Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with the Help of VDA Standards

Verband der Deutschen Auto­mobil­industrie (VDA)

The Association of the Automotive Industry was founded in 1901 and is an interest group of the German automotive industry and its suppliers. The headquarters are located in Berlin.

VDA Headquarters in Berlin (Source: Wikimedia Commons

The VDA is publicly known through the Internationale Automobilausstellung (IAA, International Automotive Exhibition), since they operate as their organiser. In addition to the representation of interests, VDA also undertakes standardisation tasks, with recommendations for logistical processes in the automotive sector to be adopted. Those recommendations established themselves throughout the years as the de facto standard of the German automotive industry.

The development of the VDA standards

Already in 1977, before even UN/CEFACT started to develop the EDIFACT standards, the Verband der deutschen Automobilindustrie began, defining EDI message standards, which were dedicated to the automotive industry and its suppliers. In contrast to EDIFACT or ANSI ASC X12, no segments or separators are used, but instead elements with constant length, called the fixed length format are used. Every data element has a defined length, within which the information can be transmitted. If the information is shorter than the defined length, the rest is filled out with blank spaces.

Numbering of the VDA messages

Each VDA message type has a unique number, almost like a description. Message type 4905 describes for example a delivery forecast. At the end of this article you will find a list of the different VDA standards.

Current development

The current fixed length VDA standards are gradually being replaced by EDIFACT document types. Therefore, the VDA association releases recommendations, on how EDIFACT messages can represent VDA document types. Nevertheless, the current VDA message types are still very frequently used in the automotive industry and one can expect this to still be the case in the coming years.

How are VDA standards being used?

Depending on the car manufacturer, different VDA standards can be used. The following scenario, depicted with a delivery forecast and despatch advice, as well as the paper documents which go with it, come up very frequently. This example is of a pump manufacturer, who sends goods to a car manufacturer.

An Example of the Use of VDA Standards

The car manufacturer forecasts the deliveries to the pump manufacturer with the help of a 4905 message. The pump manufacturer prepares the goods accordingly and confirms the delivery with a 4913 message. Next step is to ship the pumps, together with two paper documents: a barcode label 4902 together with the goods, which can be scanned with a barcode scanner and a paper-based goods slip 4912.

Are you looking to use VDA standards?

The use of VDA standards is now required by more and more car manufacturers and their pre-suppliers. However, the implementation of the corresponding electronic document types and the paper documents which go with it, including the correct barcodes, is not so simple. We are more than happy to help you with any questions you might have about VDA.

List of VDA standards

The list below gives you a (non-exhaustive) overview of the important standards, which the VDA association adopted (as of February 2015).

Questions?

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) with the Help of VDA Standards? Feel free to contact us, we would love to help you!