EANCOM DESADV Despatch advice message
EANCOM Despatch advice message specifies details for goods despatched or ready for despatch under agreed conditions. This message indicates the despatch of goods being delivered or being, returned, and the intent of the transaction is to advise of the detailed contents of a consignment. EANCOM DESADV relates to one seller and one buyer or their respective agent; it relates to a single despatch point and single or multiple destination points.
Despatch advice message allows the recipient to:
- know when the material has been despatched or will be ready for dispatch
- have the precise details of the consignment
- take initial steps towards customs clearance in case of international consignments
- enable the control between despatched goods with the following invoice.
The Despatch Advice message should always be sent before goods are physically delivered or returned – this makes it possible for the receiving party to use the data to prepare efficiently for the reception of the goods. Each unit delivered (pallet, carton, …) should be uniquely identified.
In the EANCOM DESADV message, the products contained in each uniquely identified unit are described. When the goods are received, the physical shipment and the electronic message can be cross-checked. Discrepancies are immediately identified. It is recommended to use the standard EAN.UCC Serial Shipping Container Code structure to identify the units.
Structure of the Despatch Advice
EANCOM DESADV message enables a hierarchical description of the shipment, starting with the highest level (shipment) and ending with the lowest level (items). One can for example describe a container comprising 5 pallets, a pallet being composed of several large despatch units which themselves contain smaller despatch units. The traded units (any level of packaging agreed by the trading partners) are then specified. It is however not mandatory to describe the hierarchical structure of the shipment. A simple and probably most frequent use of the message consists in specifying the items to be despatched and the relevant information per item (quantity, additional identification …).
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