Advanced Shipping Notice
What is an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN)?
An Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) is the electronic notification you send customers telling them exactly what's coming, when it's arriving, and how it's packed - down to which items are in which box on which pallet. Sounds simple, right? Yet somehow this one document causes more chargebacks, receiving delays, and customer fury than almost any other part of the order process.
How Do ASNs Actually Work in Real Life?
In theory, generating an ASN should be automatic. You pack the order, scan the barcodes, system generates the ASN, customer knows what's coming. Beautiful.
In reality? Your warehouse team finishes packing at 4 PM. Someone manually enters the carton details into Excel. They email it to the office. Someone else reformats it for EDI. By the time the ASN actually gets sent, the truck's already halfway to the customer. And that's if everything goes smoothly.
The technical requirements alone are enough to make your head spin. An EDI 856 ASN needs hierarchical structure - shipment level, order level, pack level, item level. Each carton needs an SSCC-18 barcode. Items need to be listed in the exact sequence they were packed. Miss any of these details? Your customer's receiving system rejects the shipment.
Here's the thing that kills me: your customer already knows what they ordered. The ASN just confirms what you actually shipped versus what they wanted. But somehow this "confirmation" document has become a 40-segment EDI monster that requires perfect precision or your shipment sits on their dock, refused.
Why Do ASNs Cause So Many Problems?
Let's talk about what really happens when ASNs go wrong. Your shipment arrives before the ASN? The receiving team can't process it. It sits on the dock. Maybe for days. Your customer's screaming about their delayed shipment while it's literally sitting in their warehouse.
Send the ASN too early? Their system might reject the physical shipment because the details don't match exactly. Packed 48 units per carton instead of the 50 you said in the ASN? Rejected. Used a different carton size than specified? Chargeback.
The Retail Compliance Nightmare
Walmart alone has 40+ pages of ASN requirements. Target wants specific label placements measured to the quarter-inch. Amazon requires ASNs to arrive within a precise time window or they cancel the whole shipment. Miss any of these requirements? That'll be a $500 non-compliance fee, thank you very much.
When Partial Shipments Make Everything Worse
The partial shipment nightmare is even worse. You're shipping half the order today, half tomorrow. Your ASN needs to reflect exactly what's on today's truck, but still reference the original order, while indicating there's more coming. Most systems handle this about as well as you'd expect (they don't).
And God forbid you need to make changes after sending the ASN. Truck broke down and you had to use a different carrier? Too bad, the ASN already said it was coming via Yellow Freight with PRO number 123456. Now nothing matches.
How Does Automation Fix the ASN Mess?
This is exactly why companies automate order processing - because humans shouldn't be typing SSCC-18 barcodes at 5 PM on Friday. Modern warehouse systems generate ASNs in real-time as items are packed. Scan the item, scan the carton, scan the pallet. The ASN builds itself.
Platforms like SPS Commerce or TrueCommerce handle all the customer-specific requirements automatically. Shipping to Target? System knows to include their department number in segment REF*DP. Sending to Amazon? It automatically schedules the delivery appointment and includes it in the ASN. You pack, system handles the complexity.
The real game-changer is when your WMS talks directly to your customer's system. Manhattan Associates and Blue Yonder do this well - as soon as the last carton is sealed, the ASN transmits. No delay, no manual intervention, no "oh crap, we forgot to send the ASN."
Some newer platforms even handle ASN corrections automatically. Made a last-minute change? System sends an updated 856. Shipped from a different location? The ASN reflects the correct origin. Your customer's system stays happy, you avoid chargebacks.
What Can You Do About ASNs Right Now?
Generate ASNs as you pack, not after. If you're creating ASNs at the end of the day, you're already behind. Modern scanning systems build the ASN in real-time as you pack.
Use standard carton configurations. If you always pack 48 units per carton for this SKU, stick with it. Consistency makes automation easier and reduces errors.
Send ASNs immediately. The longer you wait, the more likely something goes wrong. Truck leaves early, carrier changes routes, whatever. Get that ASN out the door.
Validate before sending. Use an EDI validator to check your ASNs before transmission. Better to catch errors on your end than get a chargeback later.
Keep ASN history accessible. When your customer claims they never received the ASN for last Tuesday's shipment, you need proof. Fast.
Frequently Asked Questions About ASNs
Can we just email packing lists instead of sending EDI 856s?
For small customers, maybe. For any major retailer or distributor? Absolutely not. They need EDI 856 for their receiving systems to work. No ASN = shipment refused.
What happens if we don't send ASNs?
Your shipment sits on their dock. They can't receive it without the ASN. You'll get charged detention fees, miss delivery windows, and probably lose the customer.
How detailed does the ASN really need to be?
Painfully detailed. Every item, in every carton, on every pallet, in the exact sequence packed. Miss one detail and their system might reject everything.
What if we ship LTL with multiple stops?
Each stop needs its own ASN with only their items. The carrier details need to match across all ASNs. It's complex but doable with the right systems.
Stop letting ASN errors derail your shipments and destroy your scorecard. See how automated validation and generation ensures every shipment has an accurate ASN before the truck even leaves - no more dock delays, no more chargebacks, just smooth receiving every time.