Your go-to resource for answers to common questions about our products and services. Whether you're a new customer exploring our offerings or a seasoned user looking for additional information, we've compiled a comprehensive list of questions and answers to help you out.
Cant find what you're looking for?
You can always reach our Live Chat or our support desk support@commport.com
We opened our doors in 1985, since then Commport Communications’ focus has been to enable business to business communications. With over 35 years of experience we can help you find the right solutions for your business needs all in one place. Commport Communications provides a wide range of innovative and comprehensive supply chain management solutions for Electronic Commerce (EC). This includes Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Value Added Networks (VAN), and Global Data Synchronization Networks (GDSN). Whether you are a small company or a large enterprise, our trading partner and document implementation solutions will help you to improve efficiency and collaboration within your trading partner community.
Comprehensive Electronic Data Interchange Services for B2B
When you need to electronically exchange business documents with your trading partner communities you can rest assured that Commport’s EDI services will reliably and securely transmit your data anywhere in the world. We provide a strong offering of outsourced EDI and in-house EDI solutions, supported by industry leading customer service.
Electronic Data Interchange
Commport's EDI Solution offers functionality, automation, and control to organizations looking to automate their fulfillment processes and become EDI compliant. Commport EDI solutions help increase your business efficiencies
GDSN Solution
Commport's GDSN Solution provides businesses with a complete range of data pool options. Our team will help determine the best solutions for your immediate business needs while laying a foundation for future growth.
Value Added Network
Commport facilitates the exchange of information electronically between you and your trading partners through our VAN. Our VAN is a key component of EDI, acting as a single communications link to multiple trading partners.
Specialized Integration
Commport's team of highly qualified and experienced IT professionals will help you synchronize information technology (IT), business cultures and objectives to align with your business strategy and goals.
We are continuously interested in talented individuals who want to progress their careers and make a difference to our business. If you have a passion for customer service, computer programming, and technology, and a desire to achieve great results within a collaborative, entrepreneurial environment - we'd like to hear from you.
Please visit our careers page for the most up to date job posting here.
You can reach support by calling our customer support team:
Monday - Friday 6:30am - 7:00pm ET
Phone: 905-727-6782, Option 2
Email: support@commport.com
After Hours Support:
Monday - Friday, 12:00 - 6:30am 8:00pm - 11:59pm
Saturday - Sunday, 12:00am - 11:59pm
Phone: 905-727-6782 Option #2222
Monday - Friday 6:30am - 7:00pm ET
After Hours Support
Monday through Friday, 12:00 am to 6:30am 8:00pm - 11:59pm ET
Saturday and Sunday from 12:00am - 11:59pm ET
Go to the Internet EDI website at
You will be presented with a Username and Password prompt. Enter the username and
password as provided by Commport.
To create a consolidated ASN:
1. Go to your account on the Internet EDI Website.
2. Go to your Orders tab.
3. Click on the first Order you want to create an ASN for.
4. Press your shift key and select the second Order you want to create an ASN for.
5. The ASN’s will be highlighted together, please see the screenshot below.
6. Select the Create Multi Order Shipment button (inside the red box)
7. Proceed to create the ASN as you normally would.
You can find a full list of EDI document and transaction codes by industry:
The EDI 810 is also known as EDIFACT INVOIC and x12 810 Invoice, or, EDI Billing. An EDI Billing is an electronic version of a paper invoice that sellers send to buyers to request payment for products delivered.
It is typically sent in response to an EDI 850 Purchase Order as a request for payment once the goods have shipped or services are provided. A vendor will generate an EDI invoice transaction set 810 that commonly contains the following:
The EDI 850 is a type of electronic data interchange transaction set that contains details about an order. Also known as an electronic purchase order, an EDI 850 is usually sent to a vendor as the first step in the ordering process.
An EDI 850 generally provides the same information you would find in a paper Purchase Order (PO) document, including:
The EDI 856 Ship Notice / Manifest also known as an advance ship notice (ASN) is a type of electronic data interchange transaction set used communicate the contents of a shipment to another trading partner. This electronic document complies with the ANSI X12 EDI specification.
The EDI 856 transaction is commonly used by the retail, manufacturing and automotive industries in response to EDI 850, EDI 830, or EDI 862 transactions. The EDI 856 may be the most complicated document to implement for most suppliers. With multiple trading partner having different requirements, the supplier must be able to support multiple different formats in order to comply.
An EDI 997 serves as a receipt to acknowledge that an EDI transaction, or a series of transactions, was successfully transmitted and received by the receiving trading partner.
Read More...
