ASN

Advanced Shipping Notice. The North-American term for the electronic despatch advice — what ships, when, in which packaging.

Definition

ASN (Advanced Shipping Notice or Advance Ship Notice) is a generic term in widespread use in North-American retail and industry, designating the electronic message that precedes the physical arrival of a shipment. Its X12 carrier is the 856 Ship Notice/Manifest transaction set, publicly listed by ASC X12.

An ASN describes:

1. The shipment identification (number, dates, carrier, mode).
2. The logistic units (pallets / cartons / parcels) — each carrying its GS1 SSCC printed on the GS1-128 label.
3. The product content (articles, quantities, batches, expiry dates).
4. The packaging hierarchy (pallet → layer → carton → unit).

Origin

The ASN term took hold in US retail in the 1990s with Wal-Mart, Target and their suppliers. The European functional equivalent is the DESADV EDIFACT message (UN/CEFACT D.96A), which describes exactly the same thing in a different syntax. ASC X12 publishes the name and the public description of 856 on its transaction-sets page; see archive content/_sources/x12/X12_PUBLIC_INDEX.md.

Example in context

A dry-goods supplier ships a truck to a Walmart distribution centre. Its ERP emits an ASN (X12 856) one hour before actual departure. Walmart's WMS pre-assigns dock doors, scans SSCCs on arrival and compares line-by-line. Any discrepancy on quantity or SSCC raises a chargeback.

Related terms

• DESADV — the European EDIFACT equivalent.
• X12 — the standard that defines 856.
• GLN — location identifier, often carried in the ASN for parties.
• ORDERS — the order referenced by the ASN.