EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry

What is an EDI 846?
EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice communicates inventory information between manufacturers, suppliers, and resellers. It is used by sellers of goods and services to provide inventory information to a potential customer, and also by sellers to inquire on the availability of inventory.

The EDI 846 can be used:

• By sellers of goods and services to communicate inventory information to a prospective customers
• By a seller’s representatives to provide the seller with inventory information
• By one seller’s location to provide another location with inventory information
• By a seller to check on the availability of inventory

This transaction set includes inventory information like:

• Location identification
• Item description
• Item quantity

Item quantities can be vary by:

• Float product quantity
• Quantity on hand
• Committed quantity
• On order quantity
• Returns
• Backorder quantity
• Transit quantity

How to use an EDI 846?
EDI 846 transactions are frequently used by manufacturers and suppliers to inform trading partners on the stock that is currently available in different inventory holding facilities, such as warehouses, outlets, stores, distribution centers, etc. An 846 is frequently used by manufacturers to inform business partners of overstocked inventory that are offered at a discount. It is possible for an EDI 846 document to trigger the shipment of materials based on an existing relationship between the two partners. In which an EDI 850 Purchase order would be required. Besides that situation, after the EDI 846 is received, a 997 Functional Acknowledgment is generated by the trading partner to confirm the successful reception of the original EDI 846 transaction.