Simpl-EDI OverviewFrom Complex to SimpleThis document shows the differences and distinctions between the official UN/EDIFACT Invoice Message (INVOIC) and the Simpl-EDI Invoice. The comparison is based on the INVOIC version D03A (released in the first half of 2003). Click on the thumbnail below to view the original Invoice Specification. Because this comparison is focused primarily on the segment structure, click on thumbnail below to view the segment table only. The segment table for the D03A INVOIC contains 180 segments and 53 segment groups. Because this structure is being used to transmit the information normally contain within a paper invoice, the UN Layout Key based invoice is used for the base line. Click on the thumbnail below to view the UNLK Invoice.  The UNLK Invoice shows that there are 17 information blocks within this paper based invoice. If all files were to be used, there would be 32 data entries for a single line item. The problem with mapping the 32 data entries to the official UN/EDIFACT Invoice is that there is not one unique way this can be done. Instead, there are as many different ways to map the same 32 data entries as there are trading partners that use this invoice. In addition, most trading partners have mapped additional data entries not found on their own paper-based invoice simply because they found it useful for their own purpose with no real benefit to their trading partners. Even with industry groups tackling the problem and providing message implementation guidelines that have reduced the options, these guidelines still contain more mappings than are required by individual implementers as they are taking into account all their user's needs. Therefore, each implementer's final mapping is different from that of another implementer. The result is that implementations among industries are not fully interoperable; the same is true for implementations among same industry users. Enter the UN Layout Key (UNLK). The United Nations developed a "layout key" that specifies the physical layout of most international trade documents in such a way that parties with different native languages can understand the fields of the document by their location on the form. This UNLK was originally designed for paper documents, but in the late 1990's SITPRO, applying the Simpl-EDI principles outlined in the paper titled "K.I.S.S. – Keep It Simple, Standard, Speedy and Certain" by Tom McGuffog, Director of Planning & Logistics for Nestlé UK, applied it for electronic documents in the ElecTRA project. Click on the thumbnail below to view Simpl-EDI INVOIC Message Implementation Guideline as developed by the original ElecTRA project. To help in the comparison to the original UN/EDIFACT INVOIC, click on the thumbnail below to view the Simpl-eBiz Invoice simplified segment table. By applying the UNLK to the INVOIC the reduced message now contain only 35 segments and 18 segment groups. In other words, 80% fewer segments and 66% fewer segment groups were used. Click on the thumbnail below to view the UNLK Invoice with its Segment references for each of the data fields.  Each reference starts with the 3 letter segment tag, followed by the segment location (as per Simpl-eBiz INVOIC 03A) and if required the repeat count. Applying ISO/TS 20625 to the Simpl-EDI version of the INVOIC yields the XML schema that may be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail below. Since the same structure exists for both XML and EDI when using the EDI tags for the XML tags, mapping between the two formats is straight forward. Sadly, UN/CEFACT ignored the work by DIN on ISO/TS 20625 and instead created their own XML version which is not only totally different in structure, but also requires a total of 44 schemas. UN/CEFACT's Cross Industry Invoice may be viewed by clicking on the thumbnail below. The UBL Invoice (click on the thumbnail below to view) fairs no better in being simpler and close to the original structure of the UN/EDIFACT INVOIC upon it is based. NOTE: Both the UN/CEFACT CrossIndustryInvoice and UBL-Invoice files are the root schema, the additional linked schemas are not included for space reasons. Both sets can be downloaded directly from the UNECE or UBL web site. FINAL NOTE: Currently the following Simpl-EDI messages are available:
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