EDI Transactions
EDI transactions generally
refer to the EDI messages that are sent between trading
partners. EDI transactions are based
on EDI standards, most
often EDIFACT developed by the UN and used internationally,
and X12 developed by the American National Standards
Institute and used in US commerce.
EDI transactions are
denoted by a numbering scheme in the ANSI X12 standards,
so an 850 is a Purchase Order and an 810 is an Invoice,
for example. In EDIFACT these EDI transactions would
be denoted ORDR and INVOIC. The EDI transactions that
are most prevalent depend on the industry and particular
use of the EDI transaction. An EDI transaction is essentially
an electronic business document that has been standardized
to be computer-readable. This is because EDI transactions
facilitate rapid electronic commerce between companies
to enhance the effectiveness of trading operations.
As mentioned above, EDI transactions are meant to be
machine-readable. EDI transactions are business documents
in an electronic format. As such, EDI transactions have
the same purpose as normal paper-based EDI transactions – to
standardize and communicate information between different
organizations. EDI transactions can also be used internally
within a corporation, but the general use of EDI transactions
is in business-to-business ecommerce.
The standard bodies that manage them generally update
EDI transactions annually. There is a constant review
of the EDI transactions in use and the standard bodies
are comprised of persons with technical, business, academic
and particular knowledge of the industries that employ
or want to employ EDI transactions. For EDIFACT EDI transactions,
receiving new versions and updates is free, but for X12
there is an annual membership fee in addition to a fee
for purchasing the EDI transaction version updates.
Though EDI transaction sets can be
readily obtained from the standard bodies or vendors,
they are not ready to use in a newly delivered state.
As a consequence, most EDI transactions are packaged
by EDI software vendors in formats that make EDI transactions
easy to import into EDI systems.
This is because the standard bodies publish the definition
of the EDI standards they
need to be applied to each variety of EDI software system
in the market.
EDI transactions are essential to business as it functions
today. Without EDI transactions international
trade, health care and other industries would struggle
to make operations efficient. EDI transactions are the
glue that facilitates sending large amounts of data between
organizations in a timely manner.
EDI Transactions are the individual electronic documents
that are exchanged by trading partners. The EDI Transactions
listed below are some of the more common ones that a
business will need to use. When considering the
purchase of EDI software, a business should make sure
that all of the EDI Transactions listed below are available
within the software or within the kits or plug-ins that
provide EDI Transactions for the trading partners needed. Because
each trading partner may implement these EDI Transactions
in unique ways, the EDI Transactions available from your
EDI Software vendor may need to be customized for the
trading partners in question.
Common EDI Transactions:
The 810 Invoice EDI Transactions are used to send invoice
data from the vendor back to the trading partner. The
810 EDI Transactions typically follow 850 EDI Transactions.
The 850 Purchase Order EDI Transactions are the most
frequently used EDI Transactions and are sent by the
customer as an electronic purchase order.
The 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment EDI Transactions
are often used when a customer requires an acknowledgement
of receipt of the 850 EDI Transactions.
856 Ship Notice/Manifest EDI Transactions are also referred
to as the Advanced Ship Notice or ASN, and are sent in
advance of a shipment to the customer.
The 997 Functional Acknowledgment EDI Transactions are
also commonly used as a means of acknowledging receipt
of an EDI document.
While the EDI Transactions above cover the most commonly
used EDI Transactions, it’s also important to remember
that each industry uses EDI Transactions according to its
own specifications. Before adopting EDI, a business
needs to determine which EDI Transactions are specific
to its industry, in addition to the EDI Transactions listed
above. As the use of EDI has grown, the EDI Transactions
set has grown along with it, and there are now hundreds
of EDI Transactions in use in various industries. Making
sure that the software available from the vendor can support
any EDI Transactions necessary for your business is a critical
part of selecting an EDI vendor. Planning for the
future is critical, and your vendor should also be capable
of adding additional EDI Transactions if those EDI Transactions
become necessary to your business. Understanding which
EDI Transactions your industry will need is an important
aspect of implementing EDI. By using EDI Transactions,
businesses can communicate electronically with their trading
partners, avoiding repetitive data entry, minimizing errors,
and maximizing profits. |
