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EDI vendor connections
Connect each vendor's EDI documents — purchase orders, acknowledgments, invoices, ship notices and catalogs — over SFTP, FTP, AS2 or email, with schedules and file history.
What it's for
Many vendors exchange orders and paperwork as EDI files. OrderPilot sends your purchase orders to the vendor and picks up the vendor's replies on a schedule. Each vendor has five document types:
| Tab | EDI type | Direction | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| 📤 PO | 850 | You → vendor | Your purchase order. |
| ✓ Ack | 855 | Vendor → you | The vendor confirms or rejects each PO line. |
| 💰 Invoice | 810 | Vendor → you | The vendor's invoice. It marks the order OK to ship. |
| 🚚 Shipments | 856 | Vendor → you | The advance ship notice, with tracking. |
| 📦 Inventory | 832 | Vendor → you | The vendor's catalog and price file. |
Where to find it
⚙ Settings → Vendors & EDI. Click a vendor's box.
The screen at a glance
Click a vendor to open its panel. Across the top are the five document tabs. Under each are three sub-tabs: 🔌 Connection, ⏰ Schedule and 📜 History, plus an Active / Paused switch for that document.
Connection
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Method | SFTP, FTP, AS2 or Email. |
| Host | The vendor's server address, for example edi1.vendor.com. |
| Port | Usually 22 for SFTP and 21 for FTP. |
| Username / Password | The login the vendor gave you. |
| Remote path / folder | The folder to send to or pick up from, for example /in or /out. |
| File pattern (optional) | Only files matching this pattern are picked up, for example *855*. |
| Notes | Your own notes. |
With Email chosen, the server fields are replaced by:
- Send the PO to (email address) for the PO tab, or Vendor sends from (email address) for the inbound tabs.
- Attachment pattern (optional), for example *.edi or *.csv.
Email transport is new. The setup saves now; sending and pickup start working once email vendors are switched on.
Schedule
- Enable schedule — turns automatic runs on or off.
- Mode — Specific times each day (add times as chips) or Every N minutes (at least 5).
History
Every file sent or received, newest first: status (sent, processed, error), file name, date and a short result.
Buttons and actions
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| ➕ Add a vendor | Asks for the vendor's name and adds a new vendor box. Then open it to set up documents. |
| Active / Paused switch | Turns this document on or off. Save the connection first, or you get "Save the connection first". |
| Save connection | Saves the connection fields. |
| 🧪 Test (saved settings) | Tries to log in to the server with the saved settings and shows the result. Save first if you changed anything. Not shown for Email. |
| ▶ Run now | Runs this document once right away (send or pick up). Check History or the Jobs log for the result. |
| + Add time | Adds the time from the time box as a new chip. |
| ✕ on a time chip | Removes that time. Click Save schedule to keep the change. |
| Save schedule | Saves the schedule switch, mode, times or interval. |
| ⬇ (History) | Downloads the file. |
| ↻ (History) | Processes the file again — for example re-applies an 855 to update order statuses. |
How to connect a vendor's EDI
- Get the connection details from the vendor: method (SFTP, FTP or AS2), host, port, username, password, and the folder for each document.
- Open Settings → Vendors & EDI. If the vendor is new, click ➕ Add a vendor and type its name.
- Click the vendor's box. The 📤 PO tab opens.
- On 🔌 Connection, choose the Method and fill in host, port, username, password and folder.
- Click Save connection, then 🧪 Test (saved settings). You should see a success message.
- Open ⏰ Schedule. Turn on Enable schedule, choose a mode and add times (for example 09:00 and 14:00), then click Save schedule.
- Make sure the Active switch is on.
- Repeat for ✓ Ack, 💰 Invoice, 🚚 Shipments and 📦 Inventory, using the folders the vendor gave you for each.
How to re-run a file that failed
- Open the vendor and the document tab, then 📜 History.
- Find the file. Click ⬇ to look at it if needed.
- Click ↻ to process it again.
Tips and troubleshooting
- The vendor box says 0/5 active. Open each document, save its connection, and switch it to Active.
- Test fails. Check host, port and password with the vendor, click Save connection, then test again — the test always uses saved settings.
- No acknowledgments arriving? Check the 855 folder and file pattern, and that its schedule is enabled. The EDI silence alert under Company settings can warn you when this happens.
- Auto-create catalog SKUs from 832 files is set under General settings → Inventory → New SKUs.
Still stuck? Email support@softavant.com and tell us what you were trying to do.