The EDI 856 advance ship notice is the document retailers charge back on more than any other. AIMS360 builds it from the cartons your warehouse actually scanned, in the hierarchy each retailer requires, and transmits at scan and ship.
More retail deductions trace back to the advance ship notice than to any other EDI document. It has to arrive before the truck, mirror the physical pallet down to every SSCC, and use the exact hierarchy that retailer requires. AIMS360 builds it from the cartons your warehouse actually scanned, so the file and the freight cannot disagree.
The EDI 856 is the ship notice and manifest a supplier sends before a shipment arrives. It describes the load as a hierarchy: the shipment, the orders inside it, the pallets and cartons, and the items inside each carton, with a unique SSCC-18 on every carton that matches the barcode on the physical box.
Every other document in the cycle describes intent. The 850 is what they want, the 855 is what you promised, the 810 is what you are billing. The 856 describes physical reality, and it is checked against physical reality at a receiving dock by a scanner.
That is why it generates more deductions than anything else. A receiver scans a carton, the SSCC does not exist in the ASN, and the whole load becomes an exception. Nobody is reading it and forming a judgement. A machine compares two numbers, and if they differ the shipment stops.
Purchase orders get read by people. ASNs get scanned. There is no benefit of the doubt at a cross dock, and no one to explain the discrepancy to in the moment.
Late is the same as missing on most accounts. Costco depots need it before the truck. Macy's requires it immediately after the truck door closes with three hours of processing time before delivery. A correct ASN that lands after the load is worth nothing.
The same shipment needs a different tree for different accounts. Sending a valid ASN in the wrong structure fails just as hard as sending a broken one.
Retailers running automated three way matching compare the 850, the 856 and the 810 line by line. If your ASN comes from a different system than your invoice, they will eventually disagree, and payment holds.
A simplified pick and pack ASN: one shipment, one purchase order, one carton, one item. Real files repeat the pack and item levels for every carton on the load.
The line that matters most is the MAN segment. That SSCC-18 has to be identical to the barcode printed on the physical carton. If the label and the file are produced by two different systems, they will drift, and the first person to find out is a receiver with a scanner.
The HL03 code defines each level of the tree. Which combination a retailer requires is set in its own EDI guideline and is one of the most common reasons a technically valid ASN gets rejected.
| Code | Level |
|---|---|
| S | Shipment. The top level of the ASN. |
| O | Order. References the original purchase order. |
| T | Tare. Pallet level, used on palletized shipments. |
| P | Pack. Carton or case level, where the SSCC lives. |
| I | Item. SKU or UPC level. |
| F | Feature. Feature or option level, rare in apparel. |
| SOPI | Shipment, order, pack, item. The most common bulk apparel hierarchy. |
| SOTPI | Shipment, order, tare, pack, item. Palletized bulk, used where a retailer receives at pallet level. |
| SOI | Shipment, order, item. Common on dropship, where there is one carton per order. |
| SI | Shipment, item. Simplified, used on a small number of programs. |
The segments AIMS360 builds automatically for every retailer compliant ASN.
| Segment | What it carries |
|---|---|
| BSN | Beginning segment. The ASN number, date, time and the hierarchical structure code that tells the retailer which tree to expect. |
| HL | Hierarchical level loop. Defines the tree: which level this is, and which level it hangs from. |
| TD1 | Carrier details. Pack count, weight and freight class. |
| TD3 | Carrier equipment. Trailer or container detail. |
| TD5 | Carrier identification. SCAC and routing, which on collect freight comes from the 754 routing instructions. |
| REF | References. Bill of lading number, vendor codes, department numbers. |
| DTM | Dates. Ship date, delivery date, cancel date. |
| N1 | Name loops. Ship to, ship from, carrier. |
| PRF | Purchase order reference at the order level of the tree. |
| MAN | Marks and numbers. The SSCC-18 for each carton. The single most chargeback prone field in the document. |
| LIN / SN1 | Item identification and quantity shipped. |
| PID | Product description. Style, color and size. |
| SAC | Service and charge. Freight and allowances, where the retailer accepts them on the ASN. |
| CTT | Transaction totals. A control check on the number of HL loops. |
Standard Carrier Alpha Codes most used by consumer brands shipping to major retailers. The SCAC in the ASN has to match the carrier that actually moved the load and the one on the bill of lading.
| UPSN | UPS Ground and parcel |
| FDEG | FedEx Ground |
| FXFE | FedEx Freight, LTL |
| USPS | United States Postal Service |
| DHLC | DHL Express |
| ODFL | Old Dominion Freight Line |
| ABFS | ArcBest Freight |
| RDWY | Roadway Express |
Carrier codes change as carriers merge, rebrand or exit. Confirm the SCAC with the carrier or the routing instruction rather than reusing one from an old shipment, because a retired code produces a rejected ASN rather than a warning.
