SPICE™ Glossary / ANSI X12

ANSI X12

ANSI X12 is the North American standard for EDI, defining the structure, codes and rules companies use to exchange business documents such as purchase orders, ship notices and invoices.

X12 is developed by the Accredited Standards Committee X12, which is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), hence the name. It is the dominant EDI standard in the United States and Canada, used across retail, manufacturing, distribution, transportation and healthcare. Outside North America, EDIFACT is more common.

Every X12 document is a transaction set identified by a three-digit number: 850 for a purchase order, 856 for a ship notice/manifest, 810 for an invoice. A transaction set is made of segments (lines of related data, such as a name and address), and segments are made of data elements separated by delimiters. Transaction sets travel inside envelopes: the ISA/IEA interchange, the GS/GE functional group and the ST/SE transaction set.

X12 is published in numbered versions, such as 004010 and 005010, and most large buyers publish their own implementation guide that narrows the standard to what they require. That is why two companies can both “use X12” and still need separate maps and testing. Version and guideline differences are a common source of rejected documents and chargebacks.

How SPICE™ handles it

SPICE™ uses standard X12 transactions for procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, transportation and warehouse processes, and translates them to and from the structure your ERP expects. See security and integrations.

To get trading partners compliant with your X12 specifications before go-live, SPICE iKompli™ lets them test against your maps and business rules on their own, with immediate results, while you see their status and decide when they are ready.

Related terms

EDI (electronic data interchange)

EDIFACT

EDI transaction set

Purchase order (EDI 850)

Functional acknowledgment (EDI 997)

EDI testing and certification

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between ANSI X12 and EDI?

EDI is the practice of exchanging business documents electronically in a structured format. ANSI X12 is one standard for doing it, defining which documents exist and how each one is laid out. EDIFACT is another.

What are the most common X12 transaction sets?

In supply chains, the most common are the 850 purchase order, 855 purchase order acknowledgment, 856 ship notice/manifest and 810 invoice. Logistics adds the 204 motor carrier load tender, 214 shipment status and 210 freight invoice. Receipt of each is usually confirmed with a 997 functional acknowledgment.