EDI concepts
EDI provider: what one does and which parts you are buying
An EDI provider is a company that gets your documents to and from your trading partners in their format. The work has four parts: a connection, translation between X12 and your data, a map per partner and document, and the link to your own order system. Providers differ in which parts they do and which they leave with you, and this page sets out the five kinds and what to settle with each.
Updated
What an EDI provider does
An EDI provider takes on some or all of the work between your order system and your trading partners' systems. Walmart's documentation for drop-ship vendors gives the shortest definition: a solution provider is "a third party that provides EDI process capability to its partners". That capability consists of four parts.
| Part | What it does | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Connection | Moves files to and from the partner | AS2, SFTP or a mailbox on a value-added network |
| Translation | Reads and writes the X12 syntax | Envelope, segment counts, control numbers, the 997 |
| Mapping | Places your fields in the segments and codes one partner requires | Your item into LIN as a UPC with qualifier UP for one partner, as a GTIN-14 with UK for another |
| Order-system side | Creates the order from the 850 and reads shipments and invoices for the 856 and 810 | A sales order in the ERP, a pack record from the warehouse |
Around those four sit two ongoing jobs: taking each new partner through its test, and watching every document for the 997 that should answer it. The layers themselves are described under EDI software.
The five kinds of EDI provider
| Kind | What it does | Where it stops |
|---|---|---|
| Value-added network (VAN) | A mailbox, routing to partners on the same and on other networks, an audit trail | It moves files. Walmart "does not govern or dictate the data flow between VAN and DSV", so what happens before the mailbox is the vendor's concern |
| Web EDI portal | Browser forms for each document; the portal produces the X12 | Every document is typed. Nothing reaches your order system |
| Managed service | Runs translation, maps and connections for you and handles partner testing | The order-system side. Your systems still have to supply and accept the data, as files or through an add-on |
| Translator software | A licensed translator on your own server or as an add-on in the ERP | You run it: maps, connections, certificates, upgrades and monitoring are your staff's work |
| Direct integration | Maps and the order-system side built to your systems, connected to the partner over AS2 or SFTP | Each partner connection is set up separately. A partner that accepts only a network needs a mailbox as well |
The portal route is worked out with numbers under EDI capable.
When supplier and retailer use different networks, the two networks pass the documents between them. That hop is called an interconnect, and each side pays its own network for the same document.
Which parts need scale and which are labour
| Needs scale | Is labour, per partner and per document |
|---|---|
| Operating a network with interconnects to other networks | Building the map from the partner's implementation guide |
| A community of partners that are already connected | The order-system side: 850 to sales order, pack record to 856 |
| A support desk staffed around the clock | The test with each new partner |
| Acting as a retailer's onboarding contractor | Matching every document to its 997 and resending rejects |
The labour column grows with the number of maps, and the number of maps is a product. A supplier with 3 retailers and 4 documents each (850, 855, 856, 810) has 3 times 4, 12 maps. One retailer adds the 846 for a drop-ship program: 13. A fourth retailer with 5 documents: 18. Each map follows one partner's guide, and the guides differ in version and codes: Kroger's is X12 5010 with interchange qualifier 08, Walmart's drop-ship sample is 4010.
A map is also never finished. When a partner revises its guide, the map for that document is changed and tested again. Suppliers on the r/edi and r/Netsuite forums describe the failure this causes: a map changed without notice, a ship notice that starts failing, and a deduction that stays with the supplier. The mechanics of those deductions are under EDI compliance; the work itself under EDI mapping.
Do you have to use the provider your retailer recommends?
Two retailers publish their position.
Walmart names four connection types for drop-ship vendors: AS2, a value-added network, SFTP and a solution provider. For AS2 and SFTP it "sends and receives EDI files with a direct" connection with the vendor. For the two indirect types it states that it does not govern the data flow between the intermediary and the vendor.
Kroger's portal lists seven VANs and providers, followed by this: "This is not a complete list of companies that offer the applicable products and/or services, nor is this list in any particular order." It adds that Kroger "does not endorse or guarantee" their products.
In both cases the gate is the specification and the test. Some retailers contract an EDI company to onboard and test their suppliers. That company then checks your test documents whoever produces them, and suppliers report being charged a testing fee for it. It is a separate role from being your provider, even when the same company offers both.
What to settle with a provider
- The unit that is metered. Per document, per kilocharacter, per trading partner, or a flat fee. Ask whether a 997 counts as a document.
- What one trading partner is. One ISA sender and receiver pair, one GS ID, or one retailer name.
- Who changes a map, and who is told. A guide revision at the partner, or a new field in your ERP, both touch the map.
- Who watches the 997s. A rejected 856 has to be corrected and resent before the truck arrives. Kroger expects a call when no 997 or 824 has come back within 12 hours.
- What you keep when you leave. The interchange ID in ISA06, the maps and the document history.
- Deductions. The retailer deducts from the supplier. Whether the provider carries any of it when its map was the cause is a contract clause, and it belongs in the contract before the first live document.
- Term and renewal. Length, notice period and what renews automatically.
What this means for your integration
SyncMyShop is the fifth kind. We build the maps and the order-system side to your systems and your partners' guides, as an EDI integration that we host, run and monitor, for a fixed build price and a monthly fee. Which connection each partner accepts is settled during the build.
Outbound documents are validated against the partner's guide before they are sent. Every 997 is matched to its document, and a rejected or unanswered document is shown in the dashboard with the reason. When a partner changes its guide or your ERP changes a field, we change the map. Tell us which partners and which systems.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an EDI provider and a VAN?
A VAN is one kind of provider: a network that gives you a mailbox and routes files between trading partners. Kroger's supplier portal defines it as "a private network provider" hired "to facilitate electronic data interchange". A VAN moves files. Whether anyone translates and maps them for you depends on what else that provider sells. See EDI VAN.
Do I have to use the EDI provider my retailer recommends?
The published requirements of Walmart and Kroger do not say so. Walmart names four connection types for drop-ship vendors and states that it "does not govern or dictate the data flow between the solution provider and the drop-ship vendor". Kroger lists seven companies and adds that the list is not complete and that it does not endorse them. What every provider has to pass is the retailer's test.
What is a managed EDI service?
A provider that runs translation, the maps and the partner connections for you and takes over testing with each new partner. You still supply the data: orders, shipments with carton detail and invoices have to come out of your systems in some form, and inbound orders have to get in. How that hand-over works is the first thing to ask about.
What does an EDI consultant do?
The labour parts: reading a partner's implementation guide, building and testing the map for each document, connecting it to the ERP, and working through the partner's test until production is approved. With 3 partners and 4 documents each that is 12 maps, and each one is revisited when a partner changes its guide.
What counts as one trading partner with an EDI provider?
It depends on the provider's definition, and it changes the bill. One definition counts each unique pair of ISA sender ID and receiver ID. A retailer that uses a separate ID per division is then several partners. Ask for the definition in writing. The metering units are explained under EDI software.
Tell us what you need
Tell us which systems you use and what needs to work better. We reply personally within one working day. We help you define the work, then agree the price and timing before you commit.
- You know the price and the timeline before you commit to anything
- We work out the connection that takes the work off your hands
- We handle the build, hosting, monitoring and maintenance
- Your team has less information to retype and fewer discrepancies to chase