ANSI X12 is an American EDI standard developed in 1979 and stands for American National Standards Institute X12.
Although originally designed for use solely in North America, ANSI X12 is still the most commonly used EDI standard there is — more than 300,000 organisations worldwide now use it.
Although ANSI is the most widely used EDI standard globally other standards such as th Tradacoms and EDIFACT standards are more commonly used in Europe.
ANSI X12 is a standard that is constantly evolving. ANSI EDI standards are not set just once. The ASC -Standards that have occurred must be taken into account. The Governing Body’s primary goal in discussing ANSI EDI standards is to develop, improve, and eliminate (if necessary) ANSI EDI standards to support EDI communications to streamline business transactions and, ultimately, practices.
One of the biggest misconceptions many customers have is that they must always have current updates to the EDI ANSI X12 standard in order to be compliant with their trading partners. The EDI ANSI X12 standard documents are covered by versions that are usually in numeric form such as 4030 or 5010.
Before asking your software vendor to sell you an update to the latest EDI ANSI X12 version, you should check with all your trading partners. Make sure you need this latest EDI ANSI X12 version. You may be surprised to know that even some of the larger retailers and trading partners still use versions of EDI ANSI X12 dating back to version 4030!