This document provides comprehensive information on integrating with
Flxpoint's EDI standard and guides you through the steps to get started.
Getting Started with Flxpoint EDI Integration Before you begin exchanging documents with Flxpoint, follow these steps
to set up your connection. Once you complete these steps, an EDI specialist
will be assigned to assist you further.
How to connect
First, if you are a FLX customer, add your supplier or vendor as a source in
your Flxpoint account. This step is essential to ensure that all related data
and communications are linked to your account. Before you begin testing and
exchanging documents with Flxpoint, make sure you have loaded an initial set
of items with a SKU and
their cost so we can send a
test order. If you need any assistance, your EDI specialist is ready to help.
If you are both a FLX customer and vendor, please email Flxpoint’s EDI Team at
connect@flxpoint.com. In your email, include the following information:
Vendor Company Name – For
example, Acme Corp.
Vendor Interchange IDs –
These should follow the format, for example,
ZZ:12345678.
Document Types – Specify
the types of documents you will be trading (such as 846 and 850).
FTP Hosting Details – If
your vendor is hosting the FTP, include details such as the Host, Port,
Username, Password, and the Inbound/Outbound Directories.
General EDI Guidelines
Standard Version:Flxpoint supports EDI using version
004010VICS. This is the
industry-standard version that ensures compatibility and consistency across
systems.
Interchange ID: Use the qualifier ZZ and
an ID in the format
FLX#####. This number
represents your client’s unique Flxpoint AID. For example, simply using
ZZ is acceptable when the
complete identifier is already understood in context.
Connection Type: The EDI connection is established via
SFTP. Flxpoint can either
host the file for you or connect to your hosted FTP. (Please note that AS2 and
VAN connections are not supported.)
Internal Vendor Number: During the initial setup, Flxpoint assigns you an internal vendor number.
This identifier is a maximum of 10 characters long and is used for system
tracking.
Delimiters: By default, Flxpoint uses the following delimiter settings (which can be
customized per job if needed):
•
Segment Terminator:~ (Decimal 126 or HEX 7E) •
Element Separator:* (Decimal 42 or HEX 2A) •
Sub-element Separator:> (Decimal 62 or HEX 3E)
997 Acknowledgements: For every transaction that Flxpoint sends, you must return a 997
acknowledgement. Additionally, Flxpoint generates a 997 for each processed
transaction, and you can find these in the “/out” directory on the FTP/SFTP.
Remember that a 997 only confirms that the transaction was received—it does
not verify the accuracy of the transaction content. If you encounter any
issues, please contact Flxpoint support. See the
FLX EDI 997 guide
for field-level details.
Envelope & Control Rules
Supported Versions (GS08 / ISA12):
Version
Flxpoint behavior
004010VICS
Preferred — X12 Retail VICS. Accepted.
004010 (no VICS)
Accepted + warning. Not hard-rejected even when
VICS-specific segments are present. Partners should ideally switch to
004010VICS.
005010
Accepted.
Anything else
Warning. Processing depends on whether the segment structure still
parses.
Hard rejection on version strings only happens when the
segment structure itself fails to parse — not the version literal.
GS01 — Functional Identifier Code:
Code
Transaction
IB
846 Inventory
SH
856 Ship Notice
PO
850 Purchase Order
AD
855 PO Acknowledgement
IN
810 Invoice
FA
997 Functional Acknowledgement
PI
832 Price/Sales Catalog
A GS01/ST01 mismatch is a hard reject.
ISA06 / ISA08 — Sender / Receiver IDs:
Must be exactly 15 characters, right-padded with spaces when
the ID is shorter. Missing padding causes the parser to fail finding
the segment terminator, resulting in a hard reject.
Control Numbers:
ISA13 must be unique within a 24-hour window from the same
Sender ID. Duplicate ISA13 from the same sender is
rejected.
GS06 ↔ GE02 must match; mismatch is rejected.
ST02 ↔ SE02 must match; mismatch is rejected.
ISA15 — Usage Indicator:T (Test) and P (Production) are both processed. Test
files are badged in the Flxpoint UI as “Test Mode” to prevent accidental
real-world fulfillment.
Supported Transactions
Please review the FLX EDI guide linked at the top of each of the following
tabs for more details:
Purpose: To inform the retailer of inventory
availability with accurate levels.
Frequency: Process inventory data hourly or, if not
feasible, at least daily.
Providing a valid quantity level is recommended; any value above 0
indicates the item is in stock.
A quantity > 0 confirms availability for purchase.
Suppliers may use a “safety net” algorithm (e.g., sending 0 for
critically low stock).
A value of ‘1’ or higher in QTY02 indicates sufficient stock; ‘0’
indicates low or no stock.
Note: A ‘0’ quantity record does not affect pending
orders.
BIA Segment (Beginning of Inventory Advice) — FLX-Custom
BIA01 – Must be exactly 00.
(X12 allows 05 Replace; Flxpoint does not.)
BIA02 – Must be exactly MM.
(X12 allows DD Distributor, DR Delivery;
Flxpoint does not.)
Example:BIA*00*MM*XXXXX*20260417~
REF Segment — FLX-Custom
REF*IA – Mandatory. Qualifier must
be IA (Internal Vendor Number assigned by FLX during
setup, 10 characters max).
