What is an EDI advance shipping notice (ASN)?

An advance shipping notice, or ASN, is an EDI message sent to a retailer when a delivery is despatched, giving advance notice of what is on its way. In the Morrisons mandate it had to include product details such as shelf life dates, quantity and weight, so the Fresh Distribution Centre could plan and verify deliveries before they arrived.

What is a purchase order response (POR) in EDI?

A purchase order response, or POR, is an EDI message sent back to a retailer on receipt of a purchase order, confirming whether the supplier can fulfil what has been requested. Morrisons required Shaken Udder to send a POR for every order, giving the retailer earlier visibility of stock availability across its fresh supply chain.

Why did Morrisons introduce new mandatory EDI message types for suppliers?

Morrisons introduced the new EDI message types as part of a wider drive to tighten its supply chain processes, moving fresh produce trading away from paper based communication and towards digital, real time information exchange. The change gives Morrisons greater flexibility and visibility across its buying, moving and selling of fresh products, and applies to all new fresh food trading connections.

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Morrisons mandate new EDI messages

When the team at Shaken Udder recently received notification from Morrisons that the supermarket giant was introducing mandatory new EDI message types they knew they could rely on Transalis eDI™

Transalis15 December 2020

Shaken Udder EDI message types for Morrisons

What did Morrisons require from EDI suppliers like Shaken Udder?

Morrisons required fresh produce suppliers, including its customer Shaken Udder, to add new EDI message types on top of the invoices and orders they already exchanged. These included advance shipping notices sent when a delivery left for a Fresh Distribution Centre, purchase order responses confirming whether an order could be fulfilled, and electronic proof of delivery once goods had arrived, all part of Morrisons tightening its fresh supply chain.

Luckily, the dairy manufacturer uses Transalis eDI™, an EDI solution that allows users to introduce new standard messages at no extra cost, and offers simple, fast configuration of all non-standard messages.

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Morrisons EDI mandate for fresh food suppliers

Morrisons is on a new strategic drive to tighten up its supply chain processes.

The UK supermarket giant recently notified its fresh produce suppliers that it would be implementing a new system for the rapid transmission of order information. The objective is to increase their operational efficiencies in the buying, moving and selling of fresh products.

The new mandated EDI message types will automate elements of the Morrisons fresh supply chain. This digitisation also provides greater flexibility and visibility to all parties involved. The roll-out is in progress across existing suppliers and will be a requirement for all new fresh food trading connections.

Supporting clients with new EDI message requirements

Our client and producer of premium fresh milkshakes, Shaken Udder, already exchange invoices and orders documents with Morrisons using a Transalis eDI™ solution.

However, they have recently been notified that they need to extend the EDI message set to also include:

ASNs (Advanced Shipping Notices)
PORs (Purchase Order Response)
EPODs (Electronic Proof of Delivery)

Morrisons notified Shaken Udder that they would be required to send an ASN via EDI when a delivery was despatched to a Fresh Distribution Centre. This ASN message needs to contain product details, such as; shelf-life dates, quantity and weight of the delivery.

Morrisons now also require a POR via EDI upon receipt of a purchase order. The POR is used to confirm whether or not Shaken Udder is able to fulfil the order requested.

In addition, the Shaken Udder must also be able to accept EPOD messages from Morrisons, once a delivery had been made.

Wider set of EDI message types for business agility

Transalis eDI™ allows users to send and receive a broad range of standard messages types and offers custom configuration of other non-standard requests.

Cecily Adams, Customer Experience Manager at Transalis comments,

“Many large trading hubs, like Morrisons, are constantly looking at ways they can create efficiencies and tighten up on their supply chain processes. This will often require moving more and more supply chain messaging from a paper-based environment to an EDI paper to digital exchange of data.

“Therefore, companies should protect themselves by ensuring their EDI solution provider is agile and willing to quickly react to changing mandated requirements, placed on suppliers by their retailer hubs, often at very short notice.

Frequently asked questions

What is an EDI advance shipping notice (ASN)?: An advance shipping notice, or ASN, is an EDI message sent to a retailer when a delivery is despatched, giving advance notice of what is on its way. In the Morrisons mandate it had to include product details such as shelf life dates, quantity and weight, so the Fresh Distribution Centre could plan and verify deliveries before they arrived.
What is a purchase order response (POR) in EDI?: A purchase order response, or POR, is an EDI message sent back to a retailer on receipt of a purchase order, confirming whether the supplier can fulfil what has been requested. Morrisons required Shaken Udder to send a POR for every order, giving the retailer earlier visibility of stock availability across its fresh supply chain.
Why did Morrisons introduce new mandatory EDI message types for suppliers?: Morrisons introduced the new EDI message types as part of a wider drive to tighten its supply chain processes, moving fresh produce trading away from paper based communication and towards digital, real time information exchange. The change gives Morrisons greater flexibility and visibility across its buying, moving and selling of fresh products, and applies to all new fresh food trading connections.

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