Posts Tagged ‘EDI’

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Concise Timeline and History of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The history of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) started in the 1960’s when computer systems first had the capability to transfer data between other computer systems. The progressive history of EDI has centered primarily on the evolution of data format standards for exchanging electronic business documents. On occasions advances in data communications and data protocols have dominated the history of EDI. See timeline below on the history of EDI.

1965: First EDI Messages. Holland-America Steamship Line sends shipping manifests as telex messages that are automatically converted into computer data.

1968: Transportation Data Coordinating Committee (TDDC) Formed. A group of railroad companies concerned with the quality of inter-company exchanges of transportation data formed TDDC to study the problem and to improve it.

1973: FTP Protocol Published. The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) enabled file transfers between Internet sites.

1975: First TDCC Standard Published. Ed Guilbert, a member of the TDCC, is referred to as the Father of EDI, and was involved in coordinating the development of translation rules among four existing sets of industry-specific standards.

1975: Telenet, the first Value Added Network (VAN) Started. Telenet, the first commercial packet-switching network and civilian equivalent of ARPANET, was born. Telenet represented the first value-added network, or VAN — so named because of the extras it offered beyond the basic service of linking computers.

1978: TDCC renamed EDIA and Received ANSI Charter. TDCC was renamed the Electronic Data Interchange Association (EDIA), received a charter from the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and became the ANSI X12 Committee, which gradually extended and replaced those created by the TDCC.

1981: ANSI X12 Published. EDI data standards now existed for transportation (air, motor, ocean, rail), banking, warehouse, food industry, and drug industry.

1981: EDI VAN Services Started. Tymshare started providing EDI services in 1981. The EDI group was eventually spun off and acquired several times to become MCI’s EDI*NET. Most major VANs have their origins in the early 1980s.

1982: EDI Mandated for Automotive Industry. GM and Ford mandate EDI for suppliers.

1985: EDIFACT EDI Standard Created. The EDIFACT EDI standard was created under the auspices of the United Nations to enable a broader global EDI trading capability.

1996: EDI over the Internet (EDIINT) Formed The Uniform Code Council (UCC) started EDI over the Internet (EDIINT) program. EDIINT was set up to standardize the communications of EDI data over the Internet.

2001: AS2 Communication Standard Created. EDIINT published the AS2 standard which supports communications of EDI using the HTTP protocol.

2004: Wal-Mart Implements AS2 Over Internet. Wal-Mart sets trend for EDI over the internet by migrating thousands of their suppliers to AS2 using iSoft.

To be continued …


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EDI Document Types and Standards – Listings and Definitions

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Electronic Data Exchange (EDI) documents are electronic documents that contain the same information as would be found in a paper document. For example, an EDI 850 is an electronic purchase order that would contain the same information as found on a purchase order form. EDI document standards support most business and organizations that have a need to exchange electronic business documents. Besides typical business documents, EDI supports medicine, transportation, and construction industries.


Major EDI Document Standards.


There are four major sets of EDI standards to include UN/EDIFACT (International Standard), ANSI ASC X12 (US), TRADACOMS (UK), and ODETTE (European automotive industry). All these major EDI standards emerged in the mid-’80s.

EDIFACT. EDIFACT is an United Nations sponsored standard that is the commonly accepted Electronic Document Exchange (EDI) standard outside of North America. EDIFACT messages are defined and maintained by work groups at the UN. See the EDIFactory listing of EDIFACT Messages with complete descriptions.

ANSI ASC X12. ANSI ASC X12 is the U.S. national standards body for EDI standards. ANSI ASC X12 stands for the “American National Standards Institute Accredited Standards Committee X12″. X12 is the sequential designation assigned by ANSI at the time of accreditation. See EDIGenie.com for a EDI X12 Document Listing with Descriptions.


EDI Document Types Definitions.


EDI Standards. EDI standards such as X12 describe pieces of information that are mandatory and optional for a particular electronic document. Additionally, the standard describes the data structure and rules for a given electronic document. These rules provide general rules for trading partners to exchange a particular set of electronic documents.

EDI Guideline Specifications. In order for two or more trading partners to exchange EDI with each other, they need to agree on exactly how they will implement a given EDI document. Normally, one of the trading partners will provide an EDI implementation guideline that the trading partners will use to implement the EDI standard. Normally, the larger trading partner, like a large retailer or a transportation carrier, will provide an EDI guideline that most trading partners can agree with and implement a specific EDI interface.

HIPPA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1996. HIPPA requires the establishment of national standards for electronic health care transactions and national identifiers for providers, health insurance plans, and employers. The HIPAA/EDI provision has an open-ended mandate for healthcare organizations to exchange X12 EDI documents. This includes filing electronic claims. HIPAA is a key catalyst for implementing EDI within the healthcare industry. See Wikipedia for more on HIPAA.


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The AS2 Standard for EDI Over the Internet (EDIINT)

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Though I have concerns about AS2, it IS the B2B standard for exchanging electronic business documents over the internet using the popular http/https communications protocol. AS2 is more sophisticated than just plain HTTP or HTTPS because it defines extra standards such as HTTP protocol responses, and message format wrappers for EDI documents. AS2 can be used with non-EDI documents where non-EDI acknowledgments called Message Delivery Notifications (MDN) are used to acknowledge receipt of AS2 files.

AS2 Acronyms. EDI-INT AS2 is a mouthful of acronyms. EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). EDI-INT stands for EDI over the Internet which is a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This group is charge with documenting the requirements and best practices for secure, interoperable EDI over the internet. AS2 stands for Application Statement 2 which is based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and HTTP Secure / Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS).

Why Use EDI-INT AS2? If two businesses desire to exchange electronic business documents directly, by by-passing traditional Value Added Networks (VAN), then they should use a secure, viable communications protocol. The biggest reason to implement EDI-INT AS2 is that the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) recommends it as the standard for HTTP/HTTPS data transfer. The IETF is the key International standards group for internet architecture and the smooth operations of the internet. The AS2 standard is recommended for its security and interoperability. At the same time, AS2 is a cumbersome protocol to implement.

Characteristics of EDI-INT AS2. The AS2 is the http-based standard for exchanging B2B documents over the internet. My concern with AS2 is whether a business or its trading partners have the technical know-how and resources to implement it and maintain it. Below are some characteristics of the AS2 standard.

  • Security and Verification. Increased verification and security achieved through the use of receipts and digital signatures.
  • Real-time Data Exchange. Transactions and acknowledgments occur in real-time. This can be a plus for transactional-based data exchange such as with financial authorizations and other real-time operations.
  • Exchange of Public and Private Keys. Public keys are used for encrypting each other’s EDI files, while the private key is used for decrypting.
  • Always Open Link. AS2 is a push-only protocol. It is not ad/hoc or push/pull as with a FTP-type communications protocols. With AS2, companies receive AS2 data by having a computer waiting for incoming http requests.
  • Cumbersome to Implement and Maintain. Because of the security, certifications and verifications, AS2 adds on layers of complexities that can overwhelm a technical staff in terms of know-how as well as labor to maintain the B2B interfaces.

More EDI-INT AS2 Links. Wikipedia AS2 | EDIdEv – Electronic Data Interchange Development | Secure File Transfer Protocols | EDI University – AS2.


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