UN/EDIFACT is an international EDI standard developed by the United Nations for electronic data interchange, facilitating standardized business communication.

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EDI for logistics

Advanced and successful enterprises whose activities are highly dependent on the exact timing of deliveries of goods use an efficient and reliable way to solve the supply problem – implementing electronic data interchange (EDI).

EDI Implementation in JIT (Just in Time) concept

EDI allows companies to streamline deliveries within the framework of the Just in Time concept.

The Just-in-time concept is the organization of the flow so that goods are delivered in the required quantity, to the right place, and exactly at the appointed time.

At the same time, companies do not need large reserve stock that “freezes” the company’s money.

DELFOR, DELJIT, DESADV – key EDI messages in supply chain management for manufacturing

UN/EDIFACT DELFOR Delivery Schedule message transmits in electronic structured form information about the delivery plan. The DELFOR message is sent by the purchasing company to the supplying company to indicate the need for products. This message can be used by retailers with their trading partners or a manufacturing company receiving components or raw materials from their partners.

The delivery schedule message DELFOR is used to provide continuous material flow between the supplier and the buyer when the delivery specifications cannot be fully defined in the contract or order.

DELFOR message allows refining and detailing the requirements and providing the supplier with information that enables him to predict the future needs of the buyer.

Time management and UN/EDIFACT DELFOR message

Delivery schedules transmitted through DELFOR message can be of two types:

  • urgent
  • perpetual

Perpetual is used to describe regular orders and deliveries. Urgent is applied for a limited period (for example, with an increased delivery regime) with a start-and-finish date.

A DELFOR message can be sent at any frequency (once a month, once a week, etc.) and covers any period (e.g., week, month, quarter, half-year, year). Medium- and long-term schedules transmitted every month may change to short-term ones issued every week.

All products and materials indicated in the delivery schedule message must be uniquely identified by the order, item number, article number, or part number.

The identification number can be determined either by the customer or by the supplier – the parties agree on this issue at the stage of concluding the contract.

The delivery schedule message may indicate the place of delivery of the goods it could be:

  • warehouse of the enterprise;
  • specific assembly line;
  • distribution center;
  • warehouse of the logistics company.

By receiving such a message, the supplier gets the opportunity to confirm or reject the request, or make changes. Using the DELFOR message, business partners can agree on which day the buyer can accept the order and on which day the supplier can deliver it.

DELFOR message can also be used for the forecast plan. In this case, the supplier has the opportunity to understand the long-term needs of his customer. This helps to plan the delivery of raw materials and more flexibly manage production.

Business partners usually agree in advance on the purpose of sending DELFOR messages – for a quick order or for planning deliveries for a long time.

How EDI is implemented in practice

In a world practice, DELFOR is one of the most widely used transaction in the manufacturing industry, where supply chain can be very complex and fragmented. At the same time, all the collaborators must be strictly coordinated. Errors in the exchange of information at one stage can affect subsequent elements of the chain, up to the end consumer. For this reason, EDI is one of the most used technologies in production planning, inventory allocation, logistics, and transportation.

Using the DELFOR message, a manufacturing company can send its partners an approximate supply plan on a weekly basis.

In the case of more operational tasks, companies can implement DELJIT (Delivery Just in Time) message.

In this way, suppliers are informed of the exact shipping schedule requirements in the next 24 hours. However, each enterprise can flexibly customize processes exclusively for its needs and production cycles.

EDI 856

The third message related to the delivery schedule in the manufacturing space, is the DESADV Despatch advice message (or EDI 856 Advanced Ship Notice in the X12 standard). The supplier should send this message immediately after shipment leaves its premises.

The message indicates the contents of the delivery and additional information about the shipment, the order, type of packaging and product description and characteristics.

A dispatch message improves supply chain management. Manufacturers and distributors can control and track shipments, orders, and inventory more effectively. The whole process becomes traceable; it becomes possible to know when the goods will be sent when it will reach its destination.