The ASN is generated from the cartons the warehouse actually scanned, not from a copy of the order. That single design decision is what removes most ASN chargebacks.
The 850 imported into the same platform that holds your inventory, so the ASN never has to be reconciled back to an order held somewhere else.
Mobile scanning builds each carton. The system knows what is physically in every box because it watched it go in, rather than assuming the pick list was followed.
The GS1-128 carton label prints with an SSCC that is written to the shipment record in the same action. The label and the file share one source, so they cannot drift.
SOPI, SOTPI, SOI or SI is applied from the map for that account, so the same warehouse process produces the right structure for every trading partner.
SCAC, bill of lading and tracking populate from shipping and the VICS BOL, and on collect freight from the routing instruction the retailer returned.
The ASN is checked against the purchase order and the retailer's rules, then fires the moment the last carton is scanned. Timing becomes a property of the process rather than something someone has to remember.
The 997 functional acknowledgment is matched back to the ASN, so a rejection surfaces against that shipment rather than sitting in a log.
The 810 generates from the same shipment record, so the three way match holds without anyone comparing documents by hand.
Most ASN failures at a new account are mapping failures, not warehouse failures. AIMS360 starts from pre built, retailer tested maps and label rules rather than building from a blank guideline, and the implementation team runs the retailer's certification rounds with you.
Hierarchy, segment usage and label format configured per account, including the differences between a depot, a store direct and a dropship ASN for the same retailer.
The warehouse team is trained on the scan and ship process, because an ASN is only as accurate as the packing that produced it.
Not a generic manual. The actual sequence your team follows, for the accounts you actually ship.
Black Friday and seasonal club buys run through the same platform, including a customer processing over 1.2 million orders per day, with no per document or per kilocharacter fees from AIMS360 as volume rises.
All of these are handled inside AIMS360, from one order record.
| 850 | Purchase order. Retailer to brand, starts the cycle. |
| 855 | PO acknowledgment. What you commit to ship. |
| 860 | PO change. Modifies a previously sent 850, on retailers that use it. |
| 753 / 754 | Routing request and instructions, on collect freight, before the ASN. |
| 856 | Advance ship notice. What is physically on the truck. |
| 810 | Invoice. Sent after the shipment, matched against the 850 and the 856. |
| 820 | Remittance advice. What was paid, and what was deducted. |
| 846 | Inventory advice. What you have available to sell. |
| 997 | Functional acknowledgment. Confirms the ASN was received and parsed. |
What apparel, footwear, jewelry and accessories brands ask about the advance ship notice.
EDI 856 is the X12 transaction set for the ship notice and manifest, universally called the ASN or advance ship notice. A supplier sends it before a shipment arrives, describing the load as a hierarchy: the shipment, the purchase orders inside it, the pallets and cartons, and the items in each carton, with a unique SSCC-18 identifying every carton.
The supplier sends it, which makes it different from most of the documents that surround it. The 850 and 860 come from the retailer. The 856 goes the other way, from you to them, and it is your statement about what is physically on the truck. That is also why it is your liability when it is wrong.
Before the shipment arrives, and on most accounts well before. Costco depots run as fast flow cross docks and need the ASN before the truck. Macy's requires it immediately after the truck door closes, allowing three hours of processing, so it must land at least three hours before the anticipated delivery. Late is generally treated the same as missing, so an accurate ASN that arrives after the load is worth nothing. Confirm the window in the guideline issued to your account.
It is the tree the ASN uses to describe the load, defined by HL segments with a level code in HL03. S is shipment, O is order, T is tare or pallet, P is pack or carton, I is item. Common combinations are SOPI for bulk apparel, SOTPI for palletized bulk, and SOI for dropship. Which structure a retailer requires is set in their own guideline, and sending a valid ASN in the wrong hierarchy fails as hard as sending a broken one.
