EDI 855
Based on the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 format, the
EDI 855 is used to provide customary and established business and industry
practices relative to a seller's acknowledgment of a buyer's purchase
order. The EDI then is like a facsimile transmission confirming receipt
of a purchase order.
EDI 855 & The Communication Process
The EDI 855 follows the receipt of a purchase order. For these
reasons the EDI 855 is almost always sent by the vendor as a form of
acknowledgement. Through the EDI 855 the partners can audit which EDI
exchanges were successful and which had problems. Like all other
EDI documents, the EDI 855 must be generated through a specialized
application (the EDI translator) and then sent to the recipient through
some electronic means. The senders computer will typically perform
the translation of the EDI 855 into an EDI format, while the communication
will take place either through an Internet EDI connection or through
a Value Added Network (VAN).
Transmitting the EDI 855
Once the EDI 855 is ready to be sent to the recipient, one of two
methods are going to be generally used. The first, and still
most popular method, is the use of a VAN. A VAN acts as an intermediary
between the two parties, facilitating the communication of the EDI
855 (and other EDI documents). In this manner the VAN is very
similar in scope to the US postal service. Beyond simple delivery
though, the VAN is also responsible for ensuring that the transmission
is secure throughout the entire process. This is always of paramount
importance, but even more so with documents like the EDI 855 that may
include private and confidential information. A second option
that is growing in popularity is the use of a direct connection through
the Internet to exchange the EDI 855 between two parties. This
second form of communication is also know as AS2 communication. When
using AS2 to send the EDI 855, the document is encrypted at the source
and sent using secure internet-based protocols to the recipient which
then must have software capable of decrypting the EDI 855 prior to
translation.
Translating the EDI 855
Once an EDI 855 is received the first step must be translation of
the document. An EDI 855, like any EDI document, in its native
format is not meant to be read by a human operator. In the translation
process the EDI 855 will be converted into one of two forms - a "human
readable" format - usually in the form of a report that is printed
to a physical printer, or (more likely) into a file format that is
easily imported into an accounting or ERP system. The translation
of the EDI 855 into this more easily integrated format is the first
key step in the reception of the EDI 855 before it can be used by the
intended recipient.
Integrating the EDI 855 Into Your Business
Once the EDI 855 is translated into a computer ready format, a secondary
in-house process takes the new file with the information
that originated in the EDI 855 and moves it into the recipient's ERP
or accounting system. At this stage of the transformation the
EDI 855 is now a document that can be identified and used by the recipient
as the sender of the EDI 855 intended. |
