What Is an EDIFACT ORDRSP?

December 8^_th, 2021

ORDRSP is yet another EDIFACT message—and quite a common one at that. The most important thing to know is that it’s code for Purchase Order Response Message. 

The name pretty much says it all, but we’ll give you the rundown of the ORDRSP EDI message anyway. 

EDIFACT ORDRSP: An Overview

In a typical business scenario that requires the use of EDIFACT—the most commonly used EDI standard in Europe across all industries—a supplier receives an ORDER (purchase order/sales order) from one of their customers and then acknowledges, or confirms receipt, of that order by sending an ORDRSP EDIFACT message in response. 

In an ideal situation, a supplier can confirm receipt of their customer’s order, prep it, and then proceed with sending a DESADV (dispatch advice) message in response. When this happens, it means that the supplier has accepted the order with no changes and, therefore, is able to ship the order in full. 

Exceptional Circumstances for the EDIFACT ORDRSP Message

We all know that the ordering and fulfillment process isn’t always as smooth as we want it to be, and the EDIFACT ORDRSP message takes that into account. In other words, acceptance isn’t the only possible response to a purchase order. 

The ORDRSP EDI message takes things a step further by giving suppliers the option to inform their customers whether or not their purchase order (PO) has been accepted, rejected, or accepted with changes. 

If the supplier rejects the original PO by means of the ORDRSP, the buyer responds to this with an ORDCHG (Purchase Order Change Request). The buyer can use the ORDCHG message to confirm the revised PO as proposed by the supplier or cancel it altogether. Alternatively, the buyer may also use the ORDCHG to request a modification to their initial PO, for example, if they accidentally marked the wrong quantity. This also prompts the supplier to respond with an EDIFACT ORDRSP. 

Check out our glossary for more helpful definitions.