ANSI X12
ANSI X12 (from the ANSI Accredited Standards Committee X12) is the dominant EDI standard in North America, defining the format of electronic business documents exchanged between organisations. It is the North American counterpart to the international UN/EDIFACT standard, widely used across US and Canadian trade, retail, logistics and transportation.
X12 organises documents as numbered transaction sets, each identified by a three-digit code — for example 850 (purchase order), 810 (invoice), 856 (advance ship notice/ASN), 214 (transportation carrier shipment status), 204 (motor carrier load tender) and 310/315 (freight/ocean shipment and container status). These standard sets let trading partners and their systems exchange orders, invoices, shipping and status data automatically. In logistics, X12 transaction sets are central to integration with North American carriers, retailers and 3PLs, which frequently mandate their use. Software operating in or connecting to North American supply chains must typically handle X12, just as it handles EDIFACT internationally. ANSI X12 is a foundational data standard for B2B and logistics data exchange in North America, complementing EDIFACT globally.
Anyone connecting to North American carriers, retailers or 3PLs meets ANSI X12 — the 850s, 856s and 214s that those partners mandate for orders, ship notices and shipment status. It is the regional counterpart to EDIFACT, so logistics software spanning North America must speak both. Its transaction sets are core vocabulary for supply-chain integration on that continent.
What is an X12 transaction set?
A standardised electronic document identified by a three-digit code — e.g. 850 (purchase order), 810 (invoice), 856 (ship notice), 214 (shipment status).
How does X12 relate to EDIFACT?
X12 is the dominant EDI standard in North America; UN/EDIFACT is the international standard used in most of the rest of the world.