According to Industry Week’s Best Plants analysts who studied more than 100 companies with the Just in Time logistic concept implemented using EDI messages, their average results were very positive:

  • The volume of stock instead of the maximum 15 days was reduced to 2 days
  • Stock of finished products decreased by one third
  • The duration of the production cycle decreased by 40%
  • Production costs decreased by 20%


RELATED POSTS:

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

What is EDIFACT? | UN / EDIFACT standard overview

Electronic Data Interchange: Key Information You Need to Know

What Are the Differences Between ANSI X12 and UN/EDIFACT

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


Receiving and processing EDI purchase orders is the most common transaction faced by small businesses. This electronic business document is used to place a commercial order for goods or services by a buyer or business partner.

EDIFACT ORDERS

It’s still possible to use phone, email, or fax between two small businesses, but if you want to collaborate with a large retailer, distributor, or manufacturer, there is a high probability that you must be EDI compatible to receive orders from your B2B partners, in addition to other potential EDI documents or transactions.

What is EDIFACT ORDERS?

ORDERS (Purchase Order) is a type of EDIFACT message that contains requests for the supply of goods or services.

In EDI ANSI ASC X12 standard which is widely used in North America, the ORDERS is referred to as EDI 850 Purchase Order.

Large companies, working with small contractors demand mandatory use of EDI. Requirements for EDI compatibility is specified in contracts or in partners selection criteria.

High competition forces the business to comply, and start exchanging electronic data quickly and accurately, spending minimal time and resources on this business process. Thus, small enterprises must comply with the imposed conditions, in order not to lose a source of profitable purchases.

EDIFACT ORDERS message content

The most important main information contained in an EDIFACT ORDERS message:

  • Order number
  • Required date
  • Delivery date
  • Reference to supply contract number
  • Price and qualifier (including VAT and other taxes)
  • Identifiers of the consignee and sender, delivery location, customer, carrier, recipient
  • Information about the contents of the order (barcodes, quantity, item name, etc.).

EDIFACT ORDERS Processing

After signing the contract, the buyer uses ORDERS to send the seller a list and quantity of goods ordered.

Typically, a buyer creates the order in his ERP system (the most popular are SAP ERP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne). The created Purchase Order is instantly converted into an EDIFACT ORDERS message which is immediately sent to the seller. The seller must receive the EDIFACT message and quickly process it. He should transmit a Purchase Order Response (ORDRSP) in response to the Purchase Order received.

EDIFACT and ERP/CRM integration

To save time and money by processing the vast amount of information received from business partners, most companies (both retailers and suppliers) choose to integrate their EDI / EDIFACT messages into their ERP systems. Basically, with integration, they connect the received EDI messages and push it directly to their ERP software, through Integration Connectors designed specifically to synchronize and integrate into their ERP systems.

For example, using Magic xpi Integration Platform a company can connect a variety of heterogenous business systems such as ERP, CRM, finance, etc. by implementing out-of-the-box certified and optimized connectors.


You can find useful information on EDI integration with ERP Systems in the following articles:

How to make EDIFACT ordering even easier

EDIFACT ERP integration

As the number of outgoing or incoming orders increase, companies try to optimize the exchange of orders. In case the number of your orders exceeds a couple of hundreds per month, it’s worth thinking about integrating the flow of orders directly into your business software solution and save your company the time and money associated with human errors, delays to deliver, and increase efficiency.

The process of Order creation can be fully automated; it will not require human intervention. To do this first it is necessary to integrate your business system with EDI.


Related article:


Usually, after starting to use ORDERS message, the buyer will most likely request to receive replies to his orders, which means connecting another type of EDI message – ORDRSP. In addition, he can ask you for the dispatch advice (DESADV), and he can send you the delivery advice message. (RECADV).

What is ORDRSP and what are the benefits of using this EDIFACT message

ORDRSP (Order Response) is a type of EDIFACT message in which the supplier confirms or rejects the delivery of goods to the buyer. Using ORDRSP, the supplier can propose amendments, notify of a complete or partial delivery or confirm the entire delivery, before even processing the delivery.

Using UN/EDIFACT ORDRSP improves the logistics chain: the parties save on transportation, reduce returns due to incorrect deliveries of merchandise, increase the accuracy of delivery of the right products.

Through ORDRSP, the supplier can notify the buyer of the lack of certain products, thus avoiding disruption of supplies and maintaining a loyal business relationship. Customer, having this information, can order a similar product from the presented assortment or place an order from another supplier.

The buyer can always understand whether the supplier will deliver the goods on time, or not. He sees preliminary price confirmation and quantity of products, predicts the state of stock based on ORDRSP, and the supplier can automatically book goods for delivery in his warehouse when processing a Purchase Order Response.

What does ORDRSP contain?

ORDRSP has a direct relationship with ORDERS and are complimentary to each other. ORDRSP consists of:

  • Order number
  • GLN numbers of the buyer and seller
  • Order confirmation number
  • Date of planned delivery of goods
  • Scheduled time
  • Item No
  • Quantity approved (To Ship)
  • Price approved
  • Reason of rejection (when parameters are not matching between Order and supplier)

EDI/EDIFACT integration

In EDI/EDIFACT documents exchange, the EDI provider plays a key role. He is the one who ensures the conversion and integrity of message formats and tracking data transfers. For over 21 years now, our company EDI2XML has been successfully helping companies of all sizes switch to Electronic Data Interchange. We help speed up working with orders, shipments, acceptance, inventory of goods and reduce the risks of human errors. We have no hidden fees or confusing rates.

Contact us today for more information and a free EDI consultation.


X12 vs. EDIFACT

Doing business and interacting with trading partners is associated with the need to prepare, send, receive and process a large number of documents. Today, around the world, almost all enterprises from small businesses to large corporations use EDI (Electronic Data Interchanges) to communicate with business partners.

The most common standards that are used in all Industries are ANSI ASC X12 (X12) and UN/EDIFACT (EDIFACT). Both standards serve to exchange documents electronically and execute business processes between trading partners. The two standards are quite similar, however, there are numerous ways in which ANSI X12 and EDIFACT are different. In this article, we will compare the two most popular standards.

EDIFACT:

  • EDIFACT (Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport) is an international standard for electronic data interchange that was developed by the United Nations.
  • It uses UN/EDIFACT syntax and is widely used in Europe and other regions.
  • EDIFACT allows for flexible message definition and supports a wide range of business processes, including e-commerce, procurement, transportation, and healthcare.

EDI X12:

  • X12 (also known as ANSI X12) is a standard for electronic data interchange in the United States.
  • X12 was developed by the Accredited Standards Committee X12 and is maintained by the ASC X12 Standards Development Organization.
  • X12 is used in a variety of industries, including healthcare, finance, and logistics, and is considered a robust and reliable format for data interchange.

EDI Standards in Europe and North America

The first difference between the two EDI standards is the geographic location of users.

– X12 is mainly used in the United States and North America in general.

– EDIFACT is mostly used by companies based in Europe and Asia.

ANSI X12 and EDIFACT Standards Developers

ANSI ASC X12 Standard is developed and maintained by the Accredited Standards Committee X12 (also known as ASC X12) chartered by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1979.

EDIFACT – Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. This standard is developed and supported by two international organizations: The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

ANSI X12 and EDIFACT Document Structure

Basically, the structures of X12 and EDIFACT are similar. Both standards have principally the same structure but use different terminologies.

The figure below shows the structure of X12 and EDIFACT documents that contain Interchange, Functional Group, Transaction set.

x12 vs EDIFACT

For more information on the structure of EDI documents, please read these articles:


– EDI ANSI ASC X12 Standards – Technical Overview

– What is EDIFACT? | UN / EDIFACT standard overview


 EDI Terminologies

Understanding the terminology used in EDI is essential to successfully implementing and utilizing this technology. Some of the key EDI terminologies include EDI standards such as ANSI X12 and EDIFACT, which define the structure and content of EDI messages.

As was mentioned above, ANSI X12 and EDIFACT have different terminologies. The table below demonstrates the difference between both standards.


Terminologies EquivalenceEDI X12 EDIFACT
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
An electronic business document, such as an Invoice, Purchase Order, etc.Transaction SetMessage
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
The blocks of multiple segments of the same type grouped together.LoopsGroups
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
Special characters to differentiate segments and elementsTerminatorSeparators
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
Interchange Control. Header/TrailerISA/IEAUNB/UNZ
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
Functional Group. Header/TrailerGS/GEUNG/UNE (optional)
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………………………….
Transaction Set, (Message). Header/TrailerST/SEUNH/UNT

Terminators/Separators

X12 and EDIFACT use special characters to separate segments and elements in the document.

