RE: [IUG] More EDIFACT questions (long)

["DEMUTH Cindy" <cindyd at multcolib dot org>]

Hi Will, We just finished Beta Testing 2006 Acquistions and are
currently using the full Edifact PO's, Status Reports, and Invoicing.
I've listed my replies in CAPS below.

Cindy Demuth, Acq Supervisor
Multnomah County Library
205 NE Russell Street
Portland, OR 97212
Tel: 503-988-5463
cindyd at multcolib dot org

-----Original Message-----
From: innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org
[mailto:innopac-bounces at innopacusers dot org] On Behalf Of William Gray
Sent: Monday, June 05, 2006 2:07 PM
To: IUG INNOPAC List
Subject: [IUG] More EDIFACT questions (long)


Hello again fellow IUGers!

I have some more questions about EDIFACT--please again excuse the newbie
factor here as I am fairly new to ordering/invoicing, and there are a
few things about the EDIFACT ordering and invoicing processes that are
not obvious to me, despite having just re-read the relevant sections of
the manual.

In a nutshell, here is how I understand the whole process to work;
please feel free to correct me if my notions are wild and/or naive
(questions will follow):

There are 3 ways to order electronically (for this example and following
examples, I'll be referring to Baker & Taylor): One is with III's
Electronic Ordering product, from which it appears that we can connect
to B&T's  database of products and select what we want to order, all
through the Millennium client. The Second way is by going to B&T's
Tsource3 Web site (via our favorite Web browser) and downloading
shopping carts of items from there and importing them into the
Millennium client by saving the shopping cart file locally and then
using the FTS product to find and import the file into Millennium.  The
Third way is to use III's/B&T's "QuickClick" product, which essentially
duplicates the Second option here but automatically handles the import
of shopping carts into Millennium.  All 3 methods automatically create
order records in our system upon import (we are actually most interested
in QuickClick, though we currently use Tsource3). On B&T's end, an
invoice file would be generated and stored on their server for later
retrieval by us (see below). 
	[CORRECT]

Have I got this right so far?

Then, with III's Electronic Invoicing (EDIFACT) product, we are supposed
to be able to confirm receipt of shipped orders both in our system and
with B&T.  So, after we receive an order of books, we would then connect
to B&T's site through Millennium and select the appropriate invoice file
from their server, which we would then import through Millennium.  Once
imported, we would then be able to go through the invoice file line by
line and confirm or reject the individual orders; in the case of items
not received, we would have the option of either cancelling them from
the invoice/shipment, or else marking those records for later gathering
(via review file) to be paid on a separate "dummy" invoice; in the case
of items received that don't appear on the invoice, we would need to be
aware of "SKIP" items upon import and fix those records.  Then, once an
invoice is received, we would be able to Post it as usual.
	[EVERYTHING SHIPPED IN THE SHIPMENT,LISTED ON THE PACKING LISTS,
IS MIRRORED ON THE EDIFACT INVOICES.  SKIPS WOULD BE ANYTHING SHIPPED
THAT WAS MISSING AN ORECORD NUMBER.  HENCE DO NOT CALL IN ANY ORDERS ON
VENDOR EDIFACT ACCOUNTS! EVERYTHING MUST HAVE AN ORIGINAL ORECORD NUMBER
SENT VIA YOUR ORIGINAL EDIFACT FTP.  IF YOU FOLLOW THIS PROCESS YOU
SHOULD NOT HAVE MANY SKIPS IF ANY.]

So, assuming I've got the gist of it (and if not, corrections are very
welcome), my questions:

1. What criteria is it that allows Millennium to match a downloaded
order record to the same record on an invoice that is downloaded later
on?  In other words, does the invoice file on B&T's server share some
reference with the order record(s) in our system (it must, right?)?  Is
it the ISBN, or something else?  [IT'S THE ORECORD NUMBER]

2. Assuming the answer to the last part of question 1 above is ISBN,
what happens if we have multiple orders in our system for the same ISBN?
We happen to have a lot of these, as the same book (ISBN) will be
ordered and then re-ordered at future dates, for whatever reason.  Is
this going to confuse the system (and us)?  Or does the ISBN order also
match up to an order date between the order record in our system and the
invoice on B&T's server?  What happens if we put in multiple orders for
the same ISBN on the same day? (should we be looking at changing our
practices here?). [NO WORRIES, SEE ABOVE]

3.  I've also been asked the question if we would be able to search
order records in our system by UPC.  I think I already know the answer
to this ("no"), since I've seen no reference to this capability anywhere
(ISBN and OCLC numbers, sure, but not UPC).  Just thought I'd
double-check.  [WE IMPORT OUR BWI AV WEBSITE LISTS INTO MILLENNIUM WITH
THE UPC CODE LOADING INTO THE 024 TAG.  THESE UPC CODES ARE BOTH
FTP'ABLE VIA EDIFACT AND SEARCHABLE IN MILLENNIUM VIA THE STANDARD
NUMBER SEARCH.  THE SAME INDEX AS THE ISBN]

4. At this year's IUG, the point was driven home that EDIFACT will be
necessary for the ISBN-10 to ISBN-13 changeover next January 1st.  At
the time, I took this recommendation at face value, but what does it
actually mean?  Does it mean that for anyone who currently orders from a
vendor (B&T) electronically that they will need EDIFACT installed in
order to handle the new ISNB-13 records that are downloaded (from
Tsource3), or will Release 2006 take care of this conversion anyway? Or
is it that Release 2006 will take care of ISBN-10 records already in the
system, and EDIFACT will be necessary for anyone who orders
electronically (without EDIFACT at present) in order to make sense of
the downloaded records?  I apologize for my fuzzy-mindedness on this
one... [2006 ACQUISITIONS CURRENTLY AUTOMATICALLY LOADS BOTH THE 10 AND
13 ISBN'S FROM THE VENDORS WEBSITES.  THE VENDORS MUST HAVE THE ABILITY
TO RECEIVE THE ISBN 13'S IN ORDER TO RECEIVE YOUR EDIFACT ORDERS
CONTAINING THE ISBN 13'S.  STARTING JAN 2007 ONLY ISBN 13'S WILL
TRANSMIT.  IF I UNDERSTOOD THIS CORRECTLY AT DENVER, THERE WILL BE AN
ALGORITHYM UTILITY THAT WILL CONVERT ANY OLD ISBN 10'S IN EACH LIBRARY'S
SYSTEM TO ISBN 13'S.  THESE OLD ISBN 10 TITLES WILL BE SEARCHABLE BY
EITHER 10 OR 13, BUT THE NEW 13 NUMBER WILL NOT BE VISIBLE IN THE BIB.
IT IS ONLY IN THE INDEX.  MY CONCERN HERE IS THAT THE 13 WILL NEED TO BE
PRINTABLE ON THE HARDCOPY PURCHASE ORDERS AND TRANSMITTABLE ON THE
EDIFACT FTP ORDERS.  THIS WILL NEED TO BE FIXED BEFORE JAN 07 IF INDEED
THEY WILL NOT PRINT OR TRANSMIT.  IF ANYONE HEARD ANYTHING REASSURING
ABOUT THIS ISSUE, PLEASE SHARE!]

5.  Anything else that we ought to be aware of that I haven't touched on
here?

Thank you in advance for your help.  Please post to the list so that
anyone else looking at EDIFACT Ordering & Invoicing may benefit from
your answers as well.

Sincerely,

--Will

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