Automotive
Automotive EDI and supply chain integration for tier suppliers
Automotive is one of ECOM's core industries. ECOM connects OEM and tier-one schedules to your plants and ERP, produces ship notices and labels your customers accept, routes each document to the right plant, and brings your own suppliers into the same flow.
At a glance
Key documents
- 830 / DELFOR
- 862 / DELJIT
- 866
- 856 / DESADV
- 861 / RECADV
- 810 / INVOIC
- 820 / REMADV
- 824 / APERAK
- 846 / INVRPT
Systems we integrate
- ERP and MRP (each plant or instance)
- Shipping and labeling
- Warehouse and inventory
- Your suppliers
- Integration platform
PRISM products
- PRISM-EDI
- PRISM-SCV
- PRISM-WebEDI
- PRISM-SmartConvert
What is automotive EDI?
Automotive EDI is the exchange of planning, shipping, receiving and payment documents between vehicle manufacturers (OEMs) and the tiers of suppliers behind them. It runs on schedules rather than one-off orders, such as X12 830 planning schedules and 862 shipping schedules or EDIFACT DELFOR and DELJIT, and on precise advance ship notices, container labels and, often, self-billing. Industry groups such as AIAG in North America and Odette and VDA in Europe publish guidance that shapes many OEM requirements.
Who it's for
Different roles, different workflows
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Tier-one suppliers to OEMs
Each OEM plant sends forecasts and firm schedules, often daily, and expects ship notices at departure, labels that match them and cumulative quantities that agree with its own records.
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Tier-two and tier-three suppliers
Your tier-one customers pass their own schedules down to you, with requirements of their own. Many tier-two and tier-three suppliers also buy from smaller suppliers that do not have EDI.
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Multi-plant and global suppliers
Documents for several plants, ERP instances and countries arrive through the same connections, with X12 for North American customers and EDIFACT or VDA formats for European ones.
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Aftermarket and service parts suppliers
Suppliers that also sell to retailers and distributors run order-driven retail EDI alongside schedule-driven OEM programs, often from the same ERP.
How the workflow runs
How schedules, plants and suppliers connect through PRISM
Customer schedules arrive in X12 or EDIFACT, are routed to the plant and ERP instance that will build and ship the parts, and come back as ship notices and invoices. The same platform carries your own releases to the suppliers behind you.
OEM and tier-one customers
- 830DELFORPlanning scheduleForecast and releases
- 862DELJITShipping scheduleFirm, often daily or by sequence
Sent back to the customer
ECOMPRISM-EDI
- Translate and validate X12 and EDIFACT
- Route to the right plant or ERP instance
- Flag late or missing documents
Visibility in PRISM-SCV
Your plants and ERP
- Plant AERP instance 1
- Plant BERP instance 2
- ShippingLabels and ship notices
Your tier-two and tier-three suppliers
- 830Releases to your suppliers
- 850Purchase orders
- 856Inbound ship notices
By EDI, or through a browser or document conversion for suppliers without EDI
- 01
Schedules arrive from the customer
Planning schedules (830 or DELFOR) carry forecasts and releases; shipping schedules (862 or DELJIT) carry firm, near-term requirements that replace the forecast for that period.
- 02
Routed to the right plant
PRISM routes each schedule to the plant, location or ERP instance it belongs to, based on rules such as the customer's ship-to or ship-from plant code, configured for your environment.
- 03
Plans and releases update
Schedules are translated and loaded into ERP and MRP planning, and requirements flow down to your own suppliers as releases and purchase orders.
- 04
Ship, label and notify
Ship notices (856 or DESADV) are generated at departure from shipping data, with container labels built from the same data, so the notice and the labels agree.
- 05
Receive, reconcile and get paid
Receiving advice, application advice and self-billing remittances are matched to what was shipped, and late or rejected documents are flagged as exceptions.
Challenges
Integration challenges in automotive
Schedules that change daily
Releases and shipping schedules update constantly. If they reach planning late, the plant builds to yesterday's demand and expedites the difference.
Ship notices with no margin for error
OEMs receive against the ship notice and often pay against it. A late, missing or inaccurate notice disrupts receiving and delays payment.
Labels that must match the data
Container and master labels must follow the customer's standard and agree with the ship notice, or receiving stops at the dock.
Plants, ERPs and tiers to keep in step
Documents have to reach the right plant and ERP instance, and demand has to flow down to your own suppliers as quickly as it arrives.
How we help
How ECOM supports automotive companies
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Schedule integration
830 and 862 schedules, or EDIFACT DELFOR and DELJIT, translated and loaded into ERP and MRP planning, with cumulative quantities kept in agreement.
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Ship notices and labels
856 or DESADV ship notices generated from shipping data, with container labels built from the same data to each customer's standard.
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Multi-plant routing
Each document routed to the right plant, location or ERP instance using rules based on trading partner, location or document content.
