Business-to-business data exchange

What is EDI, and how does it connect your business?

Every transaction — a purchase order, an invoice, a delivery note — is at heart structured data. The question: does it travel as a PDF a human re-types, or as a standard message the other system reads directly? That difference is what EDI delivers.

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The idea in four steps

From paper to message

1
A business transaction is just structured data.
2
Without EDI it is trapped in a PDF and a human re-types it — slow, costly, error-prone.
3
With EDI, the two systems exchange the same data in an agreed standard — automatic and auditable.
4
Both sides win: faster orders, more accurate invoices, a stronger trading relationship.

Before vs after

Without EDI — manual

1) Seller creates a PDF invoice.
2) Emails or WhatsApps it across.
3) A clerk at the buyer reads it.
4) Re-keys it by hand.
⚠ Slow, costly, error-prone.

→

With EDI — system-to-system

1) Seller’s system emits a standard message (INVOIC/810).
2) It travels over AS2/SFTP/API.
3) The buyer’s system imports it directly.
4) An acknowledgement (997/CONTRL) is returned.
✓ Automatic, instant, auditable.

Why it matters

No paper, no re-keying

Data moves system-to-system directly.

Fewer errors

Manual entry — and its mistakes — disappears.

Speed

Minutes instead of days in the order-to-cash cycle.

Stronger ties

Partners, distributors and suppliers trust your data.

Who it’s for

EDI is the lifeblood of FMCG and any document-heavy supply chain:

🚚

FMCG distributors

High daily order volume from shops, buying from several manufacturers.

🏭

Manufacturers & producers

Receive distributor orders and issue invoices & ship notices automatically.

🛒

Retail chains & supermarkets

Frequent reordering and error-free invoice matching.

📦

Importers & wholesalers

Coordinate with multiple suppliers and logistics partners.

A full cycle: distributor ↔ retailer

How documents flow automatically through a single order — no call, no re-keying:

850 / ORDERS
1. Shop orders

The purchase order lands straight in the distributor’s system.
855 / ORDRSP
2. Order confirmed

The system replies confirming availability and prices.
856 / DESADV
3. Dispatch note

A note of the shipment’s contents is sent before it arrives.
810 / INVOIC
4. Invoice

The invoice is issued and auto-matched to order & delivery.

Common document types & their codes

Each business document has a standard code in both X12 and EDIFACT:

Purpose	ANSI X12	UN/EDIFACT
Purchase Order	850	ORDERS
Invoice	810	INVOIC
Advance Ship Notice / Dispatch	856	DESADV
Functional Acknowledgement	997	CONTRL
Purchase Order Acknowledgement	855	ORDRSP
Remittance Advice	820	REMADV

Standards & compliance

Standards

ANSI X12
The dominant EDI standard in North America.
UN/EDIFACT
The international EDI standard (Europe, MENA, Asia, logistics, customs).
UBL 2.1
XML business-document standard used by most modern national e-invoicing systems (Jordan JoFotara, Saudi ZATCA, EU/PEPPOL).

Connectivity

AS2
Secure, signed document transport over HTTP, common in retail & logistics.
SFTP
Secure file transfer — simple, reliable, ubiquitous.
REST API
Modern real-time integration between systems.

Worked examples

The same idea, in real formats

Actual documents in each standard, reproduced verbatim and labelled illustrative, with a plain-language explanation of every segment and field.

Purchase Order (ANSI X12 850) edi

>ISA>*00*          *00*          *ZZ*DDC            *ZZ*SANARISE       *260611*1200*U*00401*000000001*0*P*>~
>GS>*PO*DDC*SANARISE*20260611*1200*1*X*004010~
>ST>*850*0001~
>BEG>*00*NE*PO-2026-0451**20260611~
>N1>*BY*Damascus Distribution Co*92*DDC-001~
>N1>*SE*Sanarise Intelligent Systems LLC*92*SAN-001~
>PO1>*1*100*EA*45.00**BP*SKU-1001~
>PO1>*2*50*EA*120.00**BP*SKU-2002~
>CTT>*2~
>SE>*8*0001~
>GE>*1*1~
>IEA>*1*000000001~

ISA / GS — interchange & functional-group envelopes (sender, receiver, date, control #).
ST*850 — start of a Purchase Order transaction set.
BEG — PO header: purpose 00 (original), type NE (new order), PO number PO-2026-0451.
N1*BY / N1*SE — Buyer and Seller parties.
PO1 — line items: line 1 = 100 units of SKU-1001 @ 45.00; line 2 = 50 @ 120.00.
CTT*2 — 2 line items total. SE/GE/IEA close the envelopes.

Illustrative, simplified example for explanation — not a validated production message. Real messages carry more envelope detail, control numbers, and validation.

