2 min read

Electronic Data Interchange: Difference Between EDI X12 and EDIFACT

Electronic Data Interchange: Difference Between EDI X12 and EDIFACT

Question: Hi Roger, we recently got a contract to supply an organization in Germany which will require EDI. This would normally be no problem to us as we have been doing EDI with our North American trading partners for over four years; however, our new German contract requires us to use EDIFACT rather than X12 as their preferred EDI standard. Could you highlight the main differences between X12 and EDIFACT and suggest what I should do? 

EDI

Answer:  In 1979 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) chartered the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 to develop uniform standards for inter-industry electronic exchange of business transactions – now known commonly as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). These transaction sets, abbreviated to X12, are the predominant EDI standards used by organizations in North America today.

In 1986, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) approved the acronym "UN/EDIFACT," which translates to United Nations Electronic Data Interchange for Administration, Commerce and Transport. UN/EDIFACT is an international EDI standard designed to meet the needs of both government and private industry. EDIFACT is the most popular worldwide EDI data standard outside of North America.

Here is a brief list of some of the different names given to documents in the X12 and EDIFACT transactions sets. You will notice that X12 assigns numeric values to documents whereas EDIFACT lists names or abbreviations.

TRANSACTION SET/DOCUMENT

X12 SET

EDIFACT

PRODUCT/PRICING TRANSACTIONS

   

Price Sales Catalog

832

PRICAT

Price Authorization Acknowledgement/Status

845

ATHSTS

Specification/Technical Information

841

PRDSPE

Request For Quotation

840

REQOTE

ORDERING TRANSACTIONS

   

Purchase Order

850

ORDERS

Purchase Order Acknowledgement

855

ORDRSP

Purchase Order Change

860

ORDCHG

Purchase Order Change Acknowledgement

865

ORDRSP

MATERIALS MANAGEMENT TRANSACTIONS

   

Planning Schedule/Material Release

830

DELFOR

Shipping Schedule

862

DELJIT

Production Sequence

866

--

Ship Notice/manifest (ASN)

856

DESADV

SHIPPING/RECEIVING TRANSACTIONS

   

Shipment Information (Bill of Lading)

858

IFTMCS

Receiving Advice

861

RECADV

Non-conformance Information-Disposition Transaction, Cause/Correction

842

NONCON

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT TRANSACTIONS

   

Inventory Inquiry/Advice

846

INVRPT

Product Transfer and Resale Report

867

SLSRPT

FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS

   

Invoice

810

INVOIC

Freight Invoice

859

IFTMCS

Payment order/Remittance Advice (EFT)

820

REMADV

There are many differences between an X12 and an EDIFACT document and I would recommend that if you do not have the capabilities to do EDIFACT in house that you outsource to a strong global EDI solution provider who can handle both data formats. At B2BGateway, we have offices located in North America, Europe and Pacific/Asia regions and can handle all internationally recognized EDI data formats including not only X12 and EDIFACT but many, many more (Tradacoms in the UK for example).

For further information on B2Bgateway’s international data standards capabilities please visit www.B2BGateway.Net or call (401) 491 9595. 

Roger Leyden is Director of Global Business Development at B2BGateway.

 

 

Most common EDI transaction sets used by Third Party Logistics providers (3PL’s).

Most common EDI transaction sets used by Third Party Logistics providers (3PL’s).

EDI transaction Q & A Question: Brian, our organization has decided to outsource our warehouse function to a 3PL (Third Party Logistics Provider)....

Read More
6 Ways to Save with EDI Advance Ship Notices and GS1-128 Barcode Labels

6 Ways to Save with EDI Advance Ship Notices and GS1-128 Barcode Labels

Advantages of adding Advance Ship Notices (ASN) and GS1-128 labels to your EDI supply chain process. Question: Roger, my retailer wants me to add ...

Read More
EDI software: What is the purpose of an EDI 830 Forecasting Document?

EDI software: What is the purpose of an EDI 830 Forecasting Document?

Question: Hi Louisa, I work for an automotive supplier and one of our customers recently stated that they wanted to start sending us an EDI 830...

Read More