Technical

The messages available in the EANCOM® standard cover the functions required to effect a complete trade transaction:

• the messages which enable the trade transaction to take place, e.g. price catalogue, purchase order, invoice, etc;
• the messages used to instruct transport services to move the goods;
• the messages used in settlement of the trade transactions through the banking system.

The flows and trading partners catered for in EANCOM can be simply represented as follows:

The business messages available in EANCOM can be divided into the following categories:

Master Data Messages

These contain data which rarely changes (product measurements, names and addresses, etc):

• The Party Information message: is used to identify all the locations name, address, contact persons, financial accounts, etc) associated to subsequent commercial transactions and their related operational information.
• The Product Information messages: provide parties with information containing the descriptive, logistical and financial details of a product or a service.

Business Transactions Messages

These cover the general trading cycle from quotation request to remittance advice:

• Quotation messages contain all details relevant to the supply of the goods or services requested by the potential buyer (terms of delivery, payment terms, price, allowances and charges, etc).
• Purchase Order set of messages relates to the ordering process from a proposed order, subsequent changes and the eventual order confirmation (relevant quantities, dates, location of delivery, etc).
• Transport and Logistics messages provide information related to the despatch transport and receipt of previously ordered products.
• Invoice and Remittance Advice messages relate to the payment of the goods supplied. The buyer can automatically reconcile the suppliers invoice using the product receipt information.

Report and Planning Messages

These messages include general trading reports which allow partners to plan for the future:

• They enable trading partners to exchange precious information in order to understand each others requirements.
• They provide valuable and up-to-date reports and forecasts concerning delivery, sales and stocks and enable the partners involved to plan their activities and marketing strategies.

Syntax and Service Report Message

The Syntax and Service Report message may be sent by the receiver of any EDIFACT message to acknowledge or refuse an interchange, functional group or message.

General Message

The General message may be used to send data for which there is no specific standard message.

Security Messages

These messages are only available in the EANCOM version 2002, Syntax 4.

• The secure authentication and acknowledgement message is used in order to transmit the digital signature, related information to verify the signature by the recipient, and the references to the data secured.
• The security key and certificate management message can be used to transmit the public key of the sender to the recipient. The recipient is then able to verify digital signatures in further transmissions. It is also possible to make references to certificates from certification authorities (trust centres).