EDI 860 - Purchase Order Change Request
The EDI 860 lets a buyer modify an open purchase order - adjusting quantities, prices, delivery windows, or shipping addresses after the original 850 has been sent. Every change needs a supplier response via the EDI 865.
✦ What It Does
The EDI 860 Purchase Order Change Request is the buyer's mechanism for modifying an existing purchase order without canceling and reissuing it. Changes happen for many reasons: demand forecasts shift, promotional quantities are revised, a ship-to DC changes, a delivery window moves, or a price correction is needed. Rather than canceling the original 850 and issuing a new one, the 860 sends only what changed - dramatically reducing the risk of processing errors caused by reprocessing an entire order from scratch.
The 860 carries a BCH (Beginning Segment for Purchase Order Change) that identifies the original PO number being changed, the date of the change, and the type of change being made. The body of the 860 then mirrors the PO1 loop structure of the 850, but with a critical addition: each PO1 segment carries a change code (PC101) that tells the supplier what to do with that line. Change code AI = add item, CA = cancel entire order, CI = cancel line, DI = delete line, QI = quantity increase, QD = quantity decrease, PI = price change, and so on.
The 860 must only transmit what changed - if only line 3 of a 10-line PO is changing, the 860 should contain only a PO1 for line 3 (unless the trading partner's spec requires full-PO retransmission). The supplier's system must be built to apply the 860 as a delta against the open 850 state, not replace the entire order. When multiple 860s are sent against the same PO, they must be applied in sequence number order using the change version number in BCH.
⚡ When It's Triggered
- A buyer's merchandising team revises a promotional order quantity downward after a forecast update - the 860 sends QD (quantity decrease) change codes to reduce the affected lines.
- A retail distribution center reassignment moves an order's ship-to from one DC to another - the 860 updates the N1/ST loop with the new ship-to address and DC code.
- A price correction is needed after a cost negotiation is finalized post-PO - the 860 sends a PI (price increase) or PD (price decrease) code on the affected lines.
- A delivery window needs to shift due to a DC receiving calendar change - the 860 updates DTM segments for ship-not-before and ship-not-after dates.
- A buyer cancels specific lines on a PO after a supplier's 855 indicates those items are unavailable - the 860 formally closes those lines so they don't remain open in both systems.
- A buyer cancels an entire PO before the supplier has shipped - the 860 with a CA change code at the header level is the formal cancellation mechanism.
Who Uses EDI 860
Retail Buyers
Retail buyers use 860s most frequently for promotional order adjustments, DC reassignments, and delivery date changes. When a buyer adjusts a planogram mid-season, 860s cascade across dozens of open orders simultaneously. Suppliers must process 860s quickly - applying changes before the warehouse starts picking against an outdated 850.
Manufacturing
In manufacturing, 860s arrive from industrial customers or OEMs when production schedules change. A 860 received after a component order has been committed to production puts pressure on the supplier to either accommodate the change or communicate constraints. The 860/865 pair provides the documented trail for any late-change premiums or cancellation fees.
Distribution
Distributors issue 860s to manufacturers when their customers' needs change after the distributor has already placed upstream orders. They also receive 860s from retailers when orders need adjustment. The distributor must propagate changes upstream (860 to manufacturer) and downstream (update the customer's reservation) while managing the timing risk of changes that arrive too late to act on.
Grocery
Grocery 860s are heavily tied to promotional event management. When a promotional circular changes at the last minute - an item gets dropped, a quantity is revised, a delivery week shifts - 860s update the supplier-facing promotional POs before production runs are committed. The ability to receive and act on 860s quickly is a key supplier competency in grocery.
Key Segments & Data Elements
BCH: Beginning Segment for PO Change
Opens the 860 with the reference to the original PO. BCH01 = transaction set purpose code (00 = original change, 05 = reissue of change). BCH02 = PO type code (matching the original 850 BEG02). BCH03 = PO number (must match 850's BEG03). BCH05 = date of change. BCH06 = change request sequence number - critical when multiple changes are sent against the same PO, as they must be applied in ascending sequence order.
PO1: Line Item with Change Code
Each modified line appears in a PO1 loop. PO101 = assigned identification (matching the original 850 line number). PO102 = new quantity (the revised quantity, not the delta). PO104 = new price. The change type is communicated via a separate POC segment that follows PO1, not in PO1 itself. The POC segment carries POC01 (original line number), POC02 (change reason code), and POC03/04 (new and original quantities for clarity).
POC: Line Item Change
The POC segment is the change-specific segment that makes 860 processing deterministic. POC01 = original line number from the 850 PO1. POC02 = change reason code: QI (quantity increase), QD (quantity decrease), PI (price increase), PD (price decrease), CA (cancel), AI (add item), SI (substitution). POC03 = new quantity. POC04 = original quantity. POC05 = UOM. When POC02 = CA, the entire line is canceled regardless of remaining quantity.
DTM: Revised Dates
When delivery window changes are the reason for the 860, DTM segments carry the updated dates. DTM037 = new ship-not-before date, DTM038 = new ship-not-after date, DTM002 = new requested delivery date. The supplier must update the order's scheduled ship date upon receiving these revised DTM values, or the 856 will be transmitted with the original dates and trigger a delivery window violation.
N1: Changed Party Address
When a DC reassignment is the driver of the 860, the N1/N3/N4 loop for the ship-to (N101=ST) is updated with the new distribution center's name, address, and DC identifier. The supplier's warehouse must re-route the order to the new ship-to before labels are generated - a 860 N1 change received after labels are printed creates a logistics intervention requiring manual correction.
CTT: Transaction Totals
Closes the 860 with the count of PO1 line segments in this change transaction. CTT01 = number of PO1 loops in the 860 (not the total lines in the original 850). A full-cancel 860 may have CTT01=1 with a single PO1 carrying a CA change code, while a multi-line quantity revision may have CTT01=6 for six changed lines. Mismatched CTT counts cause functional acknowledgment (997/999) rejections.
Related Transaction Sets
Purchase Order
The original PO that the 860 modifies. The BCH03 PO number must match the 850's BEG03 exactly. The supplier's system maintains the 850 as the base record and applies each 860 as a versioned change, creating an audit trail of the order's full modification history.
PO Change Acknowledgment
The supplier's required response to the 860. Just as the 855 acknowledges the 850, the 865 acknowledges the 860 - confirming acceptance of changes, proposing alternative changes, or rejecting specific modifications. Retailers tracking 865 response rates hold suppliers to the same compliance standards as 855 acknowledgment.
Purchase Order Acknowledgment
The 855 that acknowledged the original 850 now serves as the baseline against which the 860 change is evaluated. If the 855 acknowledged 8 units but the 860 requests a change to 12, the supplier must decide whether to accept the increase and respond via 865.
Ship Notice / Manifest (ASN)
If a 860 arrives while goods are already in transit or have been shipped, the 856 may already have been transmitted. In this case, the 860 represents a post-ship change that likely requires a returns authorization or credit memo rather than a shipment adjustment - a scenario that must be handled by exception management processes.
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