Shipment header
ASN number, plant, pickup date and, where transport planning is integrated, the transport order, carrier and pick-up window.
ASN · plant · pickupAutomotive Logistics · Shipping
Automotive ASN & DESADV
ESS Hub enables suppliers to create and manage Advance Shipping Notices (ASNs) through a structured supplier portal process. The resulting shipping information can be integrated with the customer's existing EDI, SAP or ERP landscape, allowing non-EDI suppliers to participate in the same structured inbound logistics process.
In automotive supply chains, the ASN communicates shipment information before the physical goods arrive and can include delivery, material, quantity, packaging and handling-unit information required by the receiving process.
Process
From supplier shipment to ERP
ESS Hub extends structured ASN processes to suppliers that do not operate their own EDI connection, while existing EDI suppliers can continue using established B2B channels. Both channels end in the same structured inbound process of the customer.
Supplier in the web portal
01SupplierWithout own EDI
02ESS HubGuided ASN process
03ASNShipment record
04Shipping & packaging dataLines, handling units, dispatch data
05Integration layerCustomer's integration architecture
06DESADV / structured messagePer the implemented mapping
07SAP / ERP
Supplier with EDI
01EDI supplierOwn EDI system
02EDIDESADV
03Integration layerCustomer's B2B landscape
04SAP / ERP
Conceptual architecture · the output message depends on the customer's integration and mappingESS Hub in navy
Definition
What is an ASN?
An Advance Shipping Notice (ASN) is an electronic notification sent before a shipment arrives. It provides the receiving organization with information about what is being shipped, in what quantity, how it is packed and, where applicable, the related delivery and transport information.
ASN terminology and message structures vary by customer, industry and EDI standard. The business content — shipment, lines, packaging, delivery data — is similar; the technical representation is not, and ASN and DESADV are not always technically identical.
Relationship
ASN and DESADV
ASN describes the business process and shipping notification. DESADV is the EDIFACT Despatch Advice message commonly used to exchange structured shipment information electronically.
ESS Hub can capture ASN information through the supplier portal and connect that information with the customer's structured integration process, including DESADV-based integrations where implemented. Not every ESS Hub ASN results in an EDIFACT DESADV: the output message and its mapping depend on the customer's integration architecture.
Guided process
Creating an ASN in ESS Hub
ESS Hub provides suppliers with a guided four-step ASN creation process. The supplier starts from confirmed call-offs — one plant per shipment — enters the ship quantities, packs the parts into pallets and boxes, obtains the handling-unit labels and enters the dispatch data before creating the shipment. The shipment then carries a status: Draft, Packed, Dispatched, Acknowledged — plus Awaiting TM where transport-order confirmation from the customer's transport planning is part of the implementation, and Error.
01Select demandsConfirmed call-offs of one plant · ship quantity per line
02PackPallets and boxes · quantities per box from the packaging data sheet
03LabelsHandling-unit labels as PDF and ZPL
04DispatchPickup date · gross weight · volume · stackable · handling restrictions
The four steps as they appear in the ESS Hub shipment wizardLast step creates the shipment
Shipment record
Shipping and material information
The information an ESS Hub shipment holds today. Customer, plant and supplier come from the supplier's workspace context; unit of measure, vehicle and tracking references are not separate fields in the current product.
Lines
Part and ship quantity per line, referenced to the confirmed call-off.
Part · quantity · call-offHandling units
Pallets and boxes with the quantity per box; each handling unit receives an SSCC when the shipment is created.
HU · SSCCDispatch data
Gross weight, volume, stackability and handling restrictions.
Weight · volumeDocuments
Delivery note (VDA 4912) and transport order / Bordero (VDA 4922) for the shipment.
VDA 4912 · VDA 4922Status
Draft · Packed · Awaiting TM · Dispatched · Acknowledged · Error, with the DESADV shown as not sent or sent and acknowledged.
Status · DESADVPackaging
Packaging and handling units
Packaging information is part of the ASN, not a separate exercise. ESS Hub keeps packaging data sheets (PDS) per part and plant — version, specification and status (Active, Pending confirmation, Superseded) — which the supplier reviews and confirms (Packaging Data Sheet). In the packing step the supplier builds pallets with boxes; quantities per box follow the packaging data sheet, and ESS Hub checks that all quantities are packed. ASN processing can include configured readiness checks such as packaging/PDS and PPAP status before the supplier proceeds with shipment. Returnable packaging has its own area with empties accounts per plant, balances and postings. Serialized part identifiers and mixed-load handling units are not part of the current product, and ESS Hub does not claim SAP Handling Unit Management functionality.
01ShipmentOne ASN
02Handling unitPallet with an SSCC
03PackagingBoxes per pallet, per the packaging data sheet
04PartPart per box
05QuantityPieces per box
Packaging hierarchy as built in the ESS Hub packing stepHandling-unit labels follow from this structure
Labels
ASN and automotive labels
Labels are generated from the packed shipment. Once packing is saved, ESS Hub provides the handling-unit labels — GTL master and single labels based on VDA 4994 and an AIAG B-10 label type — as PDF and ZPL, so the label on the pallet carries the same data as the ASN.
ASN data
Shipment informationPlant, pickup, dispatch data
Packaging / HU informationPallets, boxes, SSCC
Delivery informationDelivery note, transport order
Automotive labelsGTL master and single labels (VDA 4994) and an AIAG B-10 label type, as PDF and ZPL
One dataset for the electronic message and the physical labelLabel formats configured per customer
Automotive LabelsVDA
VDA 4987 and automotive ASN
Automotive implementations often use VDA recommendations for structured shipment communication. ESS Hub can support automotive ASN processes using VDA 4987 where this message standard is part of the customer's integration landscape: in ESS Hub the EDIFACT DESADV for a shipment follows the VDA 4987 Global DESADV recommendation, is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration, and the acknowledgement received for it is shown on the shipment. Not every customer uses VDA 4987; the message standard is part of the implementation.
