What Is VDA 4987? The DESADV Despatch Advice Explained
If you supply parts to a German car manufacturer or a large Tier-1, you almost certainly have to send a despatch advice before every shipment. In the VDA world that message is VDA 4987 - the automotive profile of the UN/EDIFACT DESADV (Despatch Advice Message).
What the message is for
The despatch advice tells the receiving plant what is on the truck before it arrives: which delivery note number the shipment belongs to, when it left, when it will arrive, who shipped it, which materials and quantities are inside, how they are packed (pallets, boxes, labels) and how much everything weighs. The goods-receipt team scans the package labels on arrival and matches them against the VDA 4987 they received earlier. If the message is missing or wrong, the shipment can be rejected at the gate or trigger a complaint process.
How it relates to EDIFACT
VDA 4987 is not a standalone invention. It is a subset ("message implementation guide") of UN/EDIFACT DESADV, typically based on the D:20B directory. The VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie) restricts the generic DESADV to the segments and code values the German automotive industry actually uses, and OEMs such as Volkswagen, BMW or Mercedes-Benz publish their own further-refined guidelines on top. That is why two "VDA 4987" files from different customers can differ in detail - always check the guideline issued by your specific trading partner.
Message structure at a glance
| Area | Key segments | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Interchange envelope | UNB / UNZ | Sender/receiver IDs, control reference, message count |
| Message envelope | UNH / UNT | Message type (DESADV), version, segment count |
| Header | BGM, DTM, RFF, NAD, MEA | Despatch note number, dates, references, parties, total weights |
| Packaging hierarchy | CPS → PAC → PCI/GIN | How goods are packed: pallets, inner boxes, label numbers |
| Item lines | LIN, PIA, IMD, QTY, MEA | Part number, description, despatched quantity, weights per item |
Details that commonly matter
- BGM-1 must be 351 (DESADV). Other document types do not belong in this message.
- Three dates are mandatory in practice: document date (
DTM+137), despatch date (DTM+11) and estimated arrival (DTM+132). - Gross and net weight are expected as
MEA+AAX+AAD(gross) andMEA+AAX+AAL(net). - The CPS/PAC hierarchy describes the physical packing: outer handling units (e.g. pallets) and their inner packages, linked to the label numbers printed on the VDA goods tags (
PCI/GIN). - Control numbers must match: UNH-1 = UNT-2, UNB-5 = UNZ-2, and UNT-1 must equal the real segment count - hand-edited files break these constantly.
Who has to send it
Any supplier delivering to a plant that requires VDA EDI - which covers most German OEMs and many Tier-1s across Germany, Mexico, the US and China. If your customer asked you to "send DESADV per VDA 4987", an EDI service provider or your ERP's EDI module generates the file; your job is to make sure the content is right. A quick structural check before transmission saves most gate-rejection trouble.