Transcript Understanding the Implementation Process

Current Trends in
Electronic Data
Interchange (EDI)
NEMUG
November, 2008
Faith Lamprey
Aurora Technologies
(401) 765-3721
[email protected]
www.auroratechedi.com
Agenda







EDI Terminology
Item Synchronization
RFID
AS3/AS4
EDI vs XML
New X12 Envelope
Future of EDI
Terminology


GS1, the global organization that manages
standards and guidelines for several industries,
including retail and grocery, publishes GS1
General Specifications
Glossary of Terms can be downloaded with
(www.gs1.org/docs/barcode/GS1_Standards_Glossary_of_Terms.pdf)
UPC



UPC - Universal Product Code
Bar Code Symbology
NOT the same as an Item Number
0
12345
67890
5
GTIN

GTIN – Global Trade Identification Number

Any item (product or service) upon which there is a need to retrieve
pre-defined information and that may be priced, or ordered, or invoiced
at any point in any supply chain

One type of GTIN is GTIN-12 (made up of twelve digits), assigned by
brand owners in the U.S. for trade items that are an each, inner pack,
standard case or even unit load (more on “unit load” later)

Each unit of measure needs a separate GTIN
The structure is a UCC-12 in the
14 digit GTIN Representation
Zeroes are needed if ITF-14
or UCC/EAN-128 bar codes
are used
Standard trade item
grouping of 8 cases
00 614141 44444 C
Standard trade item
Grouping of 4 cases
00 614141 33333 C
Standard trade item grouping of 1 case
of 15 retail items
00 614141 22222 C
Item Reference method
of uniqueness for
fixed content products
Retail Consumer Trade Item = quantity of one
614141 11111 C
SSCC

SSCC - Serial Shipping Container Code

Serial Number given to a logistics unit for shipping
and receiving

It is tied to an advanced ship notice (ASN) so we
know the contents, ordering, and shipping
information related to that carton or unit load
(00) 0 0614141 123456789 0
EPC


EPC is the acronym for Electronic Product Code
The structure of the data on a tag
EPC Format
Header
EPC Manager
Number
Object Class
Serial Number
•Header - identifies the length, type, structure, version,
and generation of the EPC
•EPC Manager Number - entity responsible for
maintaining the subsequent partitions (company prefix)
•Object Class - identifies a class of objects (item
reference number)
•Serial Number - identifies the instance
Item Synchronization





Originally UCCnet
Now managed by GS1
Wal-Mart launched an initiative this past spring called the New
Item Creation through Data Synchronization where they asked
all of their suppliers to be on Global Data Synchronization by
June 1
Both 1SYNC and GSDN were acceptable data pools and data
could be submitted via spreadsheet, EDI 832 document or XML
formats
Ensures data elements are in synch between Trading Partners
RF


RF is Radio Frequency
Radio Frequency is a method of wireless
communication




Your garage door is RF
EZ Pass is RF
Wireless LAN
RF is a method of data capture


Many scanners are wireless (RF)
You are not tethered to a computing device
RF


Uses an RF tag that contains the new EPC
(Electronic Product Code)
Tags:



Chip and antenna inside a traditional label
Built into a plastic or rubber RF tag
Chips built into packaging
RFID Tags

Active



A tag that has its own power source (battery)
It “chirps” or sends out a signal that says “Here I am”
Passive

Must pass through electromagnetic field that sends power to the
chip
RFID Components
Reader
Antenna
Tag (chip+antenna)
RF Chips





Static – serial numbers pre-written
Write Once – Read Many (WORM)
Write and add information
Write and over-write
Types




Smart Cards
Smart Chips
Rubber tags in a cow’s ear
Tags built into containers, packaging, pallets
RFID Tags
RFID Tags
RFID Issues

Reading problems



Depth of field – read too many or not enough
Liquid absorbs RF signals
Other RF devices may interfere
Wireless Scanners
 Wireless networks




Current reads are 85%-90%
Cost of labels still too high for widespread adoption
Privacy issues
RFID Advantages








Can read through the box – labels are not smudged
Can read the cartons in the middle of the pallet
Can be automated and not dependent on people scanning
the right label (Label format and placement not an issue)
Things talking to things – fork lifts, shelves, dock doors,
trucks, garbage containers, products
Food / Drug Tracing
Automatic check out
Call out stale / discontinued product
“Find” product in wrong locations
AS3
 AS3 stands for Applicability Statement 3






It is a communications standard that uses FTP/S to send EDI
transactions over the Internet
Some say it offers greater security than the HTTP/S-based AS2
protocol
It’s a “push and pull” technology, as opposed to AS2, which is a
push-only technology
EDI or XML transactions can be sent over the Internet using
AS3
There are not many large companies mandating use of AS3, as
Wal-Mart did with AS2.
AS3 has added benefits for those companies that already rely
heavily on FTP to send and receive transactions
AS4
 AS4: Secure B2B Document Exchange Using Web Services



Web Services based protocol
 AS4 standard is being developed by a subcommittee of the
OASIS ebXML Messaging Services Technical Committee
 An open standard for the secure and payload-agnostic exchange
of B2B documents using Web services
AS4 will not replace AS2
The end goal is to replicate and strategically extend the existing
functional requirements currently satisfied by AS2 by mapping
those requirements onto the Web services platform
EDI vs XML
 EDI


has defined auditability, tracing, speed
Companies do not wish to change what works
EDI is well established with defined standards
 XML
has ease-of-use, easy viewing
capability, more tools in the market


Companies do not wish to implement “old technologies”
XML standards are still in the development stage
EDI vs XML
New X12 Envelope



ANSI X12 is the most commonly used B2B
standard
Increasing use of EDI globally requires continued
development
Innovation by businesses continue to drive EDI
document development and enhancements
New X12 Envelope

Changes to the X12 Envelope Standards have
been proposed to support:









Multiple destinations (i.e., carbon copy functionality)
Multi-hop capability
Wider (more digits/characters) in send/receive fields
Release and additional delimiters
Internationalization - Multi-byte character sets
Real time transactions with a session number
Publish and subscribe mode HL7 / Public Bid & Response
Harmonization with other Standard Organizations and national efforts
Have a separate field for versioning the code lists – so that the code lists
are not dependent on the standard/implementation version numbers.
Future of EDI



EDI is experiencing an increase in usage as more
companies use it to exchange business documents
85-90% of all B2B transaction volumes are based
on EDI (2007 study by Forrester Research, B2B
Integration Trends: Message Formats)
XML is growing quickly but remain, at best, 15%
of B2B traffic.
Why has EDI not been replaced
with another Technology?




EDI is a mature standard (is reliable and has
wide-spread use)
EDI is working – Don’t fix what isn’t broken!
EDI is less expensive than implementing newer
technologies
EDI is ubiquitous – it is everywhere!
 HIPAA
mandates the use of EDI for secure exchange of
medical information (they just changed the law to update to a
higher version of the standard!)
Why has EDI not been replaced
with another Technology?



EDI is not industry specific
EDI is network protocol independent, allowing it
to work with newer protocol standards like AS2
While new technologies and techniques like XML
will surely increase in usage, EDI is here to stay!
The End
www.auroratechedi.com