Invoice (ANSI X12 810) edi

>ISA>*00*          *00*          *ZZ*SANARISE       *ZZ*DDC            *260611*1205*U*00401*000000002*0*P*>~
>GS>*IN*SANARISE*DDC*20260611*1205*2*X*004010~
>ST>*810*0002~
>BIG>*20260611*INV-2026-0451*20260611*PO-2026-0451~
>N1>*RE*Sanarise Intelligent Systems LLC*92*SAN-001~
>N1>*BY*Damascus Distribution Co*92*DDC-001~
>IT1>*1*100*EA*45.00**BP*SKU-1001~
>IT1>*2*50*EA*120.00**BP*SKU-2002~
>TDS>*1050000~
>CTT>*2~
>SE>*9*0002~
>GE>*1*2~
>IEA>*1*000000002~

ST*810 — start of an Invoice transaction set.
BIG — invoice header: invoice date, invoice # INV-2026-0451, references PO PO-2026-0451.
IT1 — invoice line items (mirror the PO lines).
TDS*1050000 — total invoice amount. X12 expresses money in cents, so 1050000 = 10,500.00 ((100×45.00)+(50×120.00) = 10,500).

Illustrative, simplified example for explanation — not a validated production message. Real messages carry more envelope detail, control numbers, and validation.

Invoice (UN/EDIFACT INVOIC) edi

>UNB>+UNOC:3+SANARISE:ZZ+DDC:ZZ+260611:1205+1++INVOIC'
>UNH>+1+INVOIC:D:96A:UN'
>BGM>+380+INV-2026-0451+9'
>DTM>+137:20260611:102'
>RFF>+ON:PO-2026-0451'
>NAD>+SU+SAN-001::92+Sanarise Intelligent Systems LLC+Al-Salihiyah+Damascus++++SY'
>NAD>+BY+DDC-001::92+Damascus Distribution Co'
>LIN>+1++SKU-1001:BP'
>QTY>+47:100'
>PRI>+AAA:45.00'
>LIN>+2++SKU-2002:BP'
>QTY>+47:50'
>PRI>+AAA:120.00'
>MOA>+86:10500'
>UNT>+13+1'
>UNZ>+1+1'

UNB / UNH — interchange and message headers.
BGM+380 — document type 380 = commercial invoice; number INV-2026-0451.
DTM+137 — document date (2026-06-11). RFF+ON — references the purchase-order number.
NAD+SU / NAD+BY — supplier and buyer name/address.
LIN / QTY / PRI — line item, quantity (47 = invoiced qty), price.
MOA+86:10500 — monetary amount, total payable = 10,500. UNT/UNZ close the message.

Illustrative, simplified example for explanation — not a validated production message. Real messages carry more envelope detail, control numbers, and validation.

The same invoice, three ways

One invoice three ways: what people read, what systems exchange, and what can be archived for audit.

1 · Human

INVOICE INV-2026-0451

100 × SKU-1001	4,500.00
50 × SKU-2002	6,000.00

Total 10,500.00

2 · Structured fields

Invoice #: INV-2026-0451
Date: 2026-06-11
Seller TIN: 211000045905
Line 1: 100 × SKU-1001 @ 45.00
Line 2: 50 × SKU-2002 @ 120.00
Total: 10,500.00 SYP

3 · Machine

<Invoice>
  <ID>INV-2026-0451</ID>
  <IssueDate>2026-06-11</IssueDate>
  <Line>100 × SKU-1001 @ 45.00</Line>
  <Line>50 × SKU-2002 @ 120.00</Line>
  <PayableAmount>10500.00</PayableAmount>
</Invoice>

“The same invoice — what people read and what systems exchange. EDI is just agreeing on the structured format so everything happens automatically.”

Features

EDIFACT & X12 formats

International and North American standards.

AS2 / SFTP / API

The channels your trading partners use.

Field mapping

We map your document fields to your partners’.

Odoo/ERP integration

Exchange flows straight into your system (higher tiers).

Integration plans

Billed monthly.

EDI Connect

1 trading partner

$39 /mo

≈ 5,700 SYP/mo

+ $99 one-time setup (≈ 14,400 SYP)

Core documents (orders / invoices / dispatch notes)
Web portal
EDIFACT & X12 formats

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EDI Business

up to 5 trading partners

$99 /mo

≈ 14,400 SYP/mo

AS2 / SFTP / API connectivity
Higher volume + mapping support
Everything in EDI Connect

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EDI Enterprise

unlimited partners

Custom

Full ERP/Odoo integration
SLA & dedicated onboarding

Add-ons

Extra trading partner $3.50/mo (+$49 setup) ≈ 510 SYP · +≈ 7,100 SYP
Per-document overage from $0.25/doc ≈ 36 SYP

Prices are set in USD. Amounts in the new Syrian pound (SYP) are approximate and indicative only — the final amount payable in SYP is calculated at the exchange rate on the day of payment.

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What is EDI, and how does it connect your business?

From paper to message

Before vs after

Without EDI — manual

With EDI — system-to-system

Why it matters

No paper, no re-keying

Fewer errors

Speed

Stronger ties

Who it’s for

FMCG distributors

Manufacturers & producers

Retail chains & supermarkets

Importers & wholesalers

A full cycle: distributor ↔ retailer

1. Shop orders

2. Order confirmed

3. Dispatch note

4. Invoice

Common document types & their codes

Standards & compliance

Standards

Connectivity

The same idea, in real formats

The same invoice, three ways

Features

EDIFACT & X12 formats

AS2 / SFTP / API

Field mapping

Odoo/ERP integration

Integration plans

EDI Connect

EDI Business

EDI Enterprise

Add-ons