Infocon Systems provides fully managed SAP EDI integration for organizations running SAP S/4HANA, SAP ECC, and SAP Business One. With over 35 years of EDI experience and more than 1,000 active trading partner connections, Infocon Systems handles every aspect of SAP EDI — from IDoc mapping and partner onboarding to day-to-day monitoring and error resolution — so your team never has to touch the EDI layer.
SAP is one of the most widely deployed ERP systems in the world, and for good reason. It runs the operational core of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, and enterprise organizations. But SAP was not built to be an EDI platform. It provides IDocs as a data container for moving business documents in and out of the system, but the actual work of translating EDI formats, managing trading partner specifications, handling communication protocols, and resolving transaction errors requires a dedicated EDI solution.
That's where Infocon Systems comes in. Instead of trying to bolt EDI functionality onto SAP's internal tools or hiring ABAP consultants to build custom integrations, Infocon Systems sits between your SAP environment and your trading partners, managing the entire EDI pipeline as a fully managed service.
How SAP EDI Integration Works
At the core of SAP EDI integration is the IDoc — SAP's Intermediate Document format. IDocs are the standard mechanism SAP uses to exchange structured business data with external systems. Every inbound EDI transaction (like a purchase order from a customer) needs to be translated into the correct IDoc type and posted into SAP. Every outbound transaction (like an invoice or ASN) needs to be generated from SAP data, converted to the trading partner's required EDI format, and transmitted.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
Inbound Flow (Trading Partner → SAP)
A trading partner sends an EDI document — say an EDI 850 Purchase Order. Infocon Systems receives it, validates the data against the partner's specifications, translates it into the corresponding SAP IDoc type (such as ORDERS05), and posts it directly into your SAP system. The purchase order appears in SAP as if it were entered manually — except it happened in seconds with zero human intervention.
Outbound Flow (SAP → Trading Partner)
When your team creates an invoice or ships an order in SAP, the system generates an outbound IDoc. Infocon Systems picks up that IDoc, converts it to the EDI format and version the trading partner requires (X12, EDIFACT, or XML), applies any partner-specific mapping rules, and transmits it via the appropriate protocol — AS2, SFTP, or VAN.
Infocon Systems uses REST APIs as the primary integration method for connecting with SAP, with SOAP available for complex multi-step scenarios where it's the better fit. The integration is built and maintained entirely by Infocon Systems' team.
Key EDI Transactions in SAP
SAP environments typically process a core set of EDI transactions that map directly to SAP's IDoc types. Infocon Systems supports all of them:
Purchase Order → ORDERS05
Inbound purchase orders from customers are mapped to SAP's ORDERS IDoc and posted as sales orders. Item numbers, quantities, pricing, ship-to addresses, and requested delivery dates all flow in automatically.
PO Acknowledgment → ORDRSP
Outbound confirmations sent back to the trading partner, acknowledging receipt of the order with accepted quantities, pricing, and estimated ship dates.
Advance Ship Notice → DESADV / DELVRY03
Generated from SAP's delivery and shipment documents. Contains packing details, carrier information, tracking numbers, and item-level contents. Critical for retailer compliance.
Invoice → INVOIC02
Outbound invoices generated from SAP billing documents. Must match the original PO and ASN data precisely to avoid payment delays and deductions.
Payment Remittance → REMADV
Inbound payment advice from customers, enabling automatic reconciliation of accounts receivable within SAP.
Planning Schedule → DELFOR
Forecasted demand from manufacturing customers. Used in automotive, industrial, and CPG supply chains to drive MRP and production planning within SAP.
Infocon Systems also supports EDI 862 (Shipping Schedules), 860 (PO Changes), 824 (Application Advice), 997 (Functional Acknowledgments), and every other ANSI X12 and EDIFACT document type. If your trading partner requires it, Infocon Systems maps it.
SAP S/4HANA, ECC, and Business One
Infocon Systems provides EDI integration across the full range of SAP products that organizations are running today:
SAP S/4HANA
Full support for updated IDoc structures, the unified Business Partner data model, SAP Integration Suite connectivity, and new segment definitions introduced in S/4HANA. Whether you're running on-premise or cloud, Infocon Systems integrates directly.
SAP ECC
Mature, battle-tested EDI integration with SAP ECC 6.0. Infocon Systems has been integrating with ECC environments for decades and supports every IDoc type, partner profile configuration, and communication protocol in use.
SAP Business One
EDI integration for small and mid-sized businesses running SAP B1. Infocon Systems connects B1 to trading partners without requiring third-party add-ons or custom development within the B1 environment.
ECC to S/4HANA Migration — EDI Impact
If your organization is planning or in the middle of a migration from SAP ECC to S/4HANA, your EDI integration is directly affected. The migration introduces changes across multiple layers that impact how EDI transactions flow:
IDoc structure changes. S/4HANA modifies certain IDoc segment definitions, adds new XML elements, and corrects segment descriptions from ECC. Any existing EDI mappings tied to ECC IDoc structures need to be reviewed and potentially remapped.
Business Partner data model. S/4HANA replaces separate customer and vendor master records with a unified Business Partner model. If your EDI partner profiles reference legacy customer or vendor numbers, those references need to be updated to align with the new BP structure.
Partner profile reconfiguration. Partner profiles (transaction WE20) that control how IDocs are routed and processed may need to be reconfigured for the S/4HANA environment, including logical system names and port assignments.
Custom enhancements. Any Z-segments or user exits built into your ECC EDI processing may not function as expected in S/4HANA. These need to be reviewed and potentially refactored.
Infocon Systems manages all of this. When you're migrating to S/4HANA, Infocon Systems remaps your EDI connections, validates every trading partner flow end-to-end, and ensures that your supply chain communication doesn't skip a beat during the cutover. Your internal SAP migration team focuses on the ERP — Infocon Systems handles the EDI.
Why Managed EDI for SAP
There are three common approaches to SAP EDI integration. Understanding the tradeoffs helps explain why most organizations end up choosing a managed service:
SAP's Built-In Tools
SAP provides tools like SAP Process Orchestration (PI/PO) and SAP Integration Suite that can handle EDI translation and communication. The challenge is that these tools require specialized SAP Basis and development resources to configure, maintain, and troubleshoot. EDI is not SAP's core focus, and the tooling reflects that — it works, but it demands significant internal expertise and ongoing attention.
Self-Service EDI Platforms
Platforms like SPS Commerce or TrueCommerce offer web-based EDI tools that connect to SAP. These can work for organizations with straightforward EDI needs and internal staff who can manage mappings and trading partner changes. But when transaction volumes grow, trading partner specs change, or complex scenarios arise, the self-service model puts the burden back on your team.
Fully Managed EDI (Infocon Systems)
Infocon Systems takes a different approach. Every EDI connection, IDoc mapping, partner specification change, error resolution, and compliance requirement is handled by Infocon Systems' dedicated EDI team. Your organization doesn't need to hire ABAP developers, train staff on EDI standards, or manage VAN relationships. Infocon Systems is the EDI department you don't have to build.