Implementation of VICS EDI Basics Processing
The Voluntary Interindustry Commerce Standard (VICS) EDI is the EDI standard used and maintained by the retail industry. VICS EDI bridges the information gap between companies with different computer configurations. VICS EDI is also independent of a company’s internal application systems. It interfaces with application systems rather than being integrated with them.
Implementation of VICS EDI requires decisions concerning the choice of computer and communications equipment, the acquisition of translation software, and the development of programs to bridge between internal applications and VICS EDI. This section describes available alternatives and the factors to consider in making these decisions.
Before making equipment and software decisions, it is important to understand how VICS EDI operates. VICS EDI supports the transmission of data from one company to another in a single direction, e.g., a retailer generates a purchase order and transmits it to a supplier; the supplier receives the purchase order and returns a confirmation of receipt. Both transmissions travel in a single direction – from the retailer to the supplier, then from the supplier back to the retailer.
The retailer extracts data from internal application files, and then builds a sequential or flat file containing the information needed to produce a purchase order. Translation software uses the flat file to generate a VICS EDI purchase order. During this step, most translation software performs editing and validation functions to make sure that:
- data elements required by the standard are present,
- data is properly formatted and,
- relationships between data elements are valid.
Error Detection
When errors are detected, diagnostic messages will describe the errors encountered. Errors are usually corrected by editing the data itself or by making corrections to the extraction process, or both. After the transaction set has been generated in VICS EDI format, it is transmitted to the supplier, in this example, using one of many communications processes (direct phone link, Value-Added Network (VAN), etc.).
At the receiving end, this process is reversed. The incoming VICS EDI data is input to translation software that performs three functions:
- the data is checked for accuracy and completeness in terms of compliance with the VICS EDI standard,
- the VICS EDI data is translated into a flat file for entry into the supplier’s order entry system and,
- the translation software generates an acknowledgment in VICS EDI format for return
- transmission to the retailer.
If the supplier’s translation software detects any errors in the initial transmission from the retailer, they can be noted in the acknowledgment. Acknowledgments are formatted, communicated and processed as all other VICS EDI transactions, but they themselves are not acknowledged.
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