What is ANSI X12?

The ANSI X12 EDI Message Standard

ANSI X12 stands for American National Standards Institute X12 and refers to the American EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) standard developed back in 1979 by the ANSI subsidiary Accredited Standards Committee (ASC).

The goal of ANSI X12 is to uniform standards for inter-industry electronic exchange of business documents, namely EDI. ANSI X12 is a global set of rules for the intercompany electronic data exchange between two EDI Trading Partners.

By defining uniform segments and elements that describe the information in the electronic file and which are used for a wide variety of business documents (such as invoices, purchase orders, delivery notes, etc.), a common standard was invented.

The EDI format needs to follow the established EDI format standard. In addition to the North American ANSI X12 standard and the global EDIFACT standard, there are other regional or industry-specific EDI message standards.

With an EDI software or EDI cloud solution from SEEBURGER, any EDI data format found on the market can be converted.

5 Principles For Your EDI Success

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ANSI X12 EDI Subcommittees

However, since the ANSI X12 standard was very comprehensive and can cover nearly every business transaction and every industry vertical, subgroups (the so-called ASC subcommittees) soon emerged. By creating so-called subsets, the messages are grouped and thus easier to understand.

The Accredited Standards Committee is divided in following ASC Subcommittees:

  • X12C - Communications & Controls
  • X12F - Finance
  • X12I - Transportation
  • X12J - Technical Assessment
  • X12M - Supply Chain
  • X12N - Insurance

ANSI X12 Message Type

The following Figure 2 provides an overview of the main ANSI X12 messages.
Each Message type is identified by a 3 digits code number:

Figure 2: ANSI X12 Message Types
EDI 810InvoiceWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 810 Message?
EDI 820Payment order (EFT)What is an ANSI X12 EDI 820 Message?
EDI 830Delivery forecastWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 830 Message?
EDI 832Price/sales catalogueWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 832 Message?
EDI 846Inventory Inquiry/AdviceWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 846 Message?
EDI 850Purchase orderWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 850 Message?
EDI 855Purchase order acknowledgementWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 855 Message?
EDI 856Ship Notice/manifest (ASN)What is an ANSI X12 EDI 856 Message?
EDI 860Purchase order changeWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 860 Transaction?
EDI 862Delivery Just-in-TimeWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 862 Message?
EDI 997Functional AcknowledgementWhat is an ANSI X12 EDI 997 Message?

ANSI X12 Message Structure

ANSI X12 messages consist of 3 parts typically. The segments that can be used in each of these parts for a particular message type are listed in the related tables defined in the ANSI X12 standards document which follows the structure:

  1. Header
  2. Detail
  3. Summary

An ANSI X12 message always begins with the Transaction Set Header (ST) segment in “1. Header” and always ends with the Transaction Set Trailer (SE) segment in “3. Summary”.

In between the Transaction Set Header (ST) segment and Transaction Set Trailer (SE) segment there are segments with an ID and Title in a desired sequence of segments. The content and sequence varies for the type of ANSI X12 EDI message type as outlined in Figure 1.

ANSI X12 Process Example for the Retail Industry

Different Industries use different message types in a different order which reflects their typical business processes.

ANSI X12 Process Example for the Automotive Industry

In contrast this is an example for a different type of supply chain management.

How to become capable to handle ANSI X12 EDI Message Standard

SEEBURGER provides the B2B\EDI integration capability to meet the ANSI X12 requirements of small, mid-size and enterprise businesses around the globe and for any industry. To find the right solution for your requirements please contact us.

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