VDA vs EDIFACT vs ANSI X12: How the EDI Standards Fit Together
"Send us the 856" and "send us the VDA 4987" can mean the same business document in two different syntaxes. Here is the map.
UN/EDIFACT - the international base
UN/EDIFACT is the United Nations standard used across Europe and most of the world. It defines the message types (DESADV, DELFOR, INVOIC, ORDERS…), the segment library and the syntax rules. Think of it as the raw vocabulary.
VDA - the German automotive dialect
The VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie) publishes recommendations that profile EDIFACT for German automotive: VDA 4984 is profiled DELFOR, 4987 is profiled DESADV, 4938 is profiled INVOIC (self-billing). A VDA guideline narrows the generic message to the segments and codes the industry uses. OEMs then publish their own sub-guidelines on top.
Historic footnote: the classic VDA messages (4905, 4906, 4913…) are an older German fixed-length record format, not EDIFACT at all. New projects almost always use the EDIFACT-based 49xx numbers.
ANSI X12 - the American parallel world
North American automotive runs on ASC X12: the 856 is the despatch advice, 830 the planning schedule, 862 the shipping schedule, 810 the invoice. Same business objects, completely different syntax - fixed transaction sets with numeric segment IDs instead of three-letter tags.
Quick translation table
| Business document | EDIFACT | VDA | X12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery forecast | DELFOR | 4984 | 830 / 862 |
| Despatch advice (ASN) | DESADV | 4987 | 856 |
| Invoice | INVOIC | 4938 (self-billing) | 810 |
| Purchase order | ORDERS | 4915 | 850 |
What your customer actually wants
- German OEM/Tier-1 plant → VDA 49xx over EDIFACT, usually via OFTP2 or an EDI provider.
- US plant of the same group → X12, often via AS2.
- Some global groups accept both - but each plant's guideline wins. "We use EDIFACT" is never the full answer; ask for the message implementation guide for the exact plant and message.
This site focuses on the VDA/EDIFACT side. If you also face X12, the structural ideas (envelope, control numbers, mandatory segments) transfer directly.