Electronic Data Interchange is the transfer of large amounts of information in a specified format between business partners.
EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange which is the exchange of large amounts of information computer-to-computer in a specified format between business partners.
EDI has been in use since the 1960s, however in more recent years EDI came to play a key role in enabling supply chain automation, digital transformation and B2B business process automation.
More than 85% of all electronic business transactions take place using EDI. This method of exchanging documents is used in industries including retail, banking, high-tech, manufacturing, and services.
Read: What does EDI Stand For?
Most organizations embark on an EDI journey in response to an identified business problem or opportunity. Many times a large customer will ask to exchange their supply chain transactions using EDI and that is oftentimes the starting point. Other times, organizations find themselves in the position that they don’t have the information they need, when they need it, which leads them to the use of EDI to help solve that problem.
10 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Getting Started:
1. Are you familiar with EDI? if not read this complete EDI guide
2. Do you have an existing EDI solution?
o What do you like about it?
o What don’t you like about it?
o What would you like to see changed?
3. Are you responding to a customer mandate?
o How much business do you have with that customer?
o Do you have other customers who have requested an EDI connection with you that you haven’t actioned?
o How much business do you have with that (those) customer(s)?
Read More: How Do I Start Doing EDI?
EDI has been used in the past primarily by automotive and retail businesses, however in the past few years, the format has been more widely adopted. Manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceutical, utility and construction companies are good examples of EDI clients.
Read: Who Uses EDI?
Basically, any type of business that deals with large amounts of identical paperwork/form data can directly benefit from adopting an EDI solution. The benefits over using a paper system are clear:
Read: 60 Benefits of EDI
EDI solutions are designed to help you manage this massive amount of paperwork. The considerations for savings in time, potential errors from mistyped or incorrectly logged information, not to mention the impact on the environment—all of these are important considerations when you’re looking into an Edi solution for your business.
If your business model is based on having a series of processes that are labor intensive—yet completely necessary—in regards to a huge amount of work required to keep things running, then you will want to consider an EDI solution.
An EDI VAN (Value Added Network) offers a business to business (B2B) network of electronic communications, a network which includes an array of 'value added' services, as well as facilitated communication protocols that otherwise would not be available when going through the Internet or regular phone lines.
A value added network (VAN) is a private, hosted service that provides companies with a secure way to send and share data with its counterparties. Value-added networks are a common way to facilitate electronic data interchange (EDI) between companies.
The main goal of a VAN is to facilitate electronic data interchange (EDI) between businesses. The VAN sits on top of an existing common carrier. The carrier provides additional services on top of the infrastructure called value-added services. Hence, the name value-added network.
An EDI VAN receives a mail from a sender, sorts and delivers it to the recipient's mailbox. A trading partner retrieves messages by connecting to the VAN, which validates the message and verifies the recipient's identity. It then provides a full audit trail, and all messages are tracked and accurately recorded
Most VANs also provide visibility tools that show the delivery status of data and some corresponding workflows, allowing companies to better coordinate dependent activities through the system rather than exchanging phone calls and emails.
VAN original function was to be the main communication channel that delivered data securely from one mailbox to another, but there are additional services that a VAN can provide. That is why it is one of the most common EDI solutions today.
With the rise of new EDI standards and communication protocols, VANs have evolved to support many different requirements. VAN capabilities have expanded to include EDI translation, data validation, re-processing, authentication, encryption, and reporting. VANs also include a wide range of other services that aim to simplify document exchange with many partners via EDI networks.
Optimize your supply chain while reducing manual processing costs and improve customer relationships
Not only is using a VAN more efficient and more accurate, but it also saves the cost of hiring human data-entry professionals for the exchange of information. In addition to the many EDI benefits companies who enlist the services of an EDI VAN provider can expect,
GDSN stands for Global Data Synchronization Network. The Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) is the world’s largest product data network. It is a system of connected firms that share product information in a standardized format. The GDSN enables manufacturers and sellers of goods to harmonize information about their products with their customers. Retailers and other buyers of goods subscribe to vendor catalogues and receive updates on them.
Read: What is the GDSN?
Share real-time product content with all trading partners simultaneously
Decrease data management time and costs
Eliminate manual processes and reduce errors, generating quality
Bring new products to market quickly and easily
Enable brand transparency to consumers and patients
Optimize your supply chain while reducing manual processing costs and improve customer relationships
Not only is using a VAN more efficient and more accurate, but it also saves the cost of hiring human data-entry professionals for the exchange of information. In addition to the many EDI benefits companies who enlist the services of an EDI VAN provider can expect,
GS1 is a neutral, not-for-profit, international organization developing and maintaining standards including barcodes. GS1 standards, services and solutions are designed to improve the efficiency, safety and visibility of supply chains across physical and digital channels in a wide variety of sectors.
