What is an ANSI X12 EDI 862 Message?

Find out how the ANSI X12 EDI 862 message is reshaping the procurement process.

The ANSI X12 EDI 862 message represents Just-in-time information that is sent to suppliers by their customers via EDI. The message is based on the ANSI X12 EDI message standard and is a supplement document for electronic purchasing processes based on delivery schedules commonly used in the manufacturing and automotive industries.

In order to further reduce stock levels and therefore exchanging precise delivery information manufacturing companies send demand information not just on a per day level but even more precisely on a time slot level during a specific day. To achieve this the customers use the EDI 862 format which consist of segments containing date, time and quantity information for required materials in order to inform their suppliers.

The ANSI X12 EDI 862 message is crucial when fulfilling the Just-in-time (JIT) process of manufacturing companies. Because of that it is also referred as “Just-in-time”- or JIT message. In JIT environments EDI 862 messages are used as supplement to delivery planning sent by an ANSI X12 EDI 830 message. The EDI 862 messages are sent very frequently to communicate exact shipping times and quantities. Also changes to date, time and quantities of previous EDI 862 transmissions can be exchanged within a new message.

Only suppliers who can guarantee a high delivery quality are eligible for serving JIT processes of manufacturers and automotive OEMs. The ability of automatically processing ANSI X12 EDI 862 messages is one key factor to achieve this level of delivery quality and the according supplier rating.

JIT messages consist of segments and elements specified by the ANSI X12 EDI 862 guideline. EDI solutions – which can either be an on-premises solution or EDI Cloud Service – send, receive and process EDI messages like EDI 862. In order to ensure a high quality of the process it is mandatory to follow the ANSI X12 EDI 862 standards which is vital for time critical processes like the Just-in-Time delivery.

The EDI 862 message is generated on customer side and sent from there to the respective supplier. The supplier’s receiving system validates the message against ANSI X12 EDI 862 specifications after reception and sends back a functional acknowledgement (ANSI X12 997 message type). The functional acknowledgement confirms the reception of the JIT message. After master data validation the information from the EDI 862 message will update the supplier’s planning by adding or updating existing schedules.

ANSI X12 EDI 862 Shipping Schedule and ANSI X12 EDI 830

In JIT processes orders information are never just exchanged with ANSI X12 862 messages. The JIT processes usually start with an ANSI X12 EDI 830 message defining a long term delivery planning. The EDI 862 messages are used to extend the long term planning with precise time information for the shipments in the near future. This way the EDI 862 document provides the details of the EDI 830 shipping schedule.

EDI workflow for processing of the ANSI X12 EDI 862 message

In general the documents which are exchanged between EDI trading partners follow a typical sequence of business processes, which depends on the type of industry. The table below shows the role of an ANSI X12 EDI 862 standard message and which other message types are used in a manufacturing scenario:

ANSI X12 862 — Typical workflow example from the manufaturing industry

Problems that occur when exchanging JIT messages are commonly based on wrong or missing master data. If data is transmitted inside an ANSI X12 EDI 862 messages that is unknown in the supplier’s ERP system, an error on processing step will be the result. Typical issues in context of EDI 862 messages are:

Parts and regarded delivery planning for the requested material do not exist
New plant/dock/assembly line information are exchanged but not maintained on supplier side

Information concerning parts that are ordered (Material No., Material description)
Several lines specifying dates, times and quantities of deliveries (What is delivered when?)
Ship to address (plant, dock/gate addresses, assembly line)

ISA*00* *00* *01*SENDER *01*RECEIVER *231014*1200*U*00401*000000001*1*P*>~
GS*SS*APP SENDER*APP RECEIVER*20231014*1200*0001*X*004010~
ST*862*0001~
BSS*05*12345*20230414*DL*20231014*20231203****ORDER1*A~
N1*MI*SEEBURGER AG*ZZ*00000085~
N3*EDISONSTRASSE 1~
N4*BRETTEN**75015*DE~
N1*SU*SUPLIER NAME*ZZ*11222333~
N3*203 STREET NAME~
N4*ATLANTA*GA*30309*US~
LIN**BP*MATERIAL1*EC*ENGINEERING1*DR*001~
UIT*EA~
PER*SC*SEEBURGER INFO*TE*+49(7525)0~
FST*13*C*D*20231029****DO*12345-1~
FST*77*C*D*20231119****DO*12345-2~
FST*68*C*D*20231203****DO*12345-3~
SHP*01*927*011*20231014~
REF*SI*Q5880~
SHP*02*8557*011*20231014**20231203~
CTT*1*5~
SE*19*0001~
GE*1*0001~
IEA*1*000000001~

Reduces employee workload tremendously

as data has not to be typed in manually and information are exchanged very frequently

Preventing errors

as data is generated automatically by the system w/o human interaction

Due to time savings and reducing the administrational overhead JIT processes are realizable

The frequency of these messages is so high, that it can’t be achieved with a manual process

Ensures delivery quality

as planning is done quicker and less prone to errors (no re-keying)

Saves time and reduces costs

Automatic integration of delivery schedule saves time and reduces costs

Partner nomination

Fulfilling ANSI X12 EDI 862 standards is a prerequisite for the according supplier rating and makes them eligible to be nominated as partners for JIT processes at the end

Updates are automatically communicated

with EDI 862 shipping schedule preventing out-of-stock- or line stoppage situations due to late or wrong deliveries

Reduces material stock levels

in some scenarios no warehouses are intended (ship to assembly line)

Material stock

By following the ANSI X12 EDI 862 standard and less or no material stock is required a wider variety of products can be included for instance for car equipment

The ANSI X12 standard is an EDI standard widely used in the Northern America region. In other regions like EU or ASIA EDIFACT and VDA messages are more common. For exchanging JIT information the EDIFACT DELJIT standard is common there. In the automotive industries the VDA 4985 and VDA 4915 standard messages are widely spread to exchange JIT demands.

The reliable handling of the EDI 862 shipping schedule is essential for the highly integrated manufacturing in the automotive industry. Customers must ensure their production and suppliers they must protect their supplier ratings. Evaluate all options how to optimize your mission critical EDI solution. With SEEBURGER you have plenty of options including on-premises as an in-house operation, or booking it as an EDI Cloud Service ;in the SEEBURGER Cloud with very high SLAs.