Valeo, a global automotive supplier headquartered in France, specializes in designing and manufacturing advanced components and systems for both OEM and aftermarket segments. To streamline communication with its suppliers, Valeo mandates the use of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) based on the EDIFACT standard over the OFTP2 protocol.
Key business documents exchanged include:
- DELFOR (Delivery Schedule): Sent by Valeo to suppliers to communicate material demand forecasts.
- DESADV (Despatch Advice): Sent by suppliers to notify Valeo of shipment details.
- INVOIC (Invoice): Sent by suppliers for billing purposes.
The integration architecture leverages an intermediary database hosted via a cloud-based EDI platform. This setup enables seamless translation between EDIFACT messages and internal ERP formats without manual intervention.
Technical Integration Overview
| Document Type | Direction | Description |
|---|---|---|
| DELFOR | Inbound | Material requirement plan |
| DESADV | Outbound | Shipment notification |
| INVOIC | Outbound | Commmercial invoice |
Inbound Workflow: Processing DELFOR
- OFTP2 Port: Receives raw EDIFACT DELFOR messages from Valeeo.
- EDIFACT-to-XML Converter: Transforms the message into a structured XML format.
- Script Processer: Maps the standardized XML into a custom schema compatible with the supplier’s database.
- Database Writer: Inserts parsed data into the intermediary database for downstream consumption.
Outbound Workflow: Generating DESADV and INVOIC
- Database Reader: Extracts shipment or invoice records and formats them as custom XML.
- Script Transformers: Convert custom XML into EDIFACT-compliant DESADV or INVOIC XML structures.
- XML-to-EDIFACT Converter: Encodes the XML into valid EDIFACT syntax.
- OFTP2 Sender: Transmits the final message securely to Valeo’s EDI endpoint.
Sample Message Snippets
DELFOR (Inbound Example)
UNB+UNOA:2+SENDERID+RECEIVERID+200228:1041+000000024++DELFOR'
UNH+301432233+DELFOR:D:96A:UN:A09041'
BGM+241+2'
DTM+137:20200228:102'
...
UNZ+1+000000024'
DESADV (Outbound Example)
UNA:+.?*'
UNB+UNOA:2+SENDERID+RECEIVERID+200303:1612+000000025++++++1'
UNH+1+DESADV:D:96A:UN'
BGM+351+ASN-T0001-VALEO'
...
UNZ+1+000000025'
Successful integration requires:
- A dedicated server or cloud instance running an EDI platform.
- Exchange of OFTP2 credentials (SSID/SFID) with Valeo.
- End-to-end connectivity testing for both inbound and outbound channels.
- Validation of business document mappings through test cycles.
This approach ensures real-time, secure, and automated data exchange, reducing manual errors, inventory overhead, and operational latency across the supply chain.