You really can't control what happens to the data after your partner receives it
and runs it through their translator. The 997 tells you "I got it". If your
partner sent 500 invoices in a syntactically correct envelope, and your
translator processed it and sent back a 997, then that is good enough for them
that the invoices were delivered. If the envelope fails in translation, then
there is room for doubt that you successfully received all of the data that was
sent. The sender of the data always gets the 997, and it's a real good practice
for the sender to make sure that all sent documents are acknowledged. Depending
on your van (or ftp connection) you may get those additional "touch points" to
see where a document is.
Whenever I set up a new trading relationship, I like to do a connectivity test
and certification test before going to production. The certification usually
involves sending a document, receiving a 997, and receiving a response document
with the correct item numbers, dates and other fields from the originating
document. In some instances I've passed 832 (or excel spreadsheets with item,
upc, description, uom ...) and asked the partner to validate the data before I
start sending POs, just to make sure that i'm ordering what I think i'm
ordering.
If there is no immediate EDI response document (i.e. an 855 for an 850), then
your best bet to getting your partner to process the data is a phone call. Or a
fax. Or a web status page.
Debbie Shaver wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm new to this list, and new to EDI. Our company has begun several
> initiatives to implement traditional EDI transactions with customers,
> suppliers, and distribution channels. As a result, we decided it would be a
> good idea to develop an infrastructure group for all those common tasks
> needed to administer EDI. We have the GENTRAN product installed with some
> customized data flows going in and out. (This was the result of an EDI
> pilot last year that was put on hold for business reasons).
>
> Coming from a mainframe background, one of the key principles drilled into
> my head was, when you send data from one system to another, you ALWAYS
> implement some kind of control totals/audit procedures to make sure all the
> data got there correctly. I have searched all over, including this list's
> archives, for some white paper describing industry best-practices on the
> "control points" within the traditional EDI transaction life cycle. How do
> I make sure ALL the invoices our suppliers sent to our VAN actually make it
> into our AP system, and how do I make sure ALL the payment transactions
> actually make it to the bank? I understand FAs (997s) can be used to
> indicate the transaction made it to the "receiving" translator, but how do
> I make sure it gets into the receiving business application?? How do I make
> sure the custom code that moves the data from the GENTRAN output into the
> business application doesn't have a coding mistake in it that might cause
> records to be dropped/inserted incorrectly??
>
> There seem to be 6-10 "touch points" as a transaction goes from the
> originating business application, through the translator, to the van, into
> the receiving translator and finally into the receiving business
> application. Outside of the 997 reconciliation, what would you guys
> recommend as "best practices"?? If you had it to do over, what kind of
> auditing checkpoints would you put in place??
>
> Thanks in advance!!
> Debbie Shaver
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 206.318.8739
>
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Brian Lehrhoff ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
EDI Consultant
DynamicWeb Enterprises
973-276-3114
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