Uniform Communication Standard
Encyclopedia
The X12 national standard comprises some 300-plus general-purpose EDI
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...

 messages. Within that large base set, many verticals are built on a small subset with narrow focus. UCS, or Uniform Communication Standard, is such a subset used by the grocery and retail-oriented industries.

Usage

While starting in the grocery side of business, current users of UCS include
  • manufacturers
  • retailers
  • wholesalers
  • brokers
  • beverage (alcohol)
  • convenience stores
  • food service industries
  • wholesale drug
  • mass merchandising
  • service merchandising
  • public warehousing

History

In the 1960s, the TDCC (Transportation Data Coordinating Committee, whose work later evolved into the X12 standard) began developing EDI
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...

 standards primarily for transportation. From there, a variety of EDI
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...

 implementations took root, including UCS. The original draft was designed by companies representing some of the industries noted earlier, so that by 1976 the design of an EDI
Electronic Data Interchange
Electronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...

standard was underway. It would take six years before the standard saw first usage.

Scope

UCS supports both office-to-office (batch) and DSD, or "direct store delivery," transactions. The latter is an interactive method designed to replace paperwork by allowing systems on a scale from hand-held to mainframe to be able to exchange delivery and return data.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK