An increasing number of companies use EDI to deal with business processes electronically and all parties involved focus on EANCOM standards. As this standard allows several application possibilities there may be differences when applying EANCOM to individual message types. EDI partners can use three different data entry parameters: Day/Month/Year, Month/Day/Year or Year/Day/Month. Such differences would be confusing and bring the system to a grinding halt. The supplier would have to negotiate a format with retailers, which would create costs and drain resources for all parties involved. It is easier if all companies use the same date format. METRO Group and eight other companies joined forces in February 1997 to respond to the request by manufacturers to establish a standard layout for EDI messages based on EANCOM. Their aim was to develop a common data base for the exchange of invoices in EANCOM. This workgroup resulted in the EDI User Group Retailing.

Subset Layouts

The EDI User Group Retailing receives its impulses straight from every day business between retailers and manufacturers. Members of the EDI user group not only deal with lay-out and organizational problems but also with problems in suppliers’ communication processes. First they check to which extent they are relevant for the sector as such, and then the various work groups look for solutions supported by all parties involved. The EDI User Group Retailing then forwards the results to GS1 Germany (formerly Centrale für Coorganisation GmbH (CCG)). Retailers and manufacturers sit around one table in GS1. A steering committee votes on the draft of a so-called application recommendation. On that basis the layout of EDI processes between retailers and manufacturers can be harmonized.

GS1 Germany is a regular guest at meetings staged by the user group. The website of the EDI User Group Retailing provides both retailers and manufacturers with guidelines on various EANCOM message types.

The activities of the EDI User Group Retailing have a trend-setting influence on the consumer goods industry. Its membership generates more than 80 percent of market sales. The objective of the organization is to standardize Electronic Data Interchange in the consumer goods sector and to harmonize processes. The EDI user group sees its main task in agreeing and defining the content and layout of EDI messages and therefore to create standards. The EDI User Group Retailing promotes the application of the rules it has developed in business processes with suppliers. Only if recommendations are applied broadly can input and expense be reduced and can companies’ commitment in EDI pay off in the long-term. This applies to both sides equally.

The EDI User Group Retailing comprises four permanent working groups. They work on issues such as layout, processes, communications/technology and WebEDI. So-called special working groups cover issues such as digital signature and INVOIC for cost accounting. The working group Layout develops recommendations for standard message layouts and updates already existing layouts. Experts in these working groups agree on clear rules on what existing standards are to be like and how these are to be applied in the field. The working group Processes is currently dealing with the question how the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) can be integrated into the electronic delivery notification message type DESADV. Presenting the EDI User Group Retail on the internet and organizing workshops on the implementation of EDI for suppliers is in the domain of the so-called Strategy working group. It is in charge of the public relations activities of the EDI User Group Retailing.

The working group Technology develops recommendations for EDI transmission. This currently includes introducing the electronic interchange of data via the internet – EDIINT AS2 in short. Until now most companies in Germany are using private broadband networks for security reasons as their mode of transmitting EDI messages: so-called Value Added Networks (VAN). These include mailbox systems such as Telebox 400 or IBM IE-MAIL. EDI via the internet is far cheaper than existing VAN services, even if the demands toward security are higher. This working group is looking for safe and standardized possibilities to use the internet for data transmission. A description of applying EDIINT AS2 via the internet has already been put down and is available for download from the website of the Retail working group.

As soon as pressing issues arise, such as the digital signatures,the EDI Retail working group sets-up a so-called special working group. A qualified digital signature is also gaining significance when it comes invoicing via EDI. Exchanging invoices via EDI is common practice in Germany. However, the supplier is obliged to send the retailing company a pooled paper invoice for tax purposes, either in the mail or by fax. This involves a lot of work both on the side of suppliers as well as for METRO Group. MGP METRO Group Account Processing deals with invoice processing within METRO Group. It receives a total of about 18 million invoices and about 350,000 invoice lists. According to new tax legislation electronic invoices are only permissible if a hard copy invoice list is physically mailed or if the message includes a qualified electronic signature. This signature is to protect electronically dispatched documents against fraud. A company can apply for a key at a so-called Trust Center so it can exchange its qualified electronic signature. It is split into public and a private key and stored with the Trust Center. Retailers and manufacturers swap the public key for the signature. The Trust Center then verifies the signature with the private key. Experts in the EDI User Group Retailing are looking for the ideal approach to automate the qualified digital signature in Electronic Data Interchange.

A different special working group is currently looking for the ideal solution to exchange invoice data with newspaper wholesalers. Suppliers of newspapers and magazines are currently sending regular pooled invoices to retail companies. Retailers however are keen to get invoices automatically for each delivery note via EDI.

The EDI User Group Retailing is dedicated to standardizing electronic business processes and sees itself as a platform for companies in the industry which it can advise. The website of the user group includes an information and discussion platform where interested companies can share experiences. On top of that the EDI User Group Retailing regularly runs EDI workshops for suppliers. Experts talk about the latest EDI matters at these events and provide help in starting off with the implementation of EDI and communications technologies.