Setting up
Agreements
An agreement is one document type, in one direction, with one partner. It is the record that makes a posting send something.
Nothing is exchanged because a partner exists. It is exchanged because there is an agreement saying so. Four documents in two directions is up to eight agreements per partner, and most partners have three or four.
This is also the switch. Removing an agreement stops that document going to that partner, and nothing else changes.
Outbound
| Field | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Document type | Which document this is about, for example EDIFACT INVOIC |
| Document type ID | The type identifier the partner expects to see in the envelope |
| Process ID | Which process the partner has agreed with you, where their network needs one named |
| Format mapping | The Electronic Reporting configuration that produces the file |
| Validation mode | Off, warn, or refuse the posting |
| Expect envelope receipt | Whether the absence of one is a problem |
| Expect document receipt | The same for the business acknowledgement |
| Overdue after | How many minutes a receipt may be late before it counts as late |
Inbound
| Field | What it decides |
|---|---|
| Document type | What you have agreed to receive |
| Model mapping | The Electronic Reporting configuration that reads the file into staging |
| Process automatically | Whether a clean document becomes a record without a person |
| Store without importing | Keep the file, do not read it. For a document you want on record but not in the ledger |
| Send envelope receipt | Whether you answer that the interchange arrived |
| Send document receipt | Whether you answer that the business document was accepted |
| Overdue after | How long a staged document may sit before it needs attention |
Automatic processing, and when to leave it off
With automatic processing on, an inbound document that passes its comparison becomes a record without anyone looking. That is the point of EDI, and it is where the saving is.
Leave it off to begin with. Run a new partner manually for a few weeks and read what the comparison says: it will show you the item numbers they use that you do not, the prices you disagree on, and the delivery addresses that do not match. Turn it on once the yellow verdicts have stopped being interesting.
Deadlines
Overdue is not a failure. It is a clock. A message with an expected receipt gets a deadline, and when it passes, the message turns up in the operations workspace as something to chase rather than sitting quietly in a list of thousands.
Set it to what the partner has actually agreed. Fifteen minutes for a partner who answers in seconds is useful; fifteen minutes for one who batches overnight will bury you in false alarms and you will start ignoring the list, which is worse than not having it.
Both sides have to exist
Sending an order confirmation to a partner who has not agreed to receive one produces a document that is delivered and discarded. Ask what they support before adding an agreement; the partner will usually give you a list, and it is generally shorter than you would like.