EDI 863 Report of Test Results: COA Guide

The EDI 863 replaces the PDF certificate that travels with every lot. Chemical, food ingredient, steel and pharmaceutical buyers will not release incoming material until quality has checked the supplier's test results against the specification. When that certificate arrives as a scanned PDF, someone retypes assay, moisture or tensile values into a quality system. The 863 sends the same numbers as structured data, tied to the lot number on the shipment.

This guide covers what the 863 carries, who uses it, how it links to the ASN and the receipt, every segment you will map, a live certificate of analysis example, and the errors that put lots on hold.

What Is an EDI 863?

An EDI 863 is the Report of Test Results transaction set defined by ASC X12, used to transmit the results of tests performed to satisfy a product or process requirement. X12 describes it as covering inspection data, certification data and statistical process control measurements. In practice it is most often the electronic form of a certificate of analysis (COA), certificate of compliance or mill test report. Its functional group code in GS01 is RT.

Authoritative references for 863 work:

• The X12 transaction set catalog defines the 863 and its segment order
• The Stedi 004010 863 reference lists every segment and loop, including the LIN, CID, MEA, STA and TMD loops
• A published trading-partner guide, such as U.S. Steel's 863 implementation guide, shows how a steel mill sends mechanical and coating results with heat numbers and coil IDs
• For US food manufacturers, the FDA preventive controls rule lists "sampling and testing of the raw material or other ingredient" as a supplier verification activity in 21 CFR 117.410, which is one reason ingredient buyers ask for test results with every lot

Who sends it? The supplier, mill or manufacturer that tested the material, or its outside lab.

Who receives it? The customer's quality or receiving team, often straight into a laboratory information management system (LIMS) or the quality module of the ERP.

When is it sent? With or just before the shipment, so results are on file when the lot arrives. Some customers want it before the truck leaves, so they can reject a failing lot before paying freight.

Why does it matter? Many buyers place incoming lots on quality hold until the certificate is reviewed. A missing or unmatched 863 leaves product sitting on the dock, and a result outside specification can mean a rejected shipment.

Who Uses the 863

The structure is generic, so each industry uses it differently.

The common thread is a lot or heat identifier. The test results only mean something if the customer can tie them to the physical material it received, which is why the lot number has to match the one on your 856 ship notice and on the label.

How the 863 Fits the Shipment

A typical certificate flow with an EDI customer:

1. Order. The customer sends an 850 purchase order, often naming the specification the material must meet.
2. Test and release. Your lab tests the batch, lot or heat and releases it against the specification.
3. Ship. You send an 856 ASN that lists the lot numbers in each shipment.
4. Report results. You send an 863 for each lot (or one 863 covering several lots), with the same lot numbers.
5. Customer review. The customer's system matches the 863 to the receipt by PO, item and lot, and compares each result to its own copy of the specification.
6. Release or reject. Lots that pass are released from hold. A failing or missing result can trigger a rejection, often reported back on an 842 nonconformance report or a 861 receiving advice.

The 863 does not replace your quality agreement. It is the delivery mechanism for the results that agreement requires.

Interactive Example: Chemical Certificate of Analysis (863)

A fictional chemical supplier ships one lot of food-grade citric acid to a fictional food plant. BTR04 is CA (Certificate of Analysis), the item and lot are in LIN, and the lot's manufacture and expiration dates follow in DTM. Two CID groups hold the results: chemistry (assay 99.8% against 99.5 to 100.5%, moisture 0.12% against a 0.5% maximum) and physical (specific gravity 1.66 against 1.65 to 1.67).

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

863 Structure at a Glance

The 863 is flexible. Most certificates use a small subset of what the standard allows.

Customer guides choose which of these loops they read. The U.S. Steel guide, for example, uses only LIN, MEA, CID, PSD, TMD and MEA in the detail. Build to your customer's guide.

Key Segments Explained

BTR: Beginning Segment for Test Results

BTR*00*20261106*1430*CA*COA-2611-0457~

If you correct a result after sending, send a new 863 with the right purpose code and the original certificate number in BTR06, so the customer replaces the old record rather than holding two conflicting certificates. The purpose codes your customer accepts for corrections are in its guide.

LIN: Item and Lot Identification

LIN**VN*CA-ANH-25*LT*L2611-0457~

LIN identifies the material the results belong to, as pairs of qualifier and value. In the example, VN is the vendor's item number and LT the lot number. Steel mill reports typically add HN (heat number) and a coil or serial ID; the U.S. Steel guide uses VO, VN, HN and SN. Whatever identifiers you send, they must match the ones on the ASN and the physical label. A certificate for lot L2611-0457 is no use to a receiver holding a drum marked L26110457.

The DTM segments that follow in the LIN loop carry item-level dates. The example uses 094 (manufacture) and 036 (expiration).

CID: Characteristic/Class ID

CID**68~

CID opens a group of related results. Everything until the next CID or LIN belongs to it.

MEA: Measurements

MEA*TR*ASY*99.8*P1*99.5*100.5~

Three syntax rules trip people up. At least one of MEA03, MEA05, MEA06 or MEA08 must be present. If you send a range (MEA05 or MEA06), you must send the unit in MEA04. And a value and a coded attribute cannot share one MEA. For a "not detected" result, check whether your customer wants an attribute code in MEA08 or a numeric value with a note.

TMD, PSD and STA

TMD names the test method, usually as an agency code and a method number from that agency's list. PSD describes the physical sample: the stage it was taken at, direction and position, which matters when a mill test report has to say where on a coil or plate the specimen came from. STA carries statistical results across several specimens, for customers that want process data rather than single results. The exact elements each customer reads are in its guide.

COA vs Certificate of Compliance vs Mill Test Report

Ask your customer which of these it expects. A buyer that wants numeric results will not accept a compliance statement, and the 863 can carry either.

Where the 863 Sits Among Related Documents

Common 863 Errors and How to Prevent Them

863 Implementation Checklist

• Get the customer's 863 guide and the list of characteristics it requires for each item
• Confirm the report type code it expects in BTR04
• Map each lab test to a MEA02 qualifier and unit, and agree how to send non-numeric results
• Confirm the item identifiers in LIN (part number, lot, heat, serial) and that they match your 856
• Decide which limits you send in MEA05 and MEA06: the customer's specification or yours
• Agree timing: before shipment, with the ASN, or on lot release
• Agree how corrections and cancellations are sent
• Test a passing lot, a lot with a result at the limit, and a corrected certificate
• Monitor 997s and any quality holds in the first weeks

For a primer on X12 structure, see our essential guide to EDI and the EDI document types reference.

Where OrderSync Fits

OrderSync reads the orders that start this flow. Purchase orders arrive as EDI 850s, PDFs, emails and spreadsheets, and OrderSync matches the customer, items and units to your catalog and outputs ERP data or valid X12. Chemical and ingredient suppliers can read more on EDI for chemical distributors and EDI for specialty food suppliers.

For the certificate itself, paste any 863 into the free EDI inspector to see each lot, characteristic and result explained in plain English, and catch a missing unit or mismatched lot before your customer does. To see your own orders processed, book a 15-minute walkthrough.

Frequently Asked Questions