EDI error fixes for 3PLs

The problem

Many 3PL EDI errors come back to a handful of causes: an order that wasn't closed in the WMS, a map that doesn't handle a new unit of measure, an item number in the wrong format, a carton label that doesn't match the ASN, or a 997 that came back "accepted with errors" and nobody read it. Each one gets patched by hand when someone notices. Then the same error comes back the following month.

How we work

1. Start with one failing document. You send a file that went wrong, plus whatever came back for it: the 997, the 824, or the brand's or retailer's email. Taimoor reviews the files and traces where it broke.
2. Find the cause, not just the symptom. Is it the map, the WMS setting that triggers the document, master data, or a schedule? We don't stop at "resend it".
3. Fix it at the source and test the fix against the cases that failed.
4. Resend what's stuck, in the right order, and confirm the 997s come back clean.
5. Add a check so it gets caught next time before your customer finds it. Often that's a simple daily list: what shipped, what went out, what was acknowledged.

What you get

• A short write-up for each issue: what broke, why, and what changed
• The fixed map or configuration, tested
• A list of documents resent, with their acknowledgments
• An exception check your team can run without us

Example (illustrative, not a client result)

A retailer rejects a run of 856s. The 824 says the carton IDs don't match what the dock scanned. The map is fine. The labels were reprinted at a pack station after the ASN data was captured, so the SSCC on the box and the SSCC in the MAN segment no longer match. The fix is in the packing process and in when the ASN is built, not in the translator.

Related reading

• Why retailers reject 856 ASNs (and how to read the 997/824)
• EDI 940 vs 945: why a 945 is late or never comes back
• 945 vs 856: why a late 945 becomes a late ASN

ReliantShip is based in New Jersey and works with 3PLs across the US. Taimoor Karim, 10+ years in EDI, reviews every engagement himself. More about Taimoor