Sources: GS1.org
The use of global standards within the GDSN ensure that a manufacturer or seller of goods can easily populate their GDSN catalogue once and share that information with customers around the world. This eliminates the need for 'local' attributes based on one country or region. For buyers, the global standards mean that they will receive the same data points from suppliers anywhere in the world. Committees from all industries and countries with representatives from both supplier and buyer organizations met to develop these standards.
Organizations that want to provide GDSN services must be certified. To be certified a GDSN data pool must prove they are able to connect with the other data pools and meet the global standards. Buyers and sellers of goods around the world rely on the Certification to ensure the Network remains viable.
The Global Product Classification (GPC) is part of the GS1 System of supply chain standards. GPC is the chosen standard classification system for the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN).
Read: What is a GPC?
The GPC standard helps global trading partners to group or categorizing products in the same way, everywhere in the world. The resulting common business language is clear and instantly understandable.
The GPC follows a four-tier classification system. The four tiers are Segment, Family, Class and Brick (with attributes)
Read: What is a GPC?
GTIN stands for Global Trade Item Number.
The Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) can be used by a company to uniquely identify all of its trade items. GS1 defines trade items as products or services that are priced, ordered or invoiced at any point in the supply chain. GS1 Global Registry holds information on who subscribed to trade items or party data using Global Location Numbers (GLN), Global Trade Identification Numbers (GTIN), Global Product Classifications (GPC) and Target Market (TM) as identifiers.
Read: What is a GTIN?
For Retail Point-of-Sale Products, only GTIN-12 and GTIN-13 are approved for retail point-of-sale applications.
GTIN-12s can be encoded with UPC-A and UPC-E barcode symbologies.
GTIN-13s can be encoded with the EAN-13 barcode symbology.
For Logistic units (Inner packs, Cases and Pallets) consisting of a homogeneous grouping, you can use GTIN-14s or assign GTIN-12s or GTIN-13s.
GTIN-14s can only be encoded in barcode symbologies that have a 14-digit capacity. These include ITF-14, GS1-128, GS1 DataBar™, and Data Matrix.
A GLN is a Global Location Number and is part of the GS1 systems of standards which is used to identify locations and legal entities. This unique identifier is 13 digits, comprised of a GS1 Company Prefix, Location Reference, and Check Digit.
Read: What is a GLN?
GLNs are used to identify parties to business transactions; functional groups within a company; or real, physical “places” that might ship, receive, process, or hold inventories.
Read: What is a GLN?
Data carriers
GLNs in barcodes can help to route products to their destination or capture where they came from. Use of EPC®/RFID and readers identified with GLNs can support automatically capturing the movement of goods without the need for line-of-sight scanning or other manual intervention.
Systems and communications
Sharing information relating to parties and locations using GLN within GS1 standards like EDI and EPCIS will enhance transitional data and physical event data.
There are several benefits of using the GLN to identify parties, functional groups, and physical locations:
Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) works over the Secure Shell (SSH) data stream to establish a secure connection that provides a high level of protection for file transfers, file access, and file management over any reliable data stream. SFTP implements AES, Triple DES, and other algorithms to encrypt data that flows between systems
AS2 stands for Applicability Statement 2 and is a B2B messaging protocol used to transmit Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) documents from one organization to another safely, cheaply and quickly.
AS2 is a universal method for transporting data used by millions of businesses worldwide, including most major retailers, such as Amazon and Walmart
AS2 is one of the most popular methods for transporting data, especially EDI data, securely and reliably over the Internet. AS2 communications will often use certificates to secure data via encryption, based on public and private keys
With the rise of new EDI standards and communication protocols, VANs have evolved to support many different requirements. VAN capabilities have expanded to include EDI translation, data validation, re-processing, authentication, encryption, and reporting. VANs also include a wide range of other services that aim to simplify document exchange with many partners via EDI networks.
SFTP is the top choice, due to its strong authentication capabilities, and its firewall-friendly nature
SOAP stands for ( Simple Object Access Protocol ) is a communication protocol designed to communicate via Internet. SOAP allows distributed elements of an application to communicate.
A VPN tunnel is an encrypted link between your computer or mobile device and an outside network. A VPN tunnel connects your smartphone, laptop, computer, or tablet to another network in which your IP address is hidden and all the data you generate while surfing the web is encrypted.
Three Types of VPN Tunnel,
