ANSI X12 transaction set 856
Automate accurate EDI 856 ASNs from your warehouse, 3PL, carrier and fulfilment systems.
Tirnav helps suppliers generate, validate, transform, and transmit EDI 856 ASNs to retailers and trading partners, integrating shipment data with NetSuite, SAP, WMS, 3PL, and custom business systems.
Message overview
EDI 856 is the Advance Ship Notice used to tell a buyer or retailer that a shipment is on its way. It can describe the shipment hierarchy, pallets, cartons, items, quantities, carrier, tracking and expected delivery information required for receiving.
Typical message flow
Related order-to-cash flow
Implementation workflow
Collect shipment, carton, pallet and item data from the warehouse or 3PL
Build the partner-required shipment hierarchy and HL loops
Validate SSCC, license-plate, item, quantity, carrier and tracking data
Generate the EDI 856 ASN and transmit it before the shipment arrives
Monitor acknowledgements, rejects and receiving exceptions
Reprocess corrected ASNs with transaction history preserved
X12 reference
Segment requirements vary by trading partner and implementation guide. These are common examples, not a universal requirement list.
| Segment | Business meaning | Implementation notes |
|---|---|---|
| ST / SE | Transaction set control | Marks the beginning and end of the EDI 856 transaction set and provides transaction control information. |
| BSN | Beginning segment | Identifies the purpose of the ASN, shipment identification or control number, and the shipment date or time. |
| HL | Hierarchical levels | Defines the shipment hierarchy and relationships between shipment, order, pack, and item levels. |
| TD1 | Carrier & packaging information | Communicates packaging details, package counts, weights, and related shipment information when required. |
| TD5 | Carrier & routing information | Identifies the carrier, transportation method, service level, routing, and related transportation information. |
| REF | Reference identification | Carries shipment, purchase order, vendor, tracking, carrier, warehouse, and other trading-partner-specific reference numbers. |
| DTM | Date & time reference | Communicates shipment, delivery, estimated arrival, and other dates or times required by the trading partner. |
| N1 / N2 / N3 / N4 | Name & address | Identifies parties and locations such as ship-from, ship-to, buyer, supplier, and other locations required by the implementation guide. |
| PRF | Purchase order reference | Associates the shipment with the related purchase order and communicates purchase-order-level reference information. |
| MAN | Marks & numbers | Communicates carton, pallet, SSCC, license-plate, container, or other package-level identification numbers. |
| LIN | Item identification | Identifies shipped products using SKU, UPC, GTIN, vendor item number, buyer item number, or other partner-specific identifiers. |
| SN1 | Item quantity | Communicates shipped quantities, units of measure, and related item-level quantity information. |
| PID | Product description | Provides additional product or item descriptions when required by the trading partner. |
| PO4 | Item physical details | Communicates packaging and physical characteristics such as pack quantity, size, weight, or dimensions when required. |
| CTT | Transaction totals | Provides transaction-level control totals, such as the number of line items, when required by the implementation guide. |
Mapping and operations
Tirnav transforms the partner message into the format required by your ERP, WMS, OMS, 3PL or custom application while applying partner-specific business rules.
Exception handling
Detect rejected, malformed or incomplete messages.
Diagnose source data, mapping or business-rule failures.
Resolve the issue with the right owner and correction.
Reprocess safely while preserving transaction history.
Trading partners
Related transaction sets
EDI 856 is an Advance Ship Notice that tells a trading partner what has shipped, how it is packed and how it can be identified when received.
Depending on the partner guide, an ASN can include shipment, order, pallet, carton, item, quantity, carrier, tracking, delivery and SSCC or license-plate information.
HL loops represent hierarchical shipment relationships such as shipment, order, pack or carton and item. The exact hierarchy varies by trading partner.
Yes. Tirnav can collect shipment and packing data from WMS, warehouse, carrier and 3PL systems and transform it into the required ASN format.
Where required by the partner implementation, Tirnav can map carton and pallet identifiers, SSCC data and label-related information into the ASN workflow.
We identify the failed segment or business rule, route the issue to the right owner, prevent duplicate transmission and support controlled correction and reprocessing.
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