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Receiving, adjustments and self-billing
Receiving advice, application advice and self-billing remittances matched to shipments, so discrepancies are found and resolved quickly.
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Supplier-side integration
Releases, purchase orders and ship notices exchanged with your own suppliers by EDI, through a browser, or as converted documents.
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X12, EDIFACT and global connectivity
X12 for North American customers and EDIFACT for European customers, over AS2, SFTP, FTPS or VAN connections, from one platform.
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Exception management
Late schedules, missing ship notices and rejected documents identified as exceptions and routed to the team that owns them.
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ERP and plant systems integration
Integration with the ERP, MRP, warehouse and shipping systems each plant runs, through APIs, IDocs, files or databases.
PRISM products
Which PRISM products apply
Each partner connects in the way it can support. These products cover the connections and visibility this industry needs most.
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PRISM-EDI
Exchange of schedules, ship notices, receiving advice, invoices and remittances in X12 or EDIFACT, translated to and from your ERP and routed to the right plant or ERP instance.
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PRISM-SCV
Each order's documents linked into one timeline, expected responses monitored, and late or missing schedules and ship notices routed to the team that owns them.
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PRISM-WebEDI
Browser-based purchase orders, acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices for your smaller suppliers that do not have EDI systems.
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PRISM-SmartConvert
Supplier confirmations, ship documents and invoices that arrive as PDFs, emails or scans converted into structured, ERP-ready data.
Systems integration
What automotive EDI connects to
Schedules and ship notices only work when they reach the systems that plan, build and ship the parts, at every plant.
| System | What flows | What to plan for |
|---|---|---|
| ERP and MRP (each plant or instance) | Schedules in; releases to suppliers, ship notices and invoices out. | Cumulative quantities and release handling must match how each plant plans. |
| Shipping and labeling | Shipped quantities, packaging, container and master labels. | Labels and ship notices built from the same shipment data. |
| Warehouse and inventory | Inventory positions, consignment and receipts. | Inventory reporting (846 or INVRPT) where customers require it. |
| Your suppliers | Releases and purchase orders out; ship notices and invoices in. | Each supplier connects by EDI, browser or documents. |
| Integration platform | PRISM-EDI, or an existing IBM Sterling environment. | Run on PRISM, on Sterling, or migrate between them. |
Automotive experience
Deep automotive integration experience
Automotive is one of ECOM's core industries. The schedules, ship-notice rules, plant structures and supplier tiers on this page are part of everyday work for ECOM's integration specialists, not a vertical we are learning.
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Schedule-driven integration
Planning and shipping schedules, cumulative quantities and release handling designed around how your plants actually plan and ship.
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Customer requirements, mapped and tested
Each OEM or tier-one implementation guide mapped and tested before go-live, including the ship notice, label and timing rules.
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Your platform or ours
Integration on PRISM or on an existing IBM Sterling environment, with ECOM specialists to implement, operate or extend your team.
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Help when it matters
Managed EDI and EDI Team as a Service options, so schedule and ship-notice problems are handled by people who know automotive EDI.
Just-in-time and just-in-sequence
Shipping schedules, sequencing and tight delivery windows
Many OEM programs run just-in-time, and some run just-in-sequence, where parts must arrive in the order vehicles are built. These programs leave little time between the customer's signal and the shipment.
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Just-in-time schedules
Shipping schedules (862 or DELJIT) give firm quantities for days or individual delivery windows and replace the planning schedule for that period.
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Just-in-sequence programs
Sequenced programs send the order in which parts are needed on the line, often as an 866 production sequence or a sequenced DELJIT, close to build time.
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Timing is part of the requirement
In these programs, how quickly a schedule reaches the plant and how quickly the ship notice leaves matter as much as the content.
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Confirmed during scoping
Whether a sequenced or just-in-time program fits your plants and systems is reviewed against your customer's specification before ECOM commits to a design.
Plant connectivity
One customer connection, many plants and ERP instances
Suppliers often serve one OEM from several plants, and one plant may ship to several OEM locations. PRISM routes each document to the right plant, location or ERP instance using rules configured for your environment.
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By plant and location codes
Ship-from plant codes, customer ship-to plants and dock codes in the schedule decide which plant and ERP instance receive it.
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By trading partner
Documents from a given customer or customer division go to the plants and business units that serve it.
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By document content
Other values in the document, such as part numbers or release types, can direct it to a specific plant or ERP instance.
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Kept up to date
Plant and location cross-references change as programs start and end; routing rules are maintained with them, not hard-coded once.
Shipping and receiving
Ship notices, labels and receiving that agree
Automotive customers receive against the ship notice. The notice, the labels on each container and what arrives at the dock all have to tell the same story.
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Ship notice at departure
Most OEMs expect the ship notice when the truck leaves, with parts, quantities, packaging and container identifiers, and some reject notices that arrive late.
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Labels to the customer's standard
Container and master labels follow standards such as AIAG B-10 or the Global Transport Label, and must carry the same identifiers as the notice.