Architecture
Connected to SAP and existing EDI
ESS Hub does not require the customer to replace its existing SAP or EDI environment. It acts as the supplier-facing collaboration layer for suppliers using the portal, while structured messages can continue through the customer's existing integration architecture — so the backend process remains structured regardless of how the supplier interacts. SAP Integration · EDI & B2B Integration · Automotive WebEDI · Non-EDI suppliers in SAP processes · ESS Hub technical architecture
Non-EDI supplier
01Non-EDI supplierWeb portal
02ESS HubASN captured in the portal
03Existing EDI / integration layerCustomer's architecture
04SAP / ERP
EDI supplier
01EDI supplierOwn EDI system
02Existing EDI / integration layerCustomer's architecture
03SAP / ERP
Same backend process for both supplier channelsESS Hub in navy
Logistics
From call-off to shipment
The ASN is one step of the wider inbound logistics process that starts with the customer's call-off and ends at the receiving plant. In ESS Hub the ASN is created from confirmed call-offs; the other steps are their own records, not one automatic chain. Scheduling Agreements & Call-Offs
01Scheduling agreement / call-offRequirement
02Supplier requirementConfirmed in ESS Hub
03ASNCreated from confirmed call-offs
04Packaging / handling unitsPallets and boxes
05LabelsHandling-unit labels
06ShipmentDispatched
07Inbound processAt the customer
Wider business process · each step is its own record
Checks
Validation before submission
The ESS Hub shipment wizard applies the following checks today:
- a shipment covers one plant; once call-offs of a plant are selected, the plant is locked
- lines can only be created from confirmed call-offs; ship quantities are entered per line
- the packing step checks that all quantities are packed and shows any unpacked remainder
- labels are available only after packing is saved
- where transport-order confirmation is part of the implementation, the DESADV is generated only once the confirmed transport order is available
- an electronic invoice for the shipment can be generated only once the shipment has been acknowledged
- cancelling a shipment returns its call-offs to Confirmed
Customer-specific validations beyond these are part of the individual implementation.
Product evidence
ASN creation in ESS Hub
Record
Traceability
An ASN kept as a structured record answers what an e-mail with an attached delivery note cannot: which call-offs the shipment covers, how it was packed, when it was dispatched, whether the customer acknowledged it, and which documents and labels belong to it. In ESS Hub the shipment carries its status and dates, its handling units with their SSCCs, the transport order where integrated, and the DESADV state (not sent, or sent and acknowledged).
Platform-wide, enterprise administrators have an audit trail of actions in the portal, and business records carry their status and dates instead of being reconstructed from mailboxes. Infrastructure-level logging and compliance topics are covered in the vendor assessment.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is an ASN?
An Advance Shipping Notice (ASN) is an electronic notification sent before a shipment arrives. It tells the receiving organization what is being shipped, in what quantity, how it is packed and, where applicable, the related delivery and transport information.
What is DESADV?
DESADV is the UN/EDIFACT Despatch Advice message, commonly used to exchange structured shipment information electronically between supplier and customer.
What is the difference between ASN and DESADV?
ASN describes the business process and the shipping notification; DESADV is one structured message format used to transmit it. Not every ASN is exchanged as a DESADV, and DESADV implementations differ by customer and industry.
Does ESS Hub support ASN?
Yes. Suppliers create advance shipping notices in ESS Hub through a guided four-step process — select demands, pack, labels, dispatch — and follow the shipment status from Draft to Acknowledged.
Can non-EDI suppliers create ASNs in ESS Hub?
Yes. A supplier without its own EDI connection creates the ASN in the ESS Hub web portal; the structured shipment information then enters the customer's integration process.
Can ESS Hub send ASN information into SAP?
The shipment information captured in ESS Hub is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration layer — as a DESADV in the standard ESS Hub process — and the customer's existing integration architecture routes it into SAP. The specific SAP interface is defined per implementation; no IDoc type or inbound-delivery mechanism is implied here.
Does ESS Hub support DESADV?
Yes, through the implemented integration architecture. In the standard process ESS Hub generates the EDIFACT DESADV for a shipment following the VDA 4987 Global DESADV recommendation and shows the acknowledgement on the shipment.
Does ESS Hub support VDA 4987?
Yes. The DESADV generated in ESS Hub follows the VDA 4987 Global DESADV recommendation; whether it is used depends on the customer's integration landscape.
Can ESS Hub manage packaging and handling-unit information?
Yes. Packaging data sheets per part and plant define how parts are packed; in the ASN the supplier packs pallets and boxes, quantities per box follow the packaging data sheet, and each handling unit receives an SSCC when the shipment is created.
Can ESS Hub generate automotive shipping labels?
Yes. After packing, handling-unit labels are available as PDF and ZPL — GTL master and single labels based on VDA 4994, and an AIAG B-10 label type — together with the delivery note (VDA 4912) and the transport order / Bordero (VDA 4922).
Can EDI suppliers continue using their existing EDI connection?
Yes. EDI-capable suppliers keep sending their DESADV through the customer's existing B2B integration; ESS Hub adds the portal channel for suppliers without EDI.
Can ASN be created from scheduling agreements or supplier call-offs?
Yes. In ESS Hub the ASN is created from confirmed call-offs: the supplier selects the call-offs of one plant, enters the ship quantities and continues with packing, labels and dispatch.