EDI 860 — Purchase Order Change explained
In short: EDI 860 is the ANSI X12 Purchase Order Change Request from Buyer: the retailer's structured way to modify an already-issued 850 — change quantities, ship dates, cancel lines or add lines — after the order was originally sent.
Key capabilities
- Line-level changes: Add, delete, increase, decrease or reschedule specific PO lines — original PO number is preserved.
- Purpose codes: Change (CH), delete (DE), add (AD) — driving different ERP actions.
- Requires 855 response: Supplier must acknowledge the change with an 855 confirming what will actually ship post-change.
- Prevents over-ship chargebacks: Skipping 860 processing is the top cause of shipping-quantity chargebacks — you ship the original 850 while the retailer expects the revised amount.
The 850 → 860 → 855 → 856 chain
A realistic retail order lifecycle: 850 creates the PO → 855 confirms it → the retailer's forecast changes → 860 modifies quantities or ship date → supplier posts an updated 855 confirming the modification → supplier ships → 856 (ASN) reports what actually shipped → 810 invoices. Every transaction in this chain must be automated end-to-end; any manual step becomes a chargeback risk.
EDIconnect processes all five transactions natively, updates the linked ERP sales order at every step, and surfaces exceptions (860 arriving after ship, mismatched quantities) in a single monitoring dashboard.
Frequently asked questions
What is an EDI 860?
EDI 860 (Purchase Order Change Request from Buyer) is the electronic transaction retailers use to modify or cancel an already-transmitted 850 PO before the supplier ships.
Who sends the EDI 860?
The buyer (retailer). Suppliers respond with an updated EDI 855 acknowledging the change.
What is the difference between EDI 860 and EDI 850?
The 850 creates a PO; the 860 modifies an existing PO. The 860 always references the original PO number and only carries the changed lines (not the full order).
How urgent is an EDI 860?
Very. Most 860s arrive within days of the original 850 and before the ship date. Missing an 860 typically results in shipping the wrong quantities and a chargeback.
How does EDIconnect handle 860s?
Automatically applies the change to the corresponding sales order in your ERP, blocks the shipment if a conflict exists, and generates an updated 855 confirming the new quantities/dates.