What is an EDI 860?

What is an EDI 860?

An EDI 860 is an electronic document that trading partners use to change their order for goods or services. It is very similar to a paper Purchase Order Change Request document. You can use an EDI 860 to communicate electronically with trading partner’s to edit order information such as:

• Add items
• Change items
• Change dates
• Change quantity
• Price change
• Reschedule

EDI 860 Format

EDI 860s enable businesses to streamline the supply chain by eliminating the need to receive purchase order change requests via fax or email and manually re-key the information into different systems. The automation also keeps the cost of business down as a whole because it frees up resources and reduces human error.

How do I send/receive an EDI 860?

It is fairly easy for a system to send/receive EDI 860s. For the most part, the transmitting is done through the Internet or Value Added Network (VAN). To keep EDI costs affordable, today most EDI transmission is done through the internet using AS2 or secure FTP, eliminating the need for an expensive VAN. The file is kept secure using encryption to keep the data safe.

Translating the EDI 860

Once an EDI 860 document has been received, it must be translated into a functional format for your system. Many organizations have their own standard set of definitions for EDI 860s and companies use a platform like logicbroker to configure and translate these different documents. Once the EDI 860 is translated, the order change information can be synced to your internal system of record such as an ERP – eliminating the need for manual data entry. Once the information exists in your systems, you can quickly process the order. Typically, the next step is to send back similar documents such as an EDI 855 (Purchase Order Acknowledgement) and an EDI 856 (Advance Shipment Notice).

To learn more, please contact us for more information.