Thanks to Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) piles of paper created in communications between retailers and manufacturers are a thing of the past now that business partners exchange orders, delivery notes and invoices electronically. 
Which EANCOM formats is METRO Group using today?
Altogether there are more than 40 globally applicable EANCOM message standards. The ten most popular are available in a German version. These are
- PRICAT – Price/sales catalog
- SLSRPT – Sales data report
- INVRPT – Inventory report
- SLSFCT – Sales forecast
- ORDERS – Orders
- ORDRSP – Purchase order response
- DESADV – Dispatch advice
- RECADV – Receiving advice
- INVOIC – Invoice
- REMADV – Remittance advice
Step by step METRO Group is expanding its EDI activities with its suppliers. After both partners have signed the EDI master contract, suppliers start the first phase of cooperation by submitting their invoices electronically. About 94 percent of documents submitted by METRO Group’s food suppliers are already being transmitted in a paperless process using the EANCOM message format INVOIC. Having staff manually enter invoices means additional work for the retailing group.
Step by step
If electronic invoicing works smoothly METRO Group extends cooperation to orders with the message ORDERS and the dispatch advice DESADV. The retailing group uses ORDERS for day-to-day orders and sends one message for each consignment and delivery address to the consumer goods manufacturer. The reverse is also possible: if electronic orders work smoothly then METRO Group asks the supplier also to send invoices via EDI.
No surprises
In the dispatch message DESADV the supplier details the content of the consignment. The message includes information about the starting point of the shipment, e.g. where a pallet of milk is being sent from, as well as one or more recipients, i.e. stores in different sales divisions. The manufacturer lists the items, units or orders. More than 380 manufacturers are already sending a dispatch advice to METRO Group by EDI in the EANCOM format DESADV, while 210 are using the Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC).
Paperless catalog
As soon as EDI cooperation has advanced manufacturers are to send price lists and product catalogs to METRO Group using EANCOM message formats and via the SA2 Worldsync data pool. Suppliers use the message format PRICAT to do this. SA2 Worldsync can also be used via the internet or via a SA2 Worldsync service company. The electronic catalog includes information about the product itself, logistics and the price. Manufacturers can use this message type to make this data available to all retailing partners from a central SA2 Worldsync data pool.