(X12 marks REF as optional; Flxpoint requires it for 846.)
Example:REF*IA***XXXXXXXXXX~
CTT Segment
CTT is ignored entirely by the Flxpoint parser on 846
— neither error nor warning. Third-party validators sometimes flag
CTT*N as unsupported; this is a false positive. Partners
may include CTT or omit it.
LIN Segments (Line Item Identification)
Primary Identifier / Qualifier:
LIN02 – Qualifier must be SK (SKU).
LIN03 – Use a SKU or preferred product identifier.
Optional Identifiers:
LIN04 to LIN07 – Additional identifiers (only one mapped).
Additional qualifiers include UP (UPC) and EN (EAN).
Purpose: To provide detailed tracking and shipment
configuration information so incoming orders can be processed
efficiently.
Frequency: Process shipment data hourly or at least
daily.
LIN Segments (Line Item Identification)
LIN01 – Line Item number starts at 1 and increments.
LIN02 – Qualifier options: UP (UPC), EN (EAN), SK (SKU), or BP
(Buyer’s Part Number).
LIN03 – Product ID must match the identifier sent in the 850.
Example:LIN*0001*SK*ABC12345~
Shipment Methods
Shipment Level: One tracking number for one or more
orders in a single shipment.
HL loops structure: Shipment > Order > Item.
Tracking number provided in the REF segment.
Example:REF*CN*XXXXXXXXX~
Structure:
HL*1****S*1~ HL*2*1*O*1~ HL*3*2*I*0~
Pack Level: Tracking numbers provided for each
package.
HL loops structure: Shipment > Order > Pack > Item.
Tracking number provided in the MAN segment for each pack.
Example:MAN*CP*XXXX~
Structure:
HL*1**S*1~ HL*2*1*O*1~ HL*3*2*P*0~ HL*4*3*I*0~
SN102 — Quantity Shipped
Must be a positive integer greater than 0. Zero or negative values
cause the line to be rejected.
TD5 — Carrier & Service Level (required on 856)
TD502 must be 2.
TD503 — SCAC required. Flxpoint does
not maintain an exhaustive list of SCAC codes.
Validation is format-only: 2 to 4 alphanumeric
characters (e.g. UPSN, FDXE,
USPS). The validator warns when a SCAC is not in the
common-carrier list, but the file still processes.
TD512 service level required (see 850 tab for accepted values).
DTM — Date / Time Reference (856)
DTM01 qualifier — accepted values:
011 – Shipped
017 – Estimated Delivery
002 – Delivery Requested
Item Tracking Reachability (FLX-Custom)
Every item HL must have reachable tracking — either a
shipment-level REF*0L/CN/TN, or
a MAN*CP/GM at pack/item level. Missing
tracking causes the Flxpoint shipment mapper to drop the shipment
silently even when the 846 itself parses cleanly.
Additional Shipping & Routing Details
FTP/EDI Transfer Specifics:
FTP Host: ftp.flxpoint.com
Port: 22 (SFTP)
Inbound Directory: /incoming
Outbound Directory: /out
Standard Operating Procedures:
Ensure ASN files are received and processed within scheduled
intervals.
Verify HL loop sequencing and tracking mapping before live
shipment.
Confirm FTP connectivity and directory permissions prior to
go-live.
Note: Broader X12 codes
(AC/AD/AE/AK/BP/DR/IC/ID/IF/IS/IW/RD/RJ/SP) are accepted by the parser
for backward compatibility, but only the four above are actively
processed by Flxpoint.
Purpose: To exchange product price and catalog
information between trading partners.
More information coming soon
Flxpoint is still finalizing its official 832 specification. Custom
832 implementations exist for specific partners today, but a publicly
published Flxpoint 832 schema is not yet available. In the meantime,
generic X12 validation applies only.
If you need to exchange 832 files with Flxpoint, please contact your
dedicated FLX EDI specialist or email
connect@flxpoint.com
so we can align on field-level requirements for your integration.
What to expect
Standard ST/BCT/GE envelope validation (same envelope rules as other
transactions — see the
Envelope & Control Rules section above).
GS01 functional identifier code PI.
Generic X12 syntax enforcement until the FLX-specific schema is
published.
CTT Handling by Transaction
Transaction
CTT behavior
846
Parser ignores CTT entirely. Neither error nor warning.
Some third-party validators flag CTT*N as unsupported; this
is a false positive for Flxpoint ingestion.
850 / 855
CTT01 must equal the number of PO1 segments. Mismatch is an error.
810
CTT01 must equal the number of IT1 segments. Mismatch is an error.
856 / 997
CTT is not used.
X12-Standard vs FLX-Custom Rules
When a partner argues “my file is X12 compliant”, these are the rows where
Flxpoint diverges from the industry standard. Everything else in the validator output
is generic X12 syntax.
Segment / Rule
Rule
Source
BIA01 (846)
Must be exactly 00
FLX-Custom — X12 allows 05 (Replace)
BIA02 (846)
Must be exactly MM
FLX-Custom — X12 allows DD (Distributor),
DR (Delivery)