Status

MESSAGE TYPE: PRICAT
REFERENCE DIRECTORY: D.01B
EANCOM® SUBSET VERSION: 009

Definition

A message to enable the transmission of information regarding pricing and catalogue details for goods and services offered by a seller to a buyer.

The message can also be sent from a buyer to a seller to specify special requirements such as buyer labelling or packaging requirements, or to provide a response (acceptance or rejection) to a previously received Price/Sales Catalogue.

Principles

The article information transmitted with the Price/Sales Catalogue message is intended to be used for reference by the trading partners in subsequent EDI interchanges of commercial messages.

The Price/Sales Catalogue message indicates descriptive, logistic and pricing information by individual product. Depending on the agreement between trading partners, the message might indicate only general information about the products, valid for all customers. However, the same message can be used to provide a customer with information specific to him, i.e. prices and special conditions.

Product information can be provided as a complete listing of all supplier's products or as an advance warning of particular changes.

The Price/Sales Catalogue message can also be used by suppliers to feed a central catalogue of products, making the information available to all interested parties. In addition, interested parties may be provided with information from a central catalogue or database of products by means of the Price/Sales Catalogue message.

Optionally, products can be grouped by supplier or manufacturer. In this case the supplier is identified in the NAD-CTA loop following PGI. If no grouping of products is required, the detail section starts with one occurrence of PGI.

Each individual item, Consumer Unit, Traded Unit or Despatch Unit is described in the LIN segment group. Components of a Despatch Unit or Traded Unit can be referenced to using the sub-lines function of the LIN segment, and, additional repeats of the LIN segment group to describe the unit (see * Structure below).

The Price/Sales Catalogue message can be used to indicate specific action. This is implemented by use of the message function code in the BGM segment and the action request code in the LIN segment. These action codes can be used to change, add, delete and confirm product information in the detail section of the message.

The message function code in the BGM segment is used to indicate that all the items in the Price/Sales Catalogue have the same action required. In this case the action request code in the LIN segment should correspond to the functionality of the message function code in the BGM segment. Otherwise, the functionality indicated in the LIN segment will override the functionality indicated in the BGM segment.

When using the Price/Sales Catalogue message to provide a response the message sender may indicate three types of information:

- The total acceptance of a previous Price/Sales Catalogue message. In this instance only mandatory segments and segments identifying the parties and the message being responded need to be transmitted. The acceptance of the message is indicated using data element 1225 (code value ‘29, Accepted without change’) in the BGM segment.

- The total rejection of a previous Price/Sales Catalogue message. In this instance only mandatory segments and segments identifying the parties and the message being responded need to be transmitted. The rejection of the message is indicated using data element 1225 (code value ‘27, Not accepted’) in the BGM segment.

- The proposed change of information at either a product group level or at an individual product level. Where changes take place it is recommended that all of the information related to the level being changed be retransmitted for confirmation purposes e.g. at PGI level all segments, at LIN level all segments. At product level data element 1229 in the LIN segment must be set to ‘3, Change’. Reference to a specific line being responded to is achieved through the use of a combination of the reference to the original document (either at heading or PGI level) and in the RFF at detail level using DE 1156 ‘Line number’. The FTX segment at the PGI and LIN levels may be used to provide explanation, either in coded or free form, as to why the information is being changed. Information at PGI or LIN level not re-transmitted is automatically accepted by default. Accepted information at product level may also be explicitly indicated using the code value ‘4, No change’, in data element 1229 in the LIN segment.

Structure

The structure of the Price/Sales Catalogue message has been designed to allow for the description of standard groupings (mixed assortments) of different articles and/or to provide the description of the logistic/packaging hierarchy for a product or group of products.

Both these functionalities are achieved by means of the usage of extra repeats of the Line Item (LIN) segment and, any other segments in the LIN segment group required for detail purposes, e.g., QTY segment, in the detail section of the message.

Standard mixed assortments are identified using the sub-lining function in the LIN, and the other segments within the LIN segment group providing the identities and quantities of the component products of the mixed assortment.

Should the component products of a mixed assortment change, the Addition, Deletion, Change and No Change action request codes in the LIN segment can be used to update a partner’s file or central catalogue.

When describing a logistic group the first occurrence of the LIN segment will always refer to the consumer unit or smallest non-divisible unit, the second occurrence of LIN to the next upper level unit (e.g. a traded or despatch unit), and so on.

Describing a logistic hierarchy is best illustrated with an example:

Consumer Unit ( GTIN smallest non-divisible item)

Traded Unit (12 Consumer Units)

Despatch Unit (50 Traded Units)

Please note that there are more extensive examples and also explanations on the use of sub-lines in PART I, SECTION 4.11 and in the examples section of this message (immediately after the segment’s description).