EDI 830 Planning Schedule: Forecasts and Example

The EDI 830 Planning Schedule is how manufacturers tell their suppliers what to build and when, across weeks or months, against a single blanket purchase order. Instead of cutting a fresh 850 for every shipment, the buyer sends a rolling 830 that carries both firm release quantities and forward-looking forecast. Reading it correctly is the difference between shipping on time and either sitting on dead inventory or missing a line-down deadline. For how the 830 splits planning from firm ship instructions, see EDI 830 vs 862.

This guide covers what the 830 contains, how to tell forecast from firm, a live example you can open segment by segment, every segment you will map (BFR, LIN, ATH, SDP, FST, SHP), how the 830 relates to the 862 and 866, and the mistakes that lead to over-build or missed shipments.

What Is an EDI 830?

An EDI 830 is the Planning Schedule with Release Capability transaction set defined by the ASC X12 standards body, used by a buyer to send a supplier forecast and release information for materials over a defined horizon. The X12 definition allows three uses: a plain forecast, a forecast that also authorizes the supplier to commit labor or material, and an order release mechanism that replaces separate purchase orders. It is most common in manufacturing supply chains, where an OEM issues a blanket PO and then drives shipments through successive planning schedules.

Authoritative references for 830 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog lists the 830 with the 862 and 866 schedules it works alongside
• The Stedi X12 004010 reference for the 830 shows the segment order and loops, and its FST segment page lists the forecast qualifier and timing codes
• The EDI Academy 830 and 862 reference explains how the 830 carries forecast and release information and how the 862 supplements it
• Each OEM publishes its own 830 implementation guide, which sets the horizon, cadence, codes and cumulative rules it uses

Who sends it? The buyer (an OEM, assembler, or other manufacturer) sends the 830 to its supplier or contract manufacturer.

When is it sent? On a regular cadence, often weekly and sometimes daily, usually straight out of the buyer's MRP run. Whether a new 830 replaces the previous one or only changes part of it depends on its purpose code in BFR01.

Why does it matter? The 830 is the demand signal that drives production planning and raw-material purchasing on the supplier side. Misreading a forecast bucket as a firm release, or the reverse, leads directly to over-build, stockouts or premium freight.

Forecast vs Firm: the Distinction That Matters

Every FST bucket in an 830 carries a forecast qualifier in FST02, and the whole point of the document is to separate the two main kinds:

• Firm (C) quantities are committed releases. The supplier should produce and ship them to the dated requirement.
• Planning (D) quantities are a heads-up so the supplier can buy material and reserve capacity. They are not authorized to ship and can change in the next schedule.

Between the two sits the ATH segment, which tells you how far the buyer will pay for work in progress if the forecast changes: finished goods up to one date, raw material up to a later one. When an 830 is used as the release mechanism against a blanket PO, its firm buckets replace discrete 850s entirely.

Interactive Example: OEM Planning Schedule (830, BFR01 05)

An assembly plant sends a replacement schedule (BFR01 05) for one molded part against blanket PO 4500188421. Dates are delivery dates (DL) and quantities are discrete (A). Three weekly buckets of 2,000 are firm (C). Two weekly buckets of 1,500 and one monthly bucket of 6,000 are planning (D). ATH authorizes finished goods through November 23 and raw material through December 7, and SHP reports the last receipt and the cumulative received since January 5. CTT closes with one line item and a hash total of 15,000.

Use the Plain English tab for a readable summary, or click any segment to break it down element by element.

830 Structure at a Glance

For each item, the FST buckets go either directly in the FST loop or inside SDP loops, not both. Your partner's guide says which it uses.

Key Segments Explained

BFR: Beginning Segment for Planning Schedule

BFR sets the purpose of the schedule, whether dates mean delivery or shipment, whether quantities are discrete or cumulative, and the window the schedule covers.

BFR*05*SCH-2026-W45**DL*A*20261109*20270503*20261105***4500188421~

At least one of BFR02 and BFR03 must be present. Some buyers put the blanket PO in BFR03 or in a REF segment instead of BFR11, so check your partner's guide before you map it.

BFR01 Transaction Set Purpose Codes

This is the element behind a schedule that arrives and unexpectedly wipes out the previous one.

BFR*05 is the one to watch. Replace means the schedule you just received is now the whole picture for that horizon. Any bucket that existed in the previous 830 and is absent from this one is gone, not unchanged. Treating a 05 as if it were a 04 leaves you building to demand the buyer already deleted.

BFR04 and BFR05 Qualifiers

BFR04 decides whether a date in an FST bucket is the day the goods must be on the buyer's dock or the day they must leave yours. Getting it backwards costs you the transit time. BFR05 decides how to read every FST01: a cumulative schedule that is read as discrete inflates demand, because a bucket showing 40,000 means 40,000 to date, not 40,000 more.

LIN and UIT: The Part

LIN**BP*430-00012-A*VP*SHROUD100~
UIT*EA~

LIN identifies the part with qualifier and ID pairs: BP is the buyer's part number and VP the vendor's. Some OEMs add an engineering change level or a PO line reference here. UIT gives the unit of measure every FST quantity is counted in.

ATH: Resource Authorization

ATH*FI*20261123*47800**20260105~
ATH*MT*20261207*50800**20260105~

ATH is the buyer's financial commitment. In the example, the buyer authorizes finished parts up to a cumulative 47,800 through November 23 and raw material up to 50,800 through December 7. The X12 notes for ATH assume buyer and seller have already agreed what that commitment means commercially, so your supply agreement governs what you can recover if demand is cut. For the reconciliation math, see cumulative quantity and CUM accounting.

