What an EDI 856 is
The 856 is the ship notice, often called the advance ship notice or ASN. X12 describes it as the list of a shipment's contents, with details of the order, products, packaging, markings, carrier, and load. The supplier sends it when the goods leave, so the buyer can plan the receipt before the truck arrives.
Buyers set a deadline for the ASN. Kroger's ASN program requires the ASN to be loaded before the truck arrives, at full accuracy. The Produce Traceability Initiative gives the time of shipment as the latest an ASN may be sent. Shopbop's vendor manual charges per shipment for a late or rejected ASN, and per unit when carton contents do not match.
The HL hierarchy: shipment, order, pack, item
The 856 is a tree. Each HL segment opens a level. HL01 is its ID, HL02 its parent's ID, and HL03 its type. In D&H's 856 guide, the types are S for shipment, O for order, P for pack, and I for item. The iTradeNetwork 856 guide adds T for a shipping tare, such as a pallet. BSN05 names the shape of the tree: in D&H's guide, 0001 is shipment, order, pack, item, and 0004 is shipment, order, item.
The viewer draws the tree. Shipment details sit at the top, each purchase order under it, each pallet or carton under its order, and each item under its pack.
The 856 segment by segment
| Segment | What it carries | In the example |
|---|---|---|
| ISA | The interchange header: sender and receiver IDs, date and time, the control number, and the delimiters | ISA*00* *00* *ZZ*QUILLFIELD *ZZ*FERROVA... |
| GS | The functional group header: the group code, the version, and the group control number | GS*SH*QUILLFIELD*FERROVALE*20261014*1530*553*X*004010~ |
| ST | The start of one transaction set, with its number and control number | ST*856*0001~ |
| BSN | The ship notice: purpose, shipment ID, date, time, and the hierarchy structure code | BSN*00*QF-SH-260418*20261014*1530*0001~ |
| HL | A level of the hierarchy: its ID, its parent's ID, and its type | HL*1**S*1~ and 7 more |
| TD1 | Packaging, number of packages, and weight | TD1*PLT94*2****G*905*LB~ |
| TD5 | The carrier, by its SCAC, and the transportation method | TD5**2*QFXL*M~ |
| REF | A reference number, such as BM for the bill of lading | REF*BM*QF-BOL-88213~ |
| DTM | A date, such as 011 for shipped and 017 for estimated delivery | DTM*011*20261014~ and 1 more |
| N1, N3, N4 | The ship-from and ship-to parties and their addresses | N1*SF*Quillfield Enclosures Inc.*92*V-20417~ and 1 more |
| PRF | The purchase order this order level ships against | PRF*4500012345***20261005~ |
| MAN | Marks and numbers, such as GM for a pallet label's SSCC-18, after the application identifier 00 | MAN*GM*00006141410000041817~ and 1 more |
| LIN | The item, by buyer and vendor part numbers | LIN*1*BP*FIS-71402*VP*QE-1614-8-SS~ and 3 more |
| SN1 | Units shipped, their unit, and the quantity ordered | SN1**12*EA~ and 3 more |
| CTT | The number of HL segments and the total units shipped | CTT*8*86~ |
| SE | The end of the set: the number of segments from ST to SE, and ST's control number | SE*34*0001~ |
| GE and IEA | The ends of the group and the interchange, each with its count and control number | GE*1*553~ |
The example explained
BSN*00*QF-SH-260418*20261014*1530*0001~is an original ship notice, shipment QF-SH-260418, created October 14, 2026, with structure 0001.TD1*PLT94*2****G*905*LB~says 2 wood pallets (PLT94), 905 lb gross. TD5 names the carrier by its SCAC, and REF*BM gives the bill of lading, QF-BOL-88213.- The order level points at purchase order 4500012345 through PRF.
- Each pallet is a pack level. MAN*GM holds the application identifier 00, then the pallet's SSCC-18, as in D&H's sample. Pallet 006141410000041817 carries lines 1 and 3, and pallet 006141410000041824 carries lines 2 and 4.
- Line 2 ships 12 of the 20 ordered. SN1 carries both numbers, with the quantity ordered in SN105.
CTT closes the set with 8 HL segments and 86 units shipped, the counts iTradeNetwork's guide asks for. The SSCC numbers are invented, with valid check digits.
Ship from orders your team never retyped
ThriveAI's order desk reads purchase orders that arrive by email and matches each line to your items and prices. It drafts the ERP order for a person to approve. Derik will tell you what a four-week build would cover.
See order desk automationHow the 856 maps to receiving
At the buyer's dock, one scan of a pallet's SSCC can be linked to the ASN already received. GS1 US describes this as a way to speed up receiving. Through the pack level, the scan finds the items and the purchase order. The receipt goes against the open purchase order, and a short shipment, like line 2 here, leaves the rest open as a backorder. The supplier's 810 invoice then bills the quantities the 856 shipped. The guide to warehouse AI covers reading packing slips and bills of lading at receiving.
Common reasons an 856 is rejected
- It arrives after the goods. An ASN that reaches the buyer after the truck cannot help plan the receipt, and Shopbop's manual charges for it.
- Labels that do not match. The SSCC-18 on each pallet or carton label must be the one in its MAN segment.
- Contents that do not match. The SN1 quantities under each pack must be what is in that pallet or carton.
- A broken tree. An HL02 that names a parent that does not exist leaves items without an order. The viewer's Checks tab flags it.
- Counts that do not match. CTT01 should count the HL segments, and SE01 the segments from ST to SE.
Where the 856 sits in order to cash
The 856 follows the 850 purchase order and the 855 acknowledgment, and comes before the 810 invoice. The guide to the order to cash process covers the whole cycle.
Where AI helps
The 856 starts from an order the supplier already holds. When that order arrived as an emailed PDF, someone had to key it first. ThriveAI's order desk reads those emailed orders, matches each line to your items and prices, and drafts the ERP order for a person to approve. The ship notice then starts from clean order data.