EDI 816 - Organizational Relationships
The EDI 816 Organizational Relationships is a type of electronic data interchange transaction set that is sent from buyers to sellers. It contains information on individual locations, such as warehouses, distribution centers or retail stores, including their addresses and relationship to the parent organization.
What is EDI 816?
An EDI 816 Organizational Relationships, is sent buyers to sellers. It contains information on individual locations, such as warehouses, distribution centers or retail stores. It is also used to provide detail on each location’s eligibility to purchase under terms of the relationship with a seller.
This electronic document complies with the ANSI X12 EDI specification.

Benefits of EDI 816
All EDI documents are securely encrypted in transit, allowing trading partners to send sensitive data safely. Using the EDI 816 can benefit all trading partners, buyers and sellers.
How is an EDI 816 Used?
An EDI 816 is most commonly triggered upon the opening of a new store or distribution centre, or a change of address for a particular location. This benefits the seller by keeping track of things like ship-to locations on orders, and provides the relative information to assist the supplier when the new location places an order or becomes an available ship to location.
The buyer can also send updated EDI 816 documents when a location closes, opens, or has other information changes.
After getting EDI 816, the seller usually responds with an EDI 997 Functional Acknowledgement to confirm receipt.
EDI 816 Components
EDI 816 transaction sets need to cover certain details about each individual location. Some of the core elements in the EDI 816 include:
- Location details like addresses, contact information and codes (such as: store numbers)
- Eligibility to purchase under the terms of a seller
EDI 816 Specifications
ANSI ASC X12
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) chartered the Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 to develop uniform standards for inter-industry electronic exchange of business transactions, namely electronic data interchange. ASC X12 also contributes to UN/EDIFACT messages that are used widely outside of the United States.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is defined as the electronic communication process for exchanging data amongst trading partners without human intervention. Simply put, EDI provides a technical basis for commercial “conversations” between two entities, either internal or external.
EDI encompasses the entire electronic communication process including:
- Transmission
- Message Flow
- Document Format
- Software Used to Interpret Documents
An Integrated EDI solution translates your inbound documents, like purchase orders, from your trading partners’ EDI files into a format that can be imported directly into your ERP, accounting or other business system.
When you’re ready to send out invoices, PO acknowledgments or other outbound documents, it takes the format exported from your system and translates it into the EDI formats required by your trading partners.
Commport’s Integrated EDI solution has no complicated or expensive software to install, and no need for you to be an EDI
expert or create your own mappings
The solution grows easily as your business grows and adding new customers is easy.
Translation is fast and reliable – so you can focus on your business
Key Features of Commport's Integrated EDI
- Documents flow into and out of your business system without any human interaction.
- Commport handles all of the ‘EDI’ work.
- No delays between your customer sending an order and you receiving it.
- Reduce manual effort
- Eliminate errors
- Improve cash flow
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