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Receiving advice and discrepancies
Receiving advice (861 or RECADV) shows what the customer recorded, so shortages and overages are found before they become payment problems.
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Self-billing reconciliation
Where the customer pays on receipt, self-billing remittances are matched to ship notices so differences are resolved quickly.
Exception management
Find schedule and ship-notice problems before your customer does
In automotive, a missing schedule or a rejected ship notice turns into an expedite, a line-side problem or a payment delay. PRISM-SCV gives business and technical teams visibility of these exceptions while there is still time to act.
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Late or missing documents
Expected schedules, ship notices and responses are monitored by trading partner and document type, so late or missing ones are flagged.
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Rejections with context
Rejected documents are seen as exceptions with the operational context a team needs to decide what to do next.
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Routed to the owning team
Exceptions are routed to the team that owns them, such as shipping for a late ship notice or the EDI team for a rejected document.
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Search by business identifiers
Teams find transactions by purchase order, shipment number or trading partner instead of searching raw EDI files.
IBM Sterling
Automotive integration on IBM Sterling, and modernization
Many automotive suppliers run their EDI on IBM Sterling B2B Integrator or older Gentran systems. ECOM's Sterling specialists implement, upgrade, administer and operate those environments, and plan what comes next.
IBM Sterling services-
Upgrades and modernization
Sterling B2B Integrator upgrades and Gentran migrations that keep schedule, ship-notice and invoice maps working through the change.
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Day-to-day operations
Administration, map and business process changes, and managed operations for Sterling environments that carry automotive programs.
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Sterling or PRISM
Run on Sterling, move to PRISM, or combine them during a transition, with the decision based on your partners, plants and team.
Documents and standards
Common transactions
Common automotive documents with their EDIFACT equivalents. Each OEM publishes its own implementation guide, and some European customers use VDA formats.
| Code | Document | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| 830 / DELFOR | Planning Schedule with Release Capability | Forecasts and material releases. |
| 862 / DELJIT | Shipping Schedule | Firm near-term shipping requirements. |
| 866 | Production Sequence | Order in which parts are needed on the line |
| 856 / DESADV | Advance Ship Notice | Details shipped parts |
| 861 / RECADV | Receiving Advice | Confirms what the customer received. |
| 810 / INVOIC | Invoice | Bills for shipped parts |
| 820 / REMADV | Remittance Advice | Details payments |
| 824 / APERAK | Application Advice | Reports errors in submitted documents. |
| 846 / INVRPT | Inventory Advice | Shares inventory and consignment positions. |
Scenarios
Typical integration scenarios
Tier-one suppliers
Meet each OEM's schedule, ship-notice, label and self-billing requirements while integrating with every plant's ERP.
Tier-two and tier-three suppliers
Respond to tier-one schedules and pass demand down to your own suppliers, including those without EDI.
Global suppliers
Handle X12 and EDIFACT customers, and plants in several countries, from one platform.
Sterling modernization
Upgrade or migrate an IBM Sterling or Gentran environment without disrupting automotive programs.
Trading partners
Automotive partners we connect with
Examples of automotive trading partners ECOM can connect your business with.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an 830 and an 862 in automotive?
The 830 planning schedule shares forecasts and material releases over weeks and months. The 862 shipping schedule gives firm near-term quantities and dates and replaces the 830 for the period it covers. In EDIFACT, the equivalents are DELFOR and DELJIT.
Why is the ship notice so important in automotive?
Customers use the ship notice to plan receiving and, in self-billing arrangements, to drive payment. A late or inaccurate notice can stop receiving at the dock and delay payment.
Do you support EDIFACT for European OEMs?
Yes. PRISM supports EDIFACT messages such as DELFOR, DELJIT and DESADV alongside X12. Some European customers also use VDA formats; their requirements are reviewed during scoping.
Can documents for several plants share one customer connection?
Yes. PRISM routes each document to the right plant, location or ERP instance using rules based on trading partner, location codes or document content, configured for your environment.
Do you support just-in-sequence programs?
Sequenced programs vary by OEM and plant. ECOM reviews your customer's sequencing specification, timing and document set against your plants and systems during scoping before committing to a design.
What is self-billing?
In self-billing, the customer creates the payment from goods received rather than from a supplier invoice. Suppliers reconcile the remittance against their ship notices and receipts.
We run IBM Sterling. Can ECOM help?
Yes. ECOM's Sterling specialists implement, upgrade, administer and operate IBM Sterling B2B Integrator and File Gateway, migrate from Gentran, and can run automotive integration on Sterling or move it to PRISM.
Do you work with specific OEMs?
ECOM maps and tests each customer's published requirements as part of every project. Which OEM programs are in scope for you is confirmed when we review your customers' specifications.
Bring your OEM schedule requirements
Share a customer's 830 or 862 specification, your plants and the ERP you run. An ECOM automotive integration specialist will explain how schedules, ship notices and routing would work.