St. Paul offers ASNs through EDI

St. Paul offers
ASNs through EDI

The SPS Commerce division of St. Paul Software (612.603.4400) announced the release of Advance Ship Notice (ASN) EDI capability through its WEB EC service. St. Paul officials said ASN capability is a significant break-through in supply chain management, “because it is the first service that does not require installation and management of EDI and barcoding software. This solution bypasses all of the issues associated with software, such as maintenance costs, connections to Value Added Networks (VANs) and VAN fees.”

The WEB EC service links buyers and suppliers to ASNs and shipping labels, which can drive down inventory levels, shorten distribution cycles and reduce costs. WEB EC is an Internet EC service available through SPS Commerce, St. Paul Software’s service bureau.

Widespread use of the ASN and shipping labels can be important for industries that depend on efficient supply chain management, such as retail and manufacturing. ASNs and shipping labels help retailers improve the distribution of goods to multiple locations and assist manufacturers in planning for the timely delivery and receipt of materials needed for production.

SPS Commerce Vice President Carla Underwood said, “St. Paul Software developed and integrated the ASN and shipping labels into our WEB EC service for businesses that don’t want to commit resources to managing EDI and barcoding software. The WEB EC service expands use of the ASN because it is an affordable way for businesses of all sizes to simply and easily comply with ASN and shipping label requirements.”

Java technology at WEB EC renders online ASNs by extracting information from the original EDI purchase order. To execute an ASN transaction, an authorized user logs into the WEB EC site, selects a trading partner and chooses a purchase order from a listing of multiple purchase orders that were previously sent. Once the document is selected, WEB EC extracts the purchase order data from history and generates an ASN transaction. The authorized user enters the required data into the interactive online form. WEB EC then generates an online shipping label from any standard laser printer, one that the user can print out and affix to goods.