American National Standards Institute, ANSI
X12 The American National Standards Institute, ANSI,
is the governing body for EDI standards in United States. For EDI, the ANSI has
developed ANSI X12 (Accreditted Standards Committee X12) standard which allow
the communication and exchanging of trading data between computers.
ANSI X12 helps EDI practitioners in mapping the
transactions before sending out. Input are formatted according to standards that
stipulate where certain information should be located. It also define how
individual pieces of information should be represented.
Beside ANSI X12, EDIFACT is another
international standard equivalent to ANSI. EDIFACT stands for EDI for
Administration, Commerce and Transport, is predominately used in Europe. Most companies
will either communicates
with its partners in ANSI or EDIFACT.
Commonly Used Terms for EDI
EDI -
Electronic Data Interchange:
exchange of business information between computer
systems
in a structured
predetermined format over a secured network.
ANSI
- American National Standards Institute:
the governing body for EDI standards in
United States.
EDIFACT - EDI for Administration, Commerce
and Trade: is another international
standard equivalent to ANSI. This is a set
of international standards developed by the United Nations.
Transaction set. Invoice, purchase order,
or some other complete document that includes at least a minimum amount of
prescribed information.
VAN - Value-added network: A
communications network that includes an EDI mailbox.
Translation Software -
used to translate
the EDI transaction from a format that can be used in your business
application and reversely translate your business application format to an
EDI transaction.
