The EnTrust EDI glossary is a useful resource that will enable you to become familiar with the most commonly used and essential terms used when working with EDI.

EnTrust EDI Glossary

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) The national standards body for the United States. ANSI, through its accredited standards committees, keeps the standards for all applications of technology and mechanics for U.S. Industry. Business documents in the U.S are often referred to by their ANSI code, such as 850 (PO), 810 (Invoice) and 856 (ASN).
Applicability Statement (AS) 2 A newer protocol developed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to implement secure and reliable messaging over HTTP. Allows data to be sent over the Internet using the HTTP protocol.
Business to Business (B2B) The practice of buying and selling between companies through the use of electronic transactions.
Business To Consumer (B2C) The practice of selling products directly to consumers.
Communication Software Software used to provide remote access to systems and exchange files and messages in text, audio and/or video formats between different computers or users.
Document Within the context of EDI, a document is an exchange of information between trading partners that contains the same amount of detail that is contained inside its paper equivalent.
Element Elements in an EDI Transaction Set are the individual items of information within the document.
Envelope The combination of header, trailer, and sometimes other control segments, that define the start and end of an individual EDI message.
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) business process management software that allows an organization to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back-office functions related to technology, services, and human resources.
ISA In EDI transactions this information is shared via the ISA ID. For companies new to EDI (and even those actively trading) the ISA ID can be particularly challenging because it must be unique and there’s no central repository of master ISA IDs. Further, you must have your own ISA ID and that of your trading partner — which are designated as SENDER and RECEIVER in the X12.
Mapping The act of determining what pieces of information in the company’s database should be placed into each data element of an EDI message or transaction set, or in reverse, what data elements of an EDI message or transaction set should be placed into the company’s database.
Qualifier Part of an EDI address.
SCAC code Standard Carrier Alpha Codes (SCAC) are unique four-letter codes that identify transportation carriers
Segment A part of an EDI message or transaction set, made up of a number of related data elements separated by a delimiter, conveying a part of the business transaction is made.
Ship Via Ship Via codes represent the carrier or service that delivers merchandise from you to your customers. Each order must be assigned a valid shipper code in Order Entry.
Standards Something established for use as a rule or basis of comparison. In the context of EDI, this usually refers to the system of message standards that are in use between business partners.
Supplier/Customer Relationship The Customer-Supplier Relationship is the business relation between the customers and the suppliers in terms of product quality, services, complaint handling, deliveries, etc. Customers and Suppliers are vital components of a business. Both have the same goal – to satisfy end-consumers. Hence, having a healthy Customer-Supplier relationship is imperative for any business.
Trading Partner A trading partner is another company with whom you conduct business, such as a vendor or customer.
UCC 128/GS1 128 label UCC 128 labels, or now known as the GS1 128 label, allow your customer to scan the label’s bar code and find out what the contents of the carton are before opening it.
VAN A Value Added Network (VAN) refers to an intermediary used to facilitate EDI connectivity between trading partners.
XML XML stands for Extensible Markup Language – an open standard for describing data defined by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C).

About Encompass Solutions

Encompass Solutions, Inc. is an ERP consulting firm, NetSuite Solution Provider and Epicor Gold Partner that offers professional services in business consulting, project management, and software implementation. Whether undertaking full-scale implementation, integration, and renovation of existing systems or addressing the emerging challenges in corporate and operational growth, Encompass provides a specialized approach to every client’s needs. As experts in identifying customer requirements and addressing them with the right solutions, we ensure our clients are equipped to match the pace of Industry.