Introduction

The Aptean Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) add-on is a solution designed to handle EDI tasks within Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. These tasks include importing and exporting various documents to and from trading partners, as well as logging and resolving any exceptions or errors that occur during the transmission process.

Tasks can be processed manually or automatically, depending on the operational requirements of the business utilizing the solution. The add-on also offers a flexible notification structure, allowing key departmental users to receive critical and pertinent feedback on EDI’s operation.

All components of the Aptean EDI add-on are straightforward and easy to use, presenting a user-friendly mechanism for working with an area that may seem intimidating to those not familiar with EDI’s unique terminology and conventions.

EDI Conventions

The standardization of common transactions between two trading partners has been an important part of EDI’s evolution over the years. To achieve this, each transaction has been assigned its own code, which is virtually universal in its application within the EDI solutions area. For instance, EDI transaction 810 represents an invoicing activity, regardless of the EDI solution or VAN that is assisting in the data transfer.

Experienced EDI users often refer to transactions solely by their codes, which can be confusing for those new to EDI. As such, the actual names of transactions followed by their standard EDI code in parentheses may be presented. For example, an invoicing transaction would be written as “invoice (810)” in this document.

Each EDI transaction is identified as either an inbound or outbound activity, depending on how data is processed from an external trading partner. This may be initially confusing, as the direction of an EDI transaction may be contrary to the way in which its corresponding Business Central document is identified. For instance, in Business Central, a sales order is considered an outbound document as it represents the movement of goods out of a company’s inventory. However, when a customer places a sales order, the data is transmitted into, not out of, a company’s EDI directory. In this scenario, an inbound EDI transaction is used to ultimately generate an outbound document in Business Central.

It is important to keep these conventions in mind as you work with EDI to ensure a smooth and efficient process.