EDI 830 vs 862: Planning vs Shipping

The EDI 830 and the EDI 862 do two different jobs in the same relationship, and confusing them is expensive. The 830 is the forecast. The 862 is the firm ship order. They are meant to be used together, with the 862 supplementing and tightening what the 830 already communicated. If you treat an 830 as a shipping instruction, you ship against a forecast that was never firm. If you ignore the 830 and wait for the 862, you have no lead time to buy material.

Both ride on a scheduling agreement rather than a discrete purchase order. If you are still sorting out how those agreements work, start with scheduling agreement vs blanket order.

What Is the EDI 830?

The EDI 830 is the Planning Schedule with Release Capability, a forecast that spans weeks to months and can carry the buyer's authorization for the supplier to commit resources. Its EDIFACT equivalent is the DELFOR message. The buyer sends it to give you visibility into upcoming demand so you can plan production, staffing, and raw-material purchasing.

The word "release capability" matters. An 830 is not only a forecast. Depending on the trading partner's setup, it can act as an order-release mechanism and authorize you to spend money. In automotive, an 830 typically states one cumulative point up to which you may fabricate finished goods and a further-out point up to which you may buy raw material. That authorization caps the OEM's exposure if the program stops.

The horizon is long. DELFOR forecasts commonly reach several months out, refreshed on a weekly cadence. Distant weeks are planning-only; near weeks may be firm.

What Is the EDI 862?

The EDI 862 is the Shipping Schedule, a short-horizon transaction carrying firm ship or delivery instructions, usually covering a window from the next 24 hours out to roughly ten days. Its EDIFACT equivalent is the DELJIT (delivery just-in-time) message. Buyers send it daily, or multiple times a day, to drive precise line-side delivery.

Two constraints define the 862. First, it supersedes the shipping information in a prior 830 for the overlapping window, so the 862 is the authority on exactly what to ship now. Second, it does not authorize labor or material and cannot change firm commitments already stated in the DELFOR or the original ORDERS. The 862 tells you when to ship what you were already authorized to build. It does not expand your authorization.

That division is deliberate. It lets the buyer adjust the daily ship plan without touching the commercial commitment, and it protects the supplier from being told to ship more than the forecast ever authorized.

The Firm Versus Forecast Split

Both documents divide the horizon into zones: a firm zone where the buyer is committed, and a forecast zone that is planning-only. The 830 defines those zones across a long horizon; the 862 operates almost entirely inside the firm near-term.

Attribute	EDI 830	EDI 862
Name	Planning Schedule with Release Capability	Shipping Schedule
EDIFACT equivalent	DELFOR	DELJIT
Horizon	Weeks to several months	24 hours to ~10 days
Primary purpose	Forecast, capacity and material planning	Firm ship / delivery instructions
Authorizes labor and material?	Yes, can authorize fabrication and raw material	No
Cadence	Weekly (typical)	Daily or intra-day
Relationship	Sets the plan and the authorization	Supplements the 830, supersedes its ship info

The exact horizon split, a multi-month DELFOR forecast against a DELJIT window of roughly 24 hours to 10 days, is a convention set by EDIFACT implementation guidelines and individual OEM rules rather than a hard rule in the base standard. The ASC X12 standard defines the 830 and 862 transaction sets (x12.org transaction sets), and UNECE publishes the DELFOR and DELJIT message specifications (unece.org UN/EDIFACT directories).

How They Work Together

The 830 gives you lead time; the 862 gives you precision. A typical week looks like this: the 830 arrives with a rolling forecast and your cumulative fabrication and material authorizations. You buy raw material against the far-out authorization and schedule production against the nearer fabrication authorization. Then daily 862s arrive telling you exactly which quantities to ship to which dock door on which day, inside that already-authorized envelope.

When the 862 and 830 disagree on near-term ship quantities, the 862 wins for shipping. But the 862 cannot authorize you to ship beyond what the 830 committed. If you see an 862 demanding more than the 830 ever authorized, that is a data problem to raise with the buyer, not a green light to over-ship.

The downstream document after you ship is the EDI 856 ship notice, which references the schedule so the buyer can update cumulative-received quantities. Reconciling those cumulative figures is where automotive suppliers most often take scorecard damage. We cover the mechanics in cumulative quantity accounting in automotive EDI. To see the FST, SHP, and ATH segments behind all of this in a real file, run an inbound 830 or 862 through our free EDI Inspector, and use the EDI 830 planning schedule guide for the segment-level breakdown.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between EDI 830 and 862?

The 830 is a planning schedule: a longer-horizon forecast, refreshed weekly, that can authorize the supplier to commit labor and material. The 862 is a shipping schedule: short-horizon, firm ship instructions, sent daily. The 830 sets the plan and the authorization; the 862 tells you exactly what to ship in the next few days.

Is EDI 830 the same as DELFOR?

Yes, functionally. EDI 830 is the ASC X12 Planning Schedule with Release Capability. DELFOR is its UN/EDIFACT equivalent, the Delivery Forecast message. Both carry forecast and planning schedules over a multi-week to multi-month horizon.

Does an EDI 862 authorize the supplier to build?

No. The 862 carries firm ship or delivery instructions only. It cannot authorize labor or raw material, and it cannot change firm commitments already stated in the 830 or the original order. Authorization to build comes from the 830.

Why do buyers send both 830 and 862?

They serve different needs. The 830 gives the supplier lead time to buy material and plan capacity across a long horizon. The 862 gives precise, firm ship instructions for the immediate window. Sending both lets the buyer plan far ahead while adjusting daily shipments without renegotiating the commitment.

Which document wins when they conflict?

For near-term shipping quantities, the 862 supersedes the shipping information in a prior 830. But the 862 cannot exceed the authorization the 830 established. If an 862 asks for more than the 830 ever authorized, treat it as a data error and confirm with the buyer before shipping.