EDI Message Implementation Information for SAP Users

The following information is needed to implement a new EDI message in an SAP environment if you are implementing internally using your own EDI translator system and team. It is a lot of information for one message, but it is necessary in order to understand exactly what data needs to be consumed or produced by your applications and business processes.

Every electronic message will require this information. If you have 1,000 trading partners each sending an electronic invoice, then you would need 1,000 implementation documents containing the information listed below. Why 1,000 documents, because each will be tested separately and often will contain small differences in the data sent in the files, plus the trading partner contact information will be different each time.

Required EDI/B2B Message Information:

• Project Scope - Who is this EDI/B2B message for and when does it need to be in production?
• Data exchange testing schedule
• Data exchange production schedule
• Your Trading Partner's contact information
• EDI Manager, Phone, Email
• EDI Technical Lead, Phone, Email
• Business Unit Project Owner, Phone, Email
• EDI Transaction Set / Name Information
• Inbound or Outbound
• EDI Standard and Version
• EDI Implementation Guide
• EDI test data file to match the Implementation Guide
• Communications/Transmission Information
• VAN Name
• VAN Phone, Email
• VAN account information
• Duns ID
• ISA ID
• GS ID
• Transactions schedule - batch, scheduled or real-time
• Production Qualifiers
• Test Qualifiers
• FTP Site information, user names, passwords
• IP Address (Production) -User ID, Password, Directory
• Timing of transaction
• IP Address (Test) -User ID, Password, Directory
• Frame Relay Subscription Information
• SAP IDoc used
• Is the IDoc standard or custom
• SAP Database Administrator, Name, Phone, Email
• Is there a separate Application Interface for different non-SAP solutions in the system
• Application Interface Location
• Application Interface Contact and Contact Manager - Name, Phone, Email
• Application data file location
• Inbound application data mapping specification
• Application Data format (delimited, fixed length?)
• Outbound application data mapping specification
• Application test data source
• Application Implementation Guideline
• Transaction Set/Name
• Inbound/Outbound
• Standard/Version
• Implementation Guide Location and owner
• XML Schema/DTD Location and owner
• Acknowledgments required y/n
• Are 997 functional acknowledgments required?
  

If you would like to discuss this topic in more detail please contact me.