EDIFACT PARTIN: Party Information Message Guide

PARTIN is the message that tells you what a GLN on an order actually means. An EANCOM order names its delivery point as a 13-digit Global Location Number and nothing else. Your system can only ship it if that GLN is already on file with an address, a delivery window and the right parent account. PARTIN is how that location data arrives as EDI, and how it stays current when stores open, move or close.

This guide follows the GS1 EANCOM 2002 PARTIN layout: directory D.01B, subset version EAN009. EANCOM 2002 is GS1's current edition and the basis of the other EDIFACT guides on this site. A partner still on EANCOM 1997 will send D.96A, and its UNH segment says which.

What Is an EDIFACT PARTIN?

PARTIN (party information) is the UN/EDIFACT message for "the transmission of basic information regarding locations and the related operational, administrative, commercial and financial data", as GS1 defines it. It maintains each partner's master data file of locations, so that later messages can refer to a location by its number alone.

GS1 calls PARTIN "the first message exchanged between trading partners at the beginning of a commercial relationship", to be sent again whenever the details change. Its principles cover:

• Physical and functional locations. A store and a distribution centre are physical locations. An accounts payable department or an ordering desk is a functional location. Both get a GLN and both can be described.
• One function per message. GS1 requires a separate message for each message function: an addition, a change and a deletion go in three PARTINs, not one.
• Central address catalogues. Partners can use PARTIN to feed a central catalogue of addresses that other parties read.

Who sends it? Whichever side owns the locations. In retail that is usually the buyer sending its stores and DCs to suppliers. A supplier can also send its own despatch points, invoicing party and bank details.

When? At onboarding, then each time a location is added, changed or closed.

Why does it matter? An order to a GLN you do not hold cannot be shipped without someone looking it up. An order to a GLN with an out-of-date address gets shipped to the wrong place.

In practice PARTIN is less common than ORDERS or INVOIC. Many retailers send location lists as spreadsheets or portal downloads instead. Ask during onboarding which route your partner uses. For the full list of EDIFACT messages, see EDIFACT message types.

PARTIN, GLNs and Location Master Data

A GLN is only a key. GS1 says a GLN can identify a legal entity, a function, a physical location or a digital location, and the GS1 GLN standard sets management rules for what happens when a location is new, splits, merges, changes purpose, moves or changes name. None of that data is inside the number itself. It lives in each partner's location master file, and something has to keep the two files in step.

Whatever the source, key your records on the GLN, store the partner's own store or DC number beside it, and validate every GLN's check digit before loading. The check digit calculator validates a whole column of GLNs from a CSV.

Example 1: A New Store and a New Distribution Centre

The fictional retailer Calder Row Markets (head office GLN 5412345000013) tells its supplier Ashby Mill Bakery (GLN 5412345000020) about two new locations. Store 0218 opens on 23 November 2026 and orders for itself. A new northern DC starts receiving on 16 November. Both sit under the head office. All GLNs use GS1's documented example prefix 5412345 with valid check digits; the addresses and postcodes are fictional.

The order of segments inside each location group is fixed by the message structure: NAD, DTM, FII, IDE, FTX, TAX, HYN, then the LOC, RFF, CTA/COM, SCC, TOD, payment, characteristic and process groups. A strict translator can reject segments sent out of this order.

Example 2: A Store Closing

Six weeks later, store 0146 is closing on 31 December. Calder Row sends a change (function 4) that adds an end date to the location. Under GS1's rules for a change, only segments with modified data are sent, so the message is short.

When the store has actually closed and the partner wants the record gone, it sends function 3 (deletion) in a separate message. Do not delete a location the moment you receive an end date: open orders, deliveries and invoices can still reference it, and GS1's GLN rules restrict reusing a GLN once it is retired.

PARTIN Structure at a Glance

Status and repeats follow the EANCOM 2002 structure chart. M is mandatory, C conditional.

PARTIN has no CNT and no summary UNS. The detail section ends with the last location group and goes straight to UNT.

Key Segments Explained

BGM: Message Function

BGM+10+CRM-PI-0331+2'

The document code in the first element is always 10 (party information).

NAD: The Location

NAD+SN+5412345000037::9++CALDER ROW MARKETS 0218+14 BRIDGE STREET+CALDERBRIDGE++ZZ1 4QT+GB'

Detail-level NAD qualifiers in EANCOM 2002 PARTIN:

In the heading, only FR (message from) and MR (message recipient) are used, and GS1 makes both mandatory.