– ANSI X12 to separate segments generally uses a tilde ( ~ ) and to terminate elements asterisk ( * )
– EDIFACT normally uses a period ( . ) between segments and a plus ( + ) within elements.

However, both EDI standards allow customization, and different characters can be used, depending on the implementation.

Composite

A Composite Element is a group (two or more) simple elements separated by a Composite Separator symbol. Composite Element is used in both standards; however, Composite Element is very commonly used in EDIFACT.

– X12 uses a symbol Greater Than ( > )

– EDIFACT separates composite elements with a colon symbol ( : )

Acknowledgments

Both EDI standards use Acknowledgments.

– X12 uses a Functional Acknowledgment or 997 transaction set. An EDI 997 serves as a response, to acknowledge that an EDI transaction was received. TA1 served for describes errors at the ISA level.

– EDIFACT uses CONTRL acknowledgments, which is like the X12 997 Acknowledgments.

X12 Transaction Number and EDIFACT ID

In the ANSI X12 standard, all documents have 3-digit numbers, for example, 810 for an Invoice, 846 for an Inventory Inquiry and Advice, 856 for Advanced Ship Notice.

According to the EDIFACT rule, the name of the document must be limited to 6 letters, for example, INVOIC derived from the word Invoice, INVRPT for Inventory report, DESADV is the abbreviation for Despatch Advice.

  • Syntax: EDIFACT uses UN/EDIFACT syntax while X12 uses an ASCII-based syntax.
  • Message structure: EDIFACT messages have a more flexible structure than X12 messages, which have a more rigid structure.

Different Types of EDI Documents: ANSI X12 vs EDIFACT

The following table lists some of the key EDI X12 Transaction Sets with the corresponding EDIFACT messages.


X12 NoEDIFACT IDNameUsage
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
 810INVOICInvoice.Used to receive payment for goods or services provided
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
820REMADVPayment Order/Remittance Advice.Used to transmit information relating to payments
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
830DELFORPlanning Schedule.Used to share with the supplier’s forecast purchase plans
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
832PRICATPrice/Sales Catalog.Used to request or provide prices and product information.
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
846INVRPTInventory Inquiry/Advice.Used to communicate inventory levels.
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
850ORDERSPurchase Order.Used to place an order for goods or services. 
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
852SLSRPTProduct Activity Data.Used to provide inventory, sales, and other product activity information.
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
855ORDRSPPO AcknowledgementUsed as an acknowledgment of the purchase order
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
856DESADVAdvance Ship Notice (or Dispatch Advice in EDIFACT)Used to inform the recipient in advance, about the contents of the shipment.
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
860ORDCHGPO Change (Customer triggered)Used to communicate order changes to the supplier.
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
865ORDRSPPO Change (Supplier triggered)Used for acceptance or rejection of changes to a previously submitted purchase order
………..…………………………………………………………………………..………………………………………………………………………………….
997CONTRLFunctional AcknowledgmentUsed to acknowledge that an EDI transaction, was received.

EDI Standards for Special Industry

In addition to EDIFACT and X12 discussed above, there are many other EDI standards that were developed as a result of specialized business requirements in various industries. For example:

RosettaNet is used mostly in the electronic chip and technology Industry.

HIPAA and HL7 for Healthcare and Health Insurance.

ODETTE for the automotive industry in Europe.

SWIFT for exchanges messages between banks and financial institutions.

EDI Integration

For clients who do not have the resources to do X12 or EDIFACT in-house, we, at EDI2XML offer Fully managed EDI Services.

For companies who got their own technical resources to work with REST API we offer them to use EDI REST Web Service.

EDI2XML is an EDI service provider with 20+ years of expertise in EDI and integration projects. We have clients located in North America, Europe, and the Middle East and work with all EDI standards including ANSI X12 and EDIFACT. Contact us if you have any questions or EDI integration needs.

Free EDI consultation

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.


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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.

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