EDI 856: Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) Specifications

What is an EDI 856?

The EDI 856, also known as the Advance Ship Notice (ASN), is an electronic document that provides detailed information about a pending shipment. It's a key part of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), which facilitates the automated exchange of business documents between trading partners.

Essentially, it's a digital version of a packing list, but with much more detailed information.
 

The document is sent preceding a shipment arrival. Many major retailers require it to be sent within a certain time frame before the product arrives at a given distribution center or store.

An EDI 856 is commonly sent and received by:

• Suppliers
• Manufacturers
• Distributors
• Retailers

Moreover, the EDI 856 transaction contains order information, product descriptions, packaging types, carrier information, and more.
 

The EDI 856 document adheres to the x12 format specified by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), a non-profit organization regulating EDI formats in the U.S.

How to use an EDI 856?

An EDI 856 - ASN (Advanced Shipping Notice) is used to electronically communicate the contents of a shipment to a trading partner and is most often used in the retail, manufacturing, and automotive industries. Most major businesses require this EDI 856 document, using EDI software to send this information allows retailers to quickly receive the information they require for each shipment. 

EDI 856 specification

EDI 856 specification involves the document being sent in advance of a shipment arriving at the receiving partner’s facility in response to one of three EDI transactions:

• EDI 850 (Purchase Order)
   
• EDI 830 (Planning Schedule with Release Capability)
   
• EDI 862 (Shipping Schedule)

After you receive an EDI 850, EDI 830, or EDI 862, an Advanced Shipping Notice is sent to communicate the shipment is en route to the destination.

Once the ASN EDI document is received by your trading partner, an EDI 997 Functional Acknowledgement is generated and sent back to the buyer to indicate the successful delivery of the EDI 856.

In complying with trading partners' EDI requirements, Cleo facilitates a quick and easy transition to meet those standards.

Contact EDI experts at Cleo to learn more about EDI 856s as well as related EDI documents.

Example EDI ASN Transaction Exchange?

• First, An EDI 850 Purchase Order (Order 3476) is sent from Autozone (your trading partner) and received by your business
   
• Second, your Cleo EDI Platform creates and sends an EDI 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment to Autozone to recognize that the EDI 850 Purchase Order was received.
   
• Third, Cleo's cloud-based EDI platform generates an EDI 856 and sends the document to Autozone, giving information on the contents of the shipment.
   
• Fourth, Cleo Integration Cloud generates an automated EDI 810 invoice and sends the invoice to Autozone as a receipt for goods purchased.
   

EDI 856 Mapping Specification

This X12 Transaction Set contains the format and establishes the data contents of the Ship Notice/Manifest Transaction Set (856) for use within the context of an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) environment. The EDI 856 mapping specification can be used to list the contents of a shipment of goods as well as additional information relating to the shipment, such as order information, product description, physical characteristics, type of packaging, marking, carrier information, and configuration of goods within the transportation equipment. The transaction set enables the sender to describe the contents and configuration of a shipment in various levels of detail and provides an ordered flexibility to convey information.

The sender of this transaction is the organization responsible for detailing and communicating the contents of a shipment, or shipments, to one or more receivers of the transaction set. The receiver of this transaction set can be any organization having an interest in the contents of a shipment or information about the contents of a shipment.

Sources

Accredited Standards Committee X12. ASC X12 Standard [Table Data]. Data Interchange Standards Association, Inc., Falls Church, VA. https://x12.org/index.php/products/transaction-sets

In complying with trading partners' EDI requirements, Cleo facilitates a quick and easy transition to meet those standards.

Contact EDI experts at Cleo to learn more.