Automotive EDI · VDA · ASN
VDA 4987 for Automotive Supplier ASN
ESS Hub supports VDA 4987 automotive shipping processes, allowing supplier ASN information to be captured through the supplier portal and connected with the customer's existing EDI, SAP or ERP landscape.
This allows suppliers without their own EDI capability to participate in a structured automotive shipping process while EDI-capable suppliers can continue using established machine-to-machine connections.
VDA 4987 is a recommendation of the German automotive industry association (VDA) for the despatch advice — the Global DESADV — based on the UN/EDIFACT DESADV message. It describes how shipment, delivery and packaging information is communicated electronically from the supplier to the customer before the goods arrive.
Reference
What is VDA 4987?
VDA 4987 is used in automotive supply-chain communication for structured shipping and despatch information: it is the automotive recommendation for the Global DESADV, the electronic despatch advice that a supplier sends before the goods arrive. In business terms it is the message form of the advance shipping notice (ASN): which shipment is coming, for which delivery and parts, in which quantities and how it is packed.
The recommendation defines how the EDIFACT DESADV is applied in the automotive context so that customers and suppliers exchange the same structured content; the actual content, segments and customer-specific rules are laid down in the official documentation and in each trading relationship.
For authoritative implementation requirements and the current specification, refer to the official VDA documentation applicable to your trading relationship. This page explains the business and integration concepts; it is not a specification.
Process
VDA 4987 in the supplier shipping process
The supplier does not need to manually create an EDI message. The supplier works with the business information in ESS Hub, while the integration layer handles the structured message required by the implemented customer process.
Channels
EDI and WebEDI suppliers
ESS Hub extends the same structured business process to suppliers with different levels of digital maturity. EDI suppliers can remain on EDI, while non-EDI suppliers use the portal; ESS Hub does not require existing EDI suppliers to move to the portal.
Supplier experience
What the supplier actually does
A supplier using ESS Hub works with business information rather than EDI syntax. The steps are those of the ESS Hub shipment wizard; the VDA 4987 message is generated from the resulting shipment record and does not expose EDI segments to the supplier.
Architecture
From portal data to VDA 4987
The separation between supplier-facing layer, integration layer and backend allows the supplier experience to remain simple while the customer retains a structured automotive integration process. In the standard ESS Hub process the DESADV is generated from the shipment record in ESS Hub; the customer's integration layer transmits it and, where the implementation requires, converts it to the customer-specific format. Which side performs which transformation is defined in the implementation — ESS Hub does not claim to perform every mapping when the customer's middleware does.
Standards
VDA 4987 and DESADV
ASN is the business concept; DESADV is commonly used as the structured despatch-advice message; VDA 4987 is the automotive recommendation for applying the DESADV as the Global DESADV. Not every DESADV implementation is VDA 4987 — other industries and regions apply the message differently — and not every ASN must use DESADV: the business process can be carried by other message formats where the customer's landscape requires it.
Packaging
Packaging and handling units
Packaging information matters in automotive shipping because the receiving process works with handling units, not loose quantities. In ESS Hub the packing step builds pallets with boxes according to the part's packaging data sheet, each handling unit receives an SSCC when the shipment is created, and returnable packaging is followed in separate empties accounts per plant. Packaging functionality in ESS Hub does not by itself constitute complete VDA 4987 packaging compliance: the packaging content the customer requires is validated in the implementation.
Labels
VDA 4987 and automotive labels
Structured shipping information also feeds the physical label. VDA 4987 concerns the shipping and despatch information sent as a message; VDA 4994 concerns transport and parts labelling — the Global Transport Label on the handling unit. ESS Hub generates GTL master and single labels based on VDA 4994, and an AIAG B-10 label type, as PDF and ZPL from the same packed shipment.
Integration
SAP and ERP integration
ESS Hub acts as the supplier-facing collaboration layer. The customer's existing integration architecture can transform and route the resulting structured information into SAP or another ERP, so portal and EDI suppliers participate in the same inbound logistics architecture. No specific SAP IDoc, API, BAPI or inbound-delivery mechanism is implied. SAP Integration · EDI & B2B Integration · ESS Hub technical architecture
Implementation
Validation and customer-specific requirements
Automotive EDI implementations commonly contain customer-specific requirements: which segments and qualifiers are expected, which references are mandatory, how packaging is described, which acknowledgements are exchanged. ESS Hub implementations are configured according to the implemented customer process where the product supports it; the message implementation, the mapping and the customer-specific rules must be validated during implementation and testing with the customer.