The core set is BSN for the header, HL for the hierarchy loops, TD1, TD3 and TD5 for carrier and equipment detail, REF for the bill of lading and vendor references, DTM for dates, N1 for ship to and ship from, PRF for the purchase order at order level, MAN for the SSCC-18 on each carton, LIN and SN1 for item and quantity, PID for product description, SAC for charges and CTT for totals.
MAN carries the marks and numbers for a carton, in practice the SSCC-18. That number has to be identical to the barcode printed on the physical box. A receiver scans the carton, the system looks for that SSCC in your ASN, and if it is not there the carton is an exception. The most common cause is the label and the file being produced by two different systems, which drift over time. Generating both from one record removes the failure mode rather than managing it.
Nothing. ASN is the industry name for the document, EDI 856 is the X12 transaction set number for it. Retailers, 3PLs and carriers use the terms interchangeably, and a vendor guideline may say either. If someone asks whether you can send an ASN, they are asking whether you can send an 856.
Direction and subject. The 850 is the purchase order, sent by the retailer, describing what they want. The 856 is the ship notice, sent by you, describing what is physically on the truck. One is a request, the other is a declaration. They are compared against each other, along with the invoice, in the three way match most large retailers run before paying.
SAC, the service, promotion, allowance or charge segment, where the retailer accepts charges on the ASN at all. Many do not and expect freight to appear on the 810 invoice instead, or to be handled entirely outside the document set on collect freight. Check the guideline before populating it, because an unexpected SAC can trigger a rejection.
The standard supports lot level detail through reference and item level segments, and it is used heavily in food, pharmaceutical and regulated categories. In apparel and general consumer goods it is uncommon, and most retail guidelines do not ask for it. If your category needs lot or serial traceability, confirm both that your retailer accepts it in the ASN and that your warehouse actually captures it at pack time, because the second one is usually the harder problem.
You assign it. The ASN number sits in the BSN segment and is your own reference for that shipment, not something the retailer issues. It must be unique, and most guidelines require that it is never reused. The number retailers care about more is the SSCC-18 on each carton, which comes from your GS1 company prefix plus a sequence you control.
No, and assuming it does is a common early mistake. Bulk shipments to a distribution center usually need a full carton hierarchy with SSCC labels, often SOPI or SOTPI. Dropship is generally one carton per consumer order and frequently uses a simpler SOI structure with a branded packing list rather than a GS1-128 carton label. Same retailer, same warehouse, different ASN. AIMS360 applies the correct structure per program automatically.
The load becomes an exception at receiving. Depending on the retailer that means a deduction, a rework charge, a delayed receipt that pushes you outside your delivery window, or in the worst case a refused load. It also breaks the three way match against the 850 and the 810, which can hold payment on the whole invoice rather than just the disputed lines. This is why the ASN should be generated from what was scanned rather than from what was ordered.
Not with AIMS360. The EDI is built into the ERP, so the ASN is produced by the same system that scanned the cartons and printed the labels, and connects through whichever network the retailer mandates. The alternative, a translator sitting beside your ERP, has to be told what shipped, and whatever tells it is a second copy of the truth that eventually disagrees with the first. AIMS360 also charges no per document or per kilocharacter fees of its own.
Yes. Peak club buys and Black Friday run through the same platform as an ordinary week, including a customer processing over 1.2 million orders per day. Because there are no per document fees, a peak that multiplies your ASN count does not multiply an EDI bill, which is a real difference from per transaction pricing models when volume spikes.
No. The maps, hierarchies and label rules are configured per retailer by the implementation team, and the warehouse works in scanning and packing rather than in segments. The reference material on this page exists because it helps to know what the system is producing when a retailer raises a query, not because anyone on your team has to write it.
Last reviewed 7 August 2026 by the AIMS360 EDI team. Segment, HL and SCAC detail reflects the ANSI ASC X12 856 transaction set. Hierarchy requirements, ASN timing windows and whether charges are accepted on the ASN are set by each retailer in its own EDI guideline, are stated here as commonly required rather than universal, and can change. The Costco and Macy's timing rules referenced are from those retailers' published vendor standards. Carrier SCAC codes change as carriers merge or rebrand, so confirm with the carrier or the routing instruction.
See AIMS360 build the 856 from the cartons your warehouse scanned, in the hierarchy each retailer requires, in a 30 minute demo.
