EDI Reference / 856
856

Advance Ship Notice (ASN)

Supplier → Retailer

What's on the truck — the pack hierarchy, SSCC carton labels, and ship date.

The 856 (ASN) tells the retailer exactly what is shipping before it arrives: the shipment, the orders in it, the cartons/pallets (each with an SSCC-18 license plate), and the items in each pack. It is built from nested HL (hierarchical) loops — Shipment > Order > Pack > Item. The ASN is the document retailers fine most often: a missing SSCC label, a bad check digit, or a late ASN is a chargeback.

⚠ Where it bites

Every pack needs an SSCC-18 in a MAN segment, and the SSCC's mod-10 check digit must be valid. Transmit the ASN before the carrier-pickup cutoff.

Key segments

ISA GS ST BSN DTM HL PRF TD1 TD5 N1 MAN LIN SN1 CTT SE GE IEA

Related documents

850 Purchase Order

The order itself — what the retailer wants, how much, at what price, ship where.

 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment

Your 'got it' — confirm, change, or reject each line of the PO.

 810 Invoice

The bill — line prices and totals that must reconcile to the PO and the shipment.

Got a real 856? See if it'd pass.

Inspect it segment-by-segment, or score it against a retailer's rules — free.

Inspect an X12 Readiness Check