Integrations

EDIFACT ORDERS purchase orders

UN/EDIFACT is the international EDI standard used widely across Europe and global supply chains. The ORDERS message is its purchase order. ProcuLink reads inbound EDIFACT ORDERS messages at directories D96A and D01B and maps them into the canonical order for review. The parser is hand-rolled and built on MIT-licensed open source — there is no commercial EDI licence involved.

When to use this

Use this when a trading partner sends purchase orders as EDIFACT ORDERS files, typically over AS2, SFTP, or a VAN, and their implementation guide names directory D.96A or D.01B. If your partner speaks the North American dialect instead, see ANSI X12 850.

The envelope

An EDIFACT interchange nests the message inside a service string advice (UNA, optional), an interchange envelope (UNB/UNZ), and a message envelope (UNH/UNT). The order content lives between UNH and UNT:

UNA:+.? '
UNB+UNOC:3+SENDERGLN:14+RECEIVERGLN:14+260704:1200+000000001'
UNH+1+ORDERS:D:96A:UN'
BGM+220+PO-10042+9'
DTM+137:20260704:102'
NAD+BY+5412345000013::9'
NAD+SU+4012345000094::9'
LIN+1++ABC-123:BP'
IMD+F++:::Widget, blue, 20mm'
QTY+21:24'
PRI+AAA:12.50'
LIN+2++DEF-456:BP'
QTY+21:6'
UNT+11+1'
UNZ+1+000000001'

Key segments

  • BGM — beginning of message: the document/PO number (BGM 1004) and message function.
  • DTM — dates, including the order date qualified by 137.
  • NAD — name and address of a party. NAD+BY is the buyer, NAD+SU the supplier.
  • LIN — one line item, carrying the item identifier and its qualifier.
  • QTY — ordered quantity for the preceding LIN.
  • PRI and IMD — price and item description for the line.

Inbound ORDERS messages are parsed into the canonical order — number, date, parties, and lines — so you review and route them like any other format. Outbound EDIFACT generation is not offered today; when a partner needs an EDIFACT order sent, that path is still in development.

Not yet supported: INVOIC and DESADV

EDIFACT INVOIC (invoice) and DESADV (despatch advice) are coming soon — they are not supported yet. ProcuLink will not silently mis-handle them: they are simply not part of the ORDERS ingestion path. If a partner asks about them, treat them as on the roadmap rather than an available feature, and check the standards library for the current honest status.

Common problems

  • Directory mismatch. D96A and D01B differ in some composite structures. Confirm which your partner uses — it is declared in the UNH.
  • Service characters. The UNA segment can redefine the separators. A file that changes them without a UNA can fail to split — send us the raw sample.
  • A delivered order is not an accepted order. Validate business acceptance against the partner's own acknowledgement process.

Need help? Email support@proculink.eu or see the in-app standards library.

EDIFACT ORDERS purchase orders — ProcuLink Help