DELFOR — EDIFACT Delivery Schedule Message (D.16B)

The DELFOR message is the forecast delivery schedule sent by a buyer to a supplier in a blanket-contract or demand-driven replenishment context: it carries upcoming delivery windows, firm, planned or forecast quantities per item reference, per site and per horizon. It drives production and supply planning on the supplier side. This page summarises the segment structure as published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.16B.

Purpose

The DELFOR message is the forecast delivery schedule sent by a buyer to a supplier in a blanket-contract or demand-driven replenishment context: it carries upcoming delivery windows, firm, planned or forecast quantities per item reference, per site and per horizon. It drives production and supply planning on the supplier side.

This page focuses on the structure published by UN/CEFACT for directory D.16B. The segments listed, their status (M / C), position and repetition factor are extracted from the official file delfor_c.htm hosted on service.unece.org.

Segment structure

The DELFOR D.16B message has 111 header entries, 0 detail entries and 0 summary entries (segments and groups combined). Groups are shown in bold and their members are indented by actual nesting depth.

Header

Detail

No segment in this section.

Summary

No segment in this section.

Changes vs D.96A

Top-level differences between D.96A and D.16B for the DELFOR message (segments directly inside header / detail / summary, ignoring nested groups). The comparison is indicative: a given tag may have evolved inside nested groups without showing up in this synthesis.

Segments added vs D.96A

• FTX in the header section (status C, repeat ×5) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• TDT in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GEI in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• DOC in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• LIN in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PIA in the header section (status C, repeat ×10) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• IMD in the header section (status C, repeat ×10) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• MEA in the header section (status C, repeat ×5) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• ALI in the header section (status C, repeat ×5) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GIN in the header section (status C, repeat ×999) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• GIR in the header section (status C, repeat ×999) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• TMD in the header section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• QTY in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• SCC in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PAC in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PCI in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• PRI in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• CUX in the header section (status C, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.
• UNT in the header section (status M, repeat ×1) — not present at the top of the corresponding D.96A section.

Segments removed vs D.96A

• UNS in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• NAD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• LOC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• FTX in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• DOC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• DTM in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• CTA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• COM in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• TDT in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• LIN in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• PIA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• IMD in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• MEA in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• ALI in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• GIN in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• GIR in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• RFF in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• QTY in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• SCC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• PAC in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• PCI in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• QVR in the detail section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• UNS in the summary section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• CNT in the summary section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• FTX in the summary section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.
• UNT in the summary section — present in D.96A but missing in D.16B at the same level.

Structural example

Minimal example of an DELFOR D.16B message with mandatory segments only. The goal is to show the exact version declared in UNH (DELFOR:D:16B:UN) — not to replicate a full business case (see the DELFOR D.96A page for an annotated example).

UNB+UNOC:3+5410000000123:14+5410000000456:14+260514:1430+CTRL016001'
UNH+1+DELFOR:D:16B:UN'
BGM+241+DELFOR-2026-W20+9'
DTM+137:20260514:102'
DTM+157:20260601:102'
DTM+158:20260831:102'
NAD+BY+5410000000123::9'
NAD+SU+5410000000456::9'
UNS+D'
NAD+CN+5410000000789::9'
LIN+1++3520000001234:EN'
QTY+1:500'
SCC+1'
DTM+2:20260602:102'
UNS+S'
UNT+15+1'
UNZ+1+CTRL016001'

Common errors

• Misaligned UNH tokens — The UNH+...+DELFOR:D:16B:UN token must reflect exactly the directory in use — a mismatch between the UNH release and the release agreed with the partner is rejected by every strict validator.
• Wrong UNT segment count — The value after UNT+ must include UNH and UNT themselves. By far the most common sender-side error, regardless of the directory in use.
• Stale code lists — Between D.96A and D.16B, several code lists received new qualifiers (DTM status, RFF qualifier, NAD codes…). Reusing an older directory’s code tables triggers warnings or even rejections depending on the partner’s strict-conformance mode.

Related messages

Other versions of this message available on ediverse.io: DELFOR D.96A, DELFOR D.01B, DELFOR D.10A, DELFOR D.21B, DELFOR D.24A, DELFOR D.97A, DELFOR D.99B, DELFOR D.00B, DELFOR D.02B, DELFOR D.05A, DELFOR D.08A, DELFOR D.13B, DELFOR D.18B, DELFOR D.20B.

X12 functional equivalent: X12 830.

← All EDIFACT versions