VAN (Value Added Network)

VAN – is a private network provider, that only transmits EDI transactions in a secured manner between private networks. A VAN is a mediator who moves data from point A to point B. Until recently, this method of transferring data was considered the safest.

Useful reading: EDI Communication and VANs

EDI VAN connection

8. Which EDI Standard, Document(s) and Protocol should I use?

If you are just starting out, then you will most likely receive a list of requirements from your Trading Partner. It all depends which EDI standard they use, which documents they require from their Partners and how they expect these documents to be sent to them. Your trading partner is one that most of the times dictates the documents to exchange.

9. What are the Benefits of EDI?

There are multitudes advantages to use EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) both for small and mid-size companies as well as to big corporations. Below some impressive benefits from implementing EDI:

  • Improves Shipment Accuracy
  • Accelerates the movement of goods to customers
  • Improves customer/partner relationships
  • Improves cycle time reductions
  • Decision makers are able to quickly access order statuses
  • Improves document accuracy due to the elimination of manual labor.
  • Enhances the flow of information between 2 trading companies
  • Internal teams can now focus on core business tasks and

10. What is the difference between SaaS EDI & On-Premise EDI Software?

SaaS EDI

EDI2XML EDI SaaSUsing SaaS EDI model customers do not pay for ownership of the software, but for renting it (i.e. using it through a mobile application or Web interface). The main advantage of the SaaS model for the company is the absence of costs associated with the installation, update, and maintenance of the equipment and software that is being used by the company.

 

On-premises EDI

In on-premises deployment model, the company needs to maintain and manage the EDI software system itself. There is a whole control over all aspects of the EDI system including security, access and data integrity. EDI software is loaded onto the company’s owned PC or servers. If you choose the on-premises EDI model, keep in mind that you need the skills and expertise within your IT team. You also need the budget to maintain and upgrade EDI software and hardware when needed.

Useful reading: SaaS EDI or On-Premises EDI Translation Software: What you should know

11. What is EDI2XML?

EDI2XML is a SaaS EDI Solution, capable of converting EDI documents into XML/CSV/TXT format files and vice versa. EDI2XML is a Full Translation Service, which includes the translation of incoming and outgoing documents as well as communication with Trading Partners.

If you are still not finding the answer in our frequently asked questions post, please contact us.

Do you want to implement EDI at your company? Find out how to get started – request a live demo of EDI2XML.

Free EDI and System Integration consultation

EDI X12, EDIFACT, CSV, XML – Why is a conversion necessary?

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
x12-to-xmlcsv

EDI formats are not understood or easily read by just anyone. It requires an EDI expert to be able to read the files and dissect them. Many large Trading Partners impose their own rules and requirements on top of those outlined by the standards, which is why, in many cases of translation, it is not always as straightforward as hoped. Most business executives are hesitant to begin trading via EDI because of these complexities.

However, if you find the right EDI Provider, who can handle all translations, all EDI mapping, all Partner configurations and all outbound and inbound communication with your partners, then you have nothing to worry about.

Our very own EDI2XML translation and integration services eliminate all of these complexities for you and you can begin trading electronically in no time. If you have your own in-house EDI and IT integration expert(s), then they can simply use our EDI2XML Web Service.

If you’re looking to meet your Trading Partner’s requirements but also keep your business processes streamlined and integrated internally, then check out EDI2XML. Our team of EDI experts are experienced and flexible enough to work with any EDI format, where specs are readily available, and convert to a format your team or system can work with. It’s about keeping costs low and simplifying the whole EDI communication process. Contact us today!

 

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