IDE: What the Location Does

IDE+OB'
IDE+ST'

IDE adds functions to the party named in NAD. One location can have several: a store can order (OB), receive goods (ST) and be invoiced (IV). EANCOM lists BY, CO (corporate office), DP, II (issuer of invoice), IV, NFP (no function priority), OB, PE (payee), PR (payer), QP, SE, SF (ship from), SH, ST, SU and X48. Map these to the roles your ERP holds against a customer: sold-to, ship-to, bill-to and payer.

HYN: Parent and Child Locations

HYN+PA+1++5412345000013:GLN::9'

The fourth element (1229) is empty; the GLN sits in the fifth. GS1's own worked example in the PARTIN manual puts the GLN one position early, but its segment layout and segment example both use the position shown here, so follow the layout and check your partner's sample files.

RFF: Store Numbers and Registration Numbers

RFF+YC1:0218'

YC1 (additional party identification, a GS1 temporary code) carries the partner's own number for the location, such as a store or DC number. Other qualifiers include VA (VAT registration number), FC (fiscal number), XA (company or place registration number), CR (customer reference number) and approval numbers for slaughterhouses and meat cutting plants. Store the YC1 value alongside the GLN; some orders and paper documents will use only the store number.

SCC and DTM: Delivery Schedules

SCC+1++Y:10:H'
DTM+2:06001400:501'

Delivery windows from PARTIN are worth loading into your transport planning. What happens to a delivery outside the window is set by the trading agreement, not by EANCOM.

FII and TAX: Bank and VAT Details

FII gives the bank account for the party (PB paying or RB receiving financial institution) and TAX its usual tax situation, for example TAX+7+VAT+++:::20+S' for a standard-rated party. Bank details in PARTIN deserve the same care as any change of bank details: confirm a new or changed account through a channel you already trust before you pay to it. VAT numbers in RFF+VA can be checked with the VAT number checker.

PARTIN vs the X12 816 and TRADACOMS CUSHDR

In TRADACOMS, location master data travels in the customer information file: a CUSHDR header with CUSINF detail messages. The table below compares PARTIN with the X12 816 field by field.

The biggest difference is how the hierarchy is built. The 816 nests locations under parents with HL levels, so the parent usually comes before its children in the file. PARTIN lists each location flat and points to its parent by GLN in HYN, so a child can arrive before its parent or in a different message. Load all locations first, then resolve the parent links.

Some mapping tables pair PARTIN with the X12 838 trading partner profile. In retail, the 816 is the closer match: both carry a partner's location list. The EDI 816 guide covers the X12 side, and TRADACOMS file types lists CUSHDR.

Where PARTIN Sits in the Flow

PARTIN and PRICAT are master data: they come before the order cycle and make it possible. If either is missing or stale, the symptom shows up later, as an order for an unknown delivery point or an invoice sent to the wrong invoicee.

Common PARTIN Errors and Fixes

PARTIN Implementation Checklist

1. Ask whether the partner sends location data by PARTIN, another EDI message, a spreadsheet or a portal.
2. Get its PARTIN guide and confirm the directory, the EANCOM version in UNH, and which NAD, IDE and RFF qualifiers it uses.
3. Decide how each function maps to your customer roles: sold-to, ship-to, bill-to, payer.
4. Key every location on GLN, with the partner's store or DC number alongside.
5. Handle additions, changes and deletions as separate flows, and keep closed locations until their documents are settled.
6. Route bank detail changes to a person for confirmation.
7. Check each test file's envelope, UNT count and GLN check digits in the EDIFACT inspector.

Where OrderSync Fits

OrderSync does its work on the orders that use these locations. It reads inbound orders in any format, including EDIFACT ORDERS, X12 850s, PDFs, emails and spreadsheets, and matches each customer, ship-to, item and unit to the records in your ERP before the order is created.

The free EDIFACT inspector checks PARTIN files, and the EDI inspector does the same for an X12 816. To see order matching on your own customers' orders, book a 15-minute walkthrough.

Frequently Asked Questions

Related guides

• EDIFACT explained: syntax, envelopes and the full X12 mapping
• EDIFACT ORDERS: the orders that quote these GLNs
• EDIFACT PRICAT: the product master that sits beside PARTIN
• EDIFACT DESADV: despatch advice to the delivery point
• EDI 816 organizational relationships: the X12 counterpart
• TRADACOMS file types: CUSHDR and the rest of the UK files
• EDIFACT message types: every message and its X12 equivalent

Sources

• EANCOM 2002 S3: PARTIN party information message, GS1: structure chart, segment layouts, code lists and worked example
• EANCOM 2002 S3 Part I: message descriptions, GS1
• Global Location Number (GLN), GS1: what a GLN identifies and the GLN management rules
• UN/EDIFACT D.01B PARTIN message, UNECE

Check any PARTIN's structure, counts and GLN check digits in the free EDIFACT inspector.