An EDI 945, or Warehouse Shipping Advice, is used to by a third party, remote warehouse to inform a supplier that the shipment has 
been sent out to the end user. The 945 is sent out following the Warehouse Shipping Order, or EDI 940. Information typically found on a 945 includes:
- Supplier information
- What time the shipment was sent
- Ship-to information
- Ship-from information
- Shipping method and carrier information
- Item numbers, quantities, and descriptions (as backed by carton)
What is an EDI 945?
Once the supplier has received the 945, they will typically follow up with a Functional Acknowledgement, or EDI 997, to inform the warehouse that the notification was received. The 945 also provides the supplier with the information needed to send out their advance shipment notices (EDI 856), and finally an invoice (EDI 810).
How do I send/receive an EDI 945?
It is quite simple for a system to send/receive EDI 945s. For the most part, the transmitting is done through the Internet or Value Added Network (VAN). To keep EDI costs affordable, today most EDI transmission is done through the internet using AS2 or secure FTP, eliminating the need for an expensive VAN. The file is kept secure using encryption to keep the data safe.
Translating an EDI 945
Once an EDI 945 document has been received, it must be translated into a functional format for your system. The majority of organizations have their own standard set of definitions for EDI 945s, so companies use a platform like logicbroker to configure and translate these different documents. Once the EDI 945 is translated, the information can be synced to your internal system of record such as an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) or shopping cart – eliminating the need for manual data entry. Now that you have the shipping information you can quickly track the shipment, which suppliers find useful because their retailers can easily anticipate incoming orders. Also, suppliers and retailers find EDI 945s useful because they eliminates the need to send/receive warehouse shipment notices in several different formats such as email, fax or CSV.
