EDI or Electronic Data Interchange automates and streamlines B2B communication by exchanging information electronically in a standardized format. The Celigo EDI-B2B Manager provides EDI solutions that simplify the exchange of business documents, such as purchase orders, invoices, and so on, with trading partners. It manages EDI and B2B integrations, offering unprecedented efficiency, visibility, and control.
The B2B Manager helps to effectively build and run EDI integrations in the Celigo platform. The following components together comprise the EDI-B2B manager:
| Component | Celigo platform |
|---|---|
|
EDI connectors such as
|
Resources → Connections |
| EDI profiles with validation rules | Resources → EDI profiles |
| EDI parser and file generator (version 2) | Options in Listeners/Exports and Imports |
| Acknowledgment generation and reconciliation | Options in Listeners/Exports and Imports |
| EDI activity dashboard | Home → Dashboard |
The B2B Manager supports EDI communication protocols, including AS2, FTP, SFTP, and FTPS. The B2B manager includes a value-added network (VAN) connector that allows users to connect to trading partners. It also offers prebuilt trading partner connectors. These connectors come with premapped transactions based on the trading partner’s requirements, reducing the complexity of setup.
EDI profiles ensure that the data complies with EDI standards and specific guidelines set by each trading partner. It helps to verify that all mandatory and optional segments/elements are populated correctly according to the file definition compliance rules. It also validates the EDI document against the EDI standards for successful processing.
For more information, see EDI profiles for EDI X12 or EDIFACT.
EDI validation rules
Validation rules streamline EDI data processing, centralizing the trading partner configurations with EDI profiles, avoiding scattered configurations across flows, file definition rules, and mappings. This centralized approach reduces configuration time, minimizes errors, and offers a global view of EDI-related validations and values at the header level, allowing easy updates for specific trading partner configurations.
For more information, see validation rules for EDI X12 or EDIFACT.
The built-in EDI parser and file generator (version 2) help to translate EDI documents into supportive file formats. The parser converts EDI information into data that can be mapped to a corresponding record type.
For more information, see EDI parser and EDI generator.
Acknowledgment is a receipt issued by the receiver in response to a transaction sent by a trading partner. This receipt provides the sender (trading partner) with confirmation that their transaction, sent via integrator.io, has been received. The main purpose of the acknowledgment (the EDI X12 997 document or the EDIFACT CONTRL document) is to reliably confirm the integrity and successful delivery of EDI transactions between trading partners.
For more information, see functional acknowledgment (FA) generation for EDI X12 or acknowledgment generation for EDIFACT.
The account-level dashboard (Home→Dashboard) provides an overview of your EDI-specific integration activities, allowing you to view and manage data centrally. The EDI activity tab on the Dashboard offers access to detailed information on all EDI flows and documents across various integrations.
For more information, see EDI activity dashboard for EDI X12 or EDIFACT.
The EDI-B2B Manager supports EDI X12 and EDIFACT file formats.
- EDI X12 is a standard for EDI developed by the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 under the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). For X12 format validation, the compliance check must adhere to X12 Org standards. This standard is commonly used for business transactions in North America.
- EDIFACT is an acronym for Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce, and Transport. For EDIFACT format validation, the compliance check must adhere to the UNECE standard. This standard is commonly used for business transactions in EMEA.
EDI standards specify the location and order of information in a document. If the information is not accurate or properly placed, EDI documents may fail to process correctly.
Each trading partner may have specific requirements for processing the EDI data rules. The Celigo platform (integrator.io) enables you to create a custom EDI integration between applications or trading partners. You can establish the connectivity with an outsourced integration such as a Value-added network (VAN). Celigo uses VAN service through ECGrid, which can be configured in integrator.io for inbound and outbound EDI flows. Or, you can use connectors to EDI trading partners and select the document types in your flows for your EDI transactions.
Let's consider an inbound and outbound flow of data in a simple EDI workflow. (You can also generate and reconcile acknowledgments but that is a separate flow (shown in red in the image below.)
In an inbound flow, the data flows into the Celigo platform for the EDI transaction. The platform
- Gets the delimited EDI data from a source app/trading partner based on the export configuration.
- Parses and validates the delimited EDI data based on the EDI profile and file definition rules.
- Converts the data to a document-specific canonical JSON format using Transformation 2.0.
The resulting output is passed to the import step in the Celigo platform.
In an outbound flow, the data flows out of the Celigo platform for the EDI transaction. The platform
- Receives the canonical JSON data from the previous export step based on the import configuration.
- Parses the canonical JSON format based on mappings and file definition rules.
- Converts the data to a delimited EDI format using the EDI file generator and validates it using the EDI profile.
The resulting output is passed onto the destination app and completes the EDI transaction.