EDI Logistics Terms and Definitions For Better EDI Understading
EDI Logistics Terms given in today’s post invclude some of the most used EDI definitions used for transportation and shipping. As it is known, EDI is a standard format for exchanging business data between organisations by electronic means. It is used to exchange electronic documents (business data) between computer systems as an electronic equivalent for paper-based orders, confirmation and invoices between trading partners.
Some of the key advantages of EDI in logistics include:
- The option of storing and manipulating data electronically without the cost of manual entry
- Reduced errors, such as shipping and billing errors, due to eliminating the need to rekey documents on the destination side
- Increased speed in which trading partner receives and incorporates the information into their system thus greatly reducing cycle times
- Alternative to/replacement of information flow that requires high levels of human interaction and material resources
- Direct and easy communication of structured business information, on agreed standards, between parties
- Faster delivery due to faster information flow.
- EDI’s saves unneccessary re-capture of data. This leads to faster transfer of data, far fewer errors, less time wasted on exception-handling, and hence a more stream-lined business process.
Most used EDI Logistics Terms
- APN – Australian Product Number Barcode unique to a product: 13 digit barcode or number, containing country prefix number (2), company number (5), item number (5) and a check digit (1). Also called GTIN – Global Trade Item Number
- ASN – Advance Shipping Note is an EDI document which has completed order information compiled inside
- B2B – business to business trading using electronic (eCommerce) or electronic trading networks
- Cross-docking – Unloading materials from an incoming trailer and then loading them into an outbound trailer without sorting and distributing the items in the warehouse.
- DCD – istribution CentreDIFOTdelivery in full on time. A measure of performance for transport/logistics providers
- EAN – Labelinternationally recognised, standard label format, designed for use on any transport unit, including cartons, shippers (or inners) and pallets to identify the goods being transportedEANEuropean Article Number: barcode numbering system recognised internationally
- GTIN – Global Tracking Item Number. It is a product or APN number.
- Order management system – Software that receives customer order information and inventory availability from the warehouse management system and then groups orders by customer and priority, allocates inventory, and determines delivery dates; also called order processing system.
- PAD – product activity data (see POS)
- POS – point of sale. Upon sale of a product data is collected when the barcode is scanned so that sales data can be collected by the retailer. This data is sometimes called PAD data (product activity data)
- RPO – reverse purchase order where orders are automatically created when stock is sold through information gathered from point of sale (POS)
- SKU – stock keeping unit. Description of an individual style of productSKUStock-keeping unit, a specific item in a specific unit of measure
- SSCC – Serial Shipping Container Code: a unique identifying number for individual shipment of goods. Sometimes called a Shipping Container Mark (SCM)
- UPC – North American unique product barcode with twelve (12) digits
- Warehouse management system (WMS) – Computer software designed to manage the storage and movement of items throughout the warehouse.