EDI basics for 3PLs

945 vs 856: why a late 945 becomes a late ASN

By Taimoor Karim, 10+ years in EDI · Published October 19, 2026 · Last updated October 19, 2026 · 8 minute read

The 945 and the 856 both describe a shipment that already left. They just tell different people. When the first one is late, the second one usually is too, and the second one is the one with a chargeback attached.

The short answer

A 945 is the 3PL telling the brand what shipped; an 856 is the brand, or the 3PL on its behalf, telling the retailer what's on the truck, carton by carton.

The EDI 945 (Warehouse Shipping Advice) answers a 940. It goes from the warehouse to the inventory owner and works at the order and line level: this order, these items, these quantities, this carrier.

The EDI 856 (Ship Notice/Manifest, or ASN) goes to whoever is receiving the goods, usually a retailer's distribution center. It's built as a hierarchy, shipment down to order, carton, and item, so the dock can scan a carton label and know what's inside before opening it.

In a lot of setups the brand builds its 856 from the 945. That one dependency is why the two documents get confused, and why a delay in one shows up in the other.

How a shipment becomes an ASN

Here is the usual path when the brand sends its own ASN:

1. The warehouse ships and closes the order. Pick, pack, label, load. Then someone (or a scan) marks the order or the load as shipped in the WMS.
2. The WMS creates the 945. The translator maps it and sends it to the brand. The brand's system sends a 997 back.
3. The brand's ERP takes in the 945. The sales order flips to shipped, inventory comes down, and the tracking or BOL number lands on the order.
4. The ERP creates the 856. It goes out to the retailer, often on a scheduled job. The 810 invoice usually follows from the same shipped status.
5. The retailer matches the ASN to the PO and to the carton labels when the truck arrives.

Every step waits on the one before it. Nothing downstream knows the freight left until the 945 says so.

945 vs 856 side by side

What's in the 945, briefly

We covered the 945 in detail in EDI 940 vs 945, so here is just the part the ASN depends on:

• W06 carries the brand's order number from the 940, the ship date, and the 3PL's shipment ID. Some partners put the ship date in a G62 instead.
• W27 says which carrier actually took it (the SCAC) and how.
• N9 references hold the bill of lading, PRO, or tracking number, depending on the partner.
• W12 gives ordered and shipped quantities per line.
• W03 totals the units and weight.

Notice what's often missing: which items went into which carton. Some 945 specs ask for carton IDs. Many don't.

What's in the 856

The 856 is a tree. Each HL segment is one level, and each level points to its parent. Many retailers ask for Shipment, Order, Pack, Item (people shorten it to S-O-P-I). Some add a Tare level for pallets. A trimmed example, with made-up numbers:

BSN*00*SH90412*20261019*1412*0001~
HL*1**S~
TD1*CTN25*3****G*41*LB~
TD5*B*2*ODFL~
REF*BM*BOL0098830~
DTM*011*20261019~
HL*2*1*O~
PRF*PO77120~
HL*3*2*P~
MAN*GM*001234560000012349~
HL*4*3*I~
LIN**UP*012345678905~
SN1**8*EA~

In plain language:

• Shipment level: TD1 is how many cartons and how heavy, TD5 is the carrier, REF holds the bill of lading, and DTM the ship date.
• Order level: PRF is the retailer's PO number. Get this wrong and the ASN can't be matched to anything.
• Pack level: MAN carries the SSCC-18, the same number printed on the carton's GS1-128 label. The scan at the dock has to match it.
• Item level: LIN identifies the item (here by UPC) and SN1 gives the quantity in that carton.

Which qualifiers, which levels, and which segments are required all come from the retailer's guide, not from the X12 standard. Treat the example as a shape, not a template.

Where the ASN gets its data

When the brand builds the 856, most fields trace back to something the warehouse sent or created:

That last row is where a lot of setups quietly break. A 945 can be on time and still not give the brand enough to build a correct ASN.

Why a late 945 makes the ASN late

The retailer doesn't care why the ASN is late. The routing guide usually wants it when the freight ships, and well before it arrives. But the brand can't send what it doesn't know yet, and it learns the freight left from the 945.

The delays also add up. Say the floor loads at 4 PM, the order isn't closed until the next morning, the translator batches 945s every few hours, and the brand's ERP runs its ASN job twice a day. Each piece looks reasonable. Together they can push the ASN past the truck, especially on short lanes where the freight arrives the next day.

A missing 945 is worse than a late one. The brand's order sits open, no ASN goes out, and the first anyone hears of it is a receiving problem or a chargeback a few weeks later.

Who owns the ASN at a 3PL?

Often, nobody wrote it down. There are two common setups:

• The brand sends it. The 3PL sends the 945 and the brand's ERP or EDI provider builds the 856. The 3PL's job ends at an accurate, on-time 945, plus carton detail if the brand needs it.
• The 3PL sends it on the brand's behalf. The WMS already has the carton detail, so the 3PL builds the 856 and sends it to the retailer, usually under the brand's vendor number. The brand may still want a 945 for its own records.

Trouble starts when each side assumes the other has it. You see duplicate ASNs, or none, or a 3PL that's never seen the 824s the retailer sends back when an ASN fails their checks.

The fix is four lines in the onboarding notes, agreed by the brand and the 3PL: who sends the 856, what data it's built from, the deadline, and who watches the 997s and 824s that come back. It takes ten minutes at setup and saves the argument later. This is part of our trading partner onboarding work.

What to check when the retailer says the ASN was late

Get the timestamps for one late order, in this order:

1. When the order was physically loaded, and when it was closed in the WMS.
2. When the 945 was created, when it left the translator, and when the 997 came back.
3. When the brand's ERP picked up the 945.
4. When the 856 was created, when it was sent, and when the retailer's 997 came back.

The biggest gap is your answer. It's rarely the network. Look for the step that waits on a person or a schedule. If you want a second pair of eyes on the trail, that's part of our EDI error fixes work.

FAQ

Taimoor Karim founded ReliantShip and has 10+ years in EDI, including the warehouse set: 940, 943, 944, 945, 856 and 810. More about Taimoor

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