ESS Hub is therefore not “VDA 4987 compliant with every OEM automatically”: the standard is applied per trading relationship. Within the product, the checks that exist today are those of the shipment process — one plant per shipment, lines from confirmed call-offs, complete packing before labels, and the acknowledgement state of the transmitted message.
Product evidence
VDA 4987 ASN process in ESS Hub
Wider process
Where VDA 4987 fits in the wider process
A conceptual business and integration flow from the customer's call-off to the customer's inbound process; in ESS Hub each step is its own record. Scheduling Agreements & Call-Offs · ASN & DESADV · Automotive Labels
WebEDI
For suppliers without EDI
A supplier does not need to operate its own EDI infrastructure to participate in a structured VDA 4987 process through ESS Hub. The supplier works in the web portal, while the implemented integration architecture handles the structured message exchange with the customer's backend systems.
This is particularly useful for:
- smaller suppliers
- low-volume suppliers
- suppliers without EDI infrastructure
- suppliers being onboarded into a structured automotive process
Automotive WebEDI · Non-EDI Suppliers & SAP · Supplier Portal · Logistics in ESS Hub
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
What is VDA 4987?
VDA 4987 is a recommendation of the German automotive industry association (VDA) for the despatch advice — the Global DESADV — based on the UN/EDIFACT DESADV message. It describes how shipment, delivery and packaging information is communicated electronically from the supplier to the customer before the goods arrive.
Is VDA 4987 used for automotive ASN processes?
Yes. VDA 4987 is used in automotive supply chains to communicate structured shipping and despatch information — the electronic form of the advance shipping notice — between suppliers and customers.
Does ESS Hub support VDA 4987?
Yes. In ESS Hub the EDIFACT DESADV generated for a shipment follows the VDA 4987 Global DESADV recommendation; it is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration, and the acknowledgement is shown on the shipment. Whether VDA 4987 is used depends on the customer's integration landscape.
Can non-EDI suppliers use ESS Hub for VDA 4987?
Yes, through ESS Hub and the implemented integration architecture. The supplier creates the ASN in the web portal; the structured VDA 4987 message is generated from that shipment record and handled by the integration.
Does a supplier need EDI software to use ESS Hub?
No. A supplier works with the business information in the ESS Hub web portal — call-offs, shipment lines, packaging, dispatch data. The structured message is generated by ESS Hub and handled by the customer's integration; the supplier does not write or transmit EDI syntax.
Can ESS Hub connect VDA 4987 information with SAP?
Yes. The DESADV generated in ESS Hub is transmitted to the customer's ERP through the integration layer, which can be the customer's existing EDI architecture. How it reaches SAP — which interface, which inbound processing — is defined per implementation and not implied here.
What is the relationship between ASN, DESADV and VDA 4987?
ASN is the business concept: the shipping notification sent before the goods arrive. DESADV is the EDIFACT message commonly used to transmit it. VDA 4987 is the automotive recommendation for how the DESADV is used as the Global DESADV. Not every DESADV implementation is VDA 4987, and not every ASN is exchanged as a DESADV.
What is the difference between VDA 4987 and VDA 4994?
VDA 4987 concerns the electronic despatch advice — the shipping information sent as a message. VDA 4994 concerns transport and parts labelling — the Global Transport Label on the physical handling unit. ESS Hub uses the same shipment and packaging data for both: the DESADV message and the GTL labels.
Can existing EDI suppliers continue using EDI?
Yes. EDI-capable suppliers keep exchanging their DESADV through the customer's existing B2B landscape; ESS Hub adds the portal channel for suppliers without EDI.
Does ESS Hub replace the customer's EDI middleware?
Not necessarily. ESS Hub can operate with an existing integration and EDI landscape: it is the supplier-facing layer, and the customer's integration architecture transmits and, where required, converts the messages.