• Exchange Mediums
    • VAN

      A Value Added Network is a service where you establish a mailbox. You are charged a monthly fee for the mailbox and the amount and size of the traffic.

    • FTP Server

      File Transfer Protocol is software for establishing connections, pushing, and pulling files.

    • VPN

      Virtual Private Networks utilize security software to establish secure tunnels across the internet.

    • Portal

      While functionally similar to a VAN, portals utilize secure socket layer (SSL) programming to utilize standard internet connectivity and hold down costs.

    • AS2

      AS2 is a security standard for encrypted data exchange.

  • Data Standards
    • EDI - ANSI

      The most typical encoding standard used in the US is the standard developed by the American National Standard Institute.

    • EDI - X.12

      The X.12 standard is the most commonly used standard in Europe.

    • XML

      Extensible Markup Language (XML) continues to gain acceptance as the modern standard for data exchange.

    • Proprietary Formats

      Proprietary file formats are used to programatically map data between applications.

  • Inbound Documents
    • Management

      Exchanges are logged, the partner and documents determined, and the data is directed to the appropriate mapping logic for processing.

    • Acknowledgements

      Functional acknowledgements are sent to the partner confirm that the exchanges and documents were received and processed.

    • Mapping

      Maps are invoked to convert the data from the exchange format to the database tabel structures.

    • Validation

      Data validation insures the information is complete and fulfills the business rules of the application.

    • Error Reporting

      Error reporting is used to alert personnel of any issues with the incoming data.

    • Posting

      Data is posted into the production database as new transactions.

  • Outbound Documents
    • Integrated Triggering

      Logic is executed at various processing events to determine if there is a data exchange relationship with the partner involved in the transaction. If there is, triggers are set for the transaction.

    • Data Extraction

      Data is assembled from the production files and placed into extraction sets for mapping.

    • Mapping

      Mapping logic converts the information to the required format for the exchange.

    • Re-Triggering

      The standard triggering logic makes is easy to reset the trigger for any transaction and re-send the data.

    • Management

      Interchanges are built and archived and delivered to the partners based upon the rules of the relationship.

  • Transaction Sets
    • 204 Carrier Load Tender

      The 204 is a document used to offer a load for transportation services.

    • 210 Invoice

      The 210 is an electronic invoice.

    • 214 Shipment Event

      The 214 is used to communicate various shipment events - appointments, pickup confirmed, delivery confirmed, ...

    • 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice

      The 846 is a document used to syncronize inventory balances.

    • 850 Purchase Order

      The 850 is a purchase order. It is one of two typical documents used to communicate orders to a warehouse.

    • 852 Product Activity

      The 852 is an activity history.

    • 856 Advance Shipment Notification

      The 856 is an ASN. Inbound 856's are used to create receipts. Outbound are used to communicate shipment contents.

    • 860 Receiving Advice

      The 860 is one of two documents used to confirm an receipt.

    • 940 Warehouse Shipping Order

      The 940 is the warehousing industry standard document for communicating an order.

    • 943 Inbound Notification

      The 943 is the warehousing industry standard document for communicating a receipt notification.

    • 944 Stock Transfer Receipt

      The 944 is the warehousing industry standard document for confirming a receipt.

    • 945 Shipping Advice

      The 945 is the warehousing industry standard document for confirming shipment of an order.

    • 947 WHSE Adjustment Advice

      The 947 is the warehousing industry standard document for communicating adjustments made to inventory.

    • 990 Load Tender Response

      The 990 is the response document for a load tender.

    • 997 Functional Acknowledgement

      The 997 is a functional acknowledgement.

Electronic Commerce

The WDLS-eCommerce software provides the triggering, validation, extraction, posting, and reporting processes to interface the WDLS application with those of your trading partners. Where possible, industry standard documents are exchanged. These standard transaction sets are constantly evolving. As changes are made, new versions of the documents are announced and the new document specifications made available. Codeworks monitors these standards and continues to enhance their products to keep you in compliance with them. We publish and deliver standard mappings for these documents.

Electronic mailboxes have evolved as the most common means of exchange. Value Added Network Providers (VANS) exist that can be contracted to establish such a mailbox. Web Portals and FTP data exchange over the internet or alternately a virtual private network have become prominent due to ease of used and efforts to contain costs.

Codeworks utilized an EDI mapping application to insure that the document is complete according to the standards and that the information sent in each segment falls within acceptable standards as established by the map. While the application insures data compliance to a standard, it cannot insure the integrity of the data beyond that. Standard validation logic is used to put incoming data through the same edits employed by the application data entry processes. Exit points within the validation and posting processes allow for custom requirements without customizing the entire process. Any standard practices that "complete" the incoming data for interfacing to WDLS are shared across trading partners.

In order for certain outbound transactions to be complete, application data must be supplied. A marriage must occur between the WDLS application and the EDI translator to insure that all information is properly supplied. WDLS supplies validity checkpoints that are integrated into the WDLS application processes to insure that this occurs. At certain points within the application programming, standard trigger processing is invoked. WDLS supplies panels to manage triggers, re-triggering, and monitor processing.

WDLS-eCommerce provides an architected "middleware" layer that can provide a solid foundation where trading partner relationships can be quickly established and altered.