The food industry is accelerating toward enhanced traceability standards, driven in large part by compliance requirements under the FDA’s Food Traceability Rule. In response, leading retailers and wholesalers are increasingly mandating that food traceability data be transmitted via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), most commonly using the Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) – EDI 856 transaction set.
This mandate has created operational challenges for many small and mid-sized suppliers. A significant portion of these suppliers either:
Share-ify’s Role as a Universal Data Translation Layer
Leveraging nearly 40 years of expertise in electronic data exchange and interoperability, Share-ify provides a data transformation and validation service purpose-built for traceability data exchange. Acting as a universal data translator, Share-ify ingests supplier data in its native format (e.g., CSV, XML, JSON, proprietary ERP output) and transforms it into the precise EDI schema required by each retailer or wholesaler.
Limitations of EDI for Traceability Compliance
While EDI is an effective data transport protocol, it is not inherently a traceability compliance solution. Standard EDI workflows:
Consequently, EDI-transmitted traceability records often contain schema violations, incomplete fields, or inaccurate Key Data Elements (KDEs)—issues that legacy EDI platforms (and traditional VAN providers) are not equipped to detect or resolve.
Further complicating the process:
Share-ify’s EDI-Compatible Traceability Framework
Share-ify delivers an EDI-compatible, compliance-focused solution that abstracts away the complexity of retailer-specific formatting while eliminating volume-based transaction fees.
Process Workflow:
Key Advantages