SDP: Ship/Delivery Pattern

SDP*A*D~

SDP sets a routine pattern for the FST buckets that follow it in the SDP loop. SDP01 is the day pattern (A Monday to Friday, D Monday, H Friday, N as directed, Y none) and SDP02 the time (A first shift, D morning, E afternoon, Y none). The example above reads "Monday to Friday, mornings". Buyers that do not use patterns send FST directly, as in the live example.

FST: Forecast Schedule

FST carries the dated quantity buckets. It is the segment that actually says what to build and when.

FST*2000*C*W*20261109~

FST02 Forecast Qualifier Codes

This is the firm versus planning flag, and it is the most important code in the document.

Element 680 has a few more codes for tooling capacity and defense programs. The practical rule: build to C, buy long-lead material for D within your ATH authorization, and never ship against D. If you ship a planning bucket, you have shipped unauthorized inventory.

FST03 Forecast Timing Qualifier Codes

FST03 tells you what span the date in FST04 represents. A quantity of 2,000 against a weekly bucket is a very different instruction from 2,000 on a discrete day.

A common 830 shape is daily or weekly buckets for the near term and monthly or quarterly buckets further out, as in the example.

SHP: Shipped/Received Information

SHP*01*1800*050*20261103~
SHP*02*41800*051*20260105**20261103~

The first line says the buyer last received 1,800 on November 3. The second says it has received 41,800 cumulative from January 5 to November 3. Compare that with your own shipped cumulative before you trust any firm bucket: if the buyer has not counted a shipment that is in transit, its next schedule will ask for it again.

CTT: Transaction Totals

CTT*1*15000~ says the 830 has one LIN item and that its FST quantities add up to 15,000. A receiver that checks the hash total catches a dropped or duplicated bucket before it reaches planning.

How 830 Releases Drive MRP

The 830 is normally machine output, not a human document. Understanding where it comes from explains most of its odd behavior.

1. The buyer's MRP run explodes finished-goods demand through the bill of materials down to your part.
2. Netting subtracts on-hand inventory and open receipts, leaving net requirements by date.
3. The planning time fence splits the horizon. Inside the fence, requirements become firm and go out with FST02 of C. Outside it, they stay planning and go out as D.
4. The result is written to an 830 and transmitted, usually on a fixed weekly cycle.

Two consequences follow directly, and both surprise suppliers the first time:

Quantities move week to week even when nothing was ordered. A forecast bucket is a calculation, not a commitment. If the buyer's own demand or inventory position shifted, your planning buckets shift with it. This is normal, and it is what demand forecasting looks like from the supplier side.

The firm window is the only thing you can plan production against. Anything outside the planning time fence can and will change. Suppliers who build to D buckets to smooth their own capacity carry that risk themselves, beyond whatever ATH covers.

EDI 830 vs 862, 866 and 850

A supplier receiving both should treat the 862 as the authority for what leaves the dock this week, and the 830 as the authority for what to buy and staff for. The X12 definition of the 862 says it can supersede certain shipping and delivery information from the 830 but does not replace it and does not authorize labor or material. Not every buyer sends both: many run the 830 alone and rely on its firm buckets.

Is DELFOR the Same as an 830?

Close, but they are different standards. DELFOR is the UN/EDIFACT Delivery Forecast message and it fills the same role in the EDIFACT world that the 830 fills in X12. If a European OEM asks for DELFOR and your system speaks X12, you need a translation, not a remap of the same file. The same holds across the rest of the cycle, which we map out in UBL vs X12 vs EDIFACT.

DELFOR and DELJIT divide the work the same way the 830 and 862 do: DELFOR plans, DELJIT calls off.

Where the 830 Sits in the Order Lifecycle

1. Blanket 850 Purchase Order: the buyer establishes the agreement, pricing and item list
2. 830 Planning Schedule: the buyer sends rolling forecast, firm releases and authorizations
3. 862 Shipping Schedule (optional): tighter near-term ship instructions
4. 866 Production Sequence (optional): the build order for sequenced parts
5. 856 Ship Notice/ASN: you report each shipment, which updates the buyer's received cumulative
6. 810 Invoice: you bill against the blanket PO

Common 830 Errors and How to Prevent Them

830 Implementation Checklist

• Get the buyer's 830 guide and confirm the X12 version
• Confirm purpose codes in BFR01, and how the buyer uses 04 and 05
• Confirm BFR04 date type and BFR05 quantity type
• List the FST02 and FST03 codes it sends, and whether it uses SDP patterns
• Confirm the ATH codes it sends and what the supply agreement says they cover
• Agree the cumulative start date and how SHP will be reported
• Confirm where the blanket PO and release numbers travel, for your 856 and 810
• Test a replace, a change and a cumulative reconciliation before going live
• Monitor 997s and alert on missing or late schedules

Reading 830s With OrderSync

Paste any 830 into the free EDI inspector to see it parsed segment by segment, with a plain-English summary that separates firm from planning quantities and totals each. It explains structural errors too, which helps when a new partner's first files will not load.

The orders around your schedules are where OrderSync does its main work. Suppliers who get 830s from one large OEM often get POs from everyone else as 850s, emails, PDFs and spreadsheets. OrderSync reads those in any format, matches customers, items and units to your catalog, and outputs valid X12 or clean data for your ERP. Read more about EDI for automotive parts suppliers and injection molders, see EDI without ERP integration, or book a 15-minute walkthrough.

Frequently Asked Questions