A couple of weeks ago, I posed the following questions to the group:
1. Can VICS EDI 856 support multiple purchase orders, each from different
vendors, in a single carton?
2. If 856 can support different vendor goods in a single pack, what are the
implications for the case marking requirements?
I would like to thank everyone who emailed me their thoughts. This was my
first time posing a question to the group. I am very impressed with all the
responses I received back and only hope that in the future, I might be able
to help others out just as much!
After reading the emails I received, speaking to a couple of you, and
further digging, I found the answers to my questions. I also found a great
resource at the UCC, Frann Moser. She knows her stuff. I hope that the
following information is helpful to others. Note, I am coming from a retail
(specifically apparel) perspective. What I describe is not specific to
apparel, but I do not know what adoption looks like in other industries.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again!
Sarah
_____________________
Sarah McKeracher
Tel: 416 601 1777 x257
Fax: 416 601 0777
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VICS EDI 856 Transaction Set Findings
1. Can VICS EDI 856 support multiple purchase orders, each from different
vendors, in a single carton?
Yes. A few versions ago, the 856 transaction set was expanded to six
hierarchical levels to allow for multiple vendor purchase orders in a single
carton.
The six hierarchical levels in the Ship Notice/ Manifest are as follows:
SHIPMENT: Data related to a shipment moving from an origin location to a
receiving location (i.e., Bill of Lading number, ship to, ship from). There
is only one shipment level in each 856 transaction set.
UNIT LOAD: Data related to a physical carton marked with a UCC/EAN 128
Serial Shipping container code (SSCC-18).
ORDER: Data related to supplier�s order and buyer�s original purchase order
(i.e., purchase order number, buying location, department number).
TARE: Data related to pallets. Can be omitted if no pallets.
PACK: When UNIT LOAD used in ASN, PACK level only used if there are inner
packs in carton. When UNIT LOAD is not used, PACK level information
includes data related to shipping carton (i.e., SSCC-18).
ITEM: Data related to the shipped products (i.e., SKU).
The UNIT LOAD level allows the ASN to list multiple vendor goods in a single
carton by allowing multiple �Orders� below a single Unit Load. An example
of how an ASN would be constructed for a carton with three vendor purchase
orders is as follows:
SHIPMENT
UNIT LOAD (Carton information)
ORDER LEVEL (Vendor #1 purchase order information)
PACK (Identifies if there are inner packs in carton)
ITEM (Specific vendor item or UCC-12 identifier)
ORDER LEVEL (Vendor #2 purchase order information)
PACK
ITEM
ORDER LEVEL (Vendor #3 purchase order information)
PACK
ITEM
While the bundling of multiple vendor goods from different purchase orders
into a single carton is supported by the 856 transaction set, the question
remains as to whether the retailer will be able to receive and process the
856 containing this information. Feedback suggests that system capabilities
at the retailer level will be the biggest hurdle. Conversations with a few
resources lead me to believe that very few retailers today have the
capability to process 856s with multiple purchase orders from different
vendors. The problem being that we are sending �pick and pack� data in a
different way since we will be using the UNIT LOAD level of information that
is not widely used in the apparel industry.
In addition to the system changes that allow retailers to receive 856s
containing UNIT LOAD information, there is also the issue of splitting a
single purchase order across a number of ASNs. If we are splitting the
retailer�s original purchase order across a variety of shipments, then the
retailer systems need to be able to reconcile the physical shipments with
the purchase order, and eventually close out the purchase order once all
items have been shipped/received. Initial thinking is that retailers must
be doing that today for large purchase orders that are not in a single
shipping unit. However, further investigation needs to be done to see if
the majority of systems are able to handle this reconciliation.
2. If 856 can support different vendor goods in a single pack, what are the
implications for the case marking requirements?
I am talking about the UCC-128 (or SSCC-18) markings. Since the 128 points
back to the ASN, and a single ASN can support multiple purchase orders, from
multiple vendors, case markings will not change. A single 128 will be able
to support the commingled cases that we are proposing to do.
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