Technical Questionnaire - The Exchange




1 Preface

Required supplier discovery information is documented with this questionnaire and used in the onboarding process as well as for configuration archival purposes.

1.1 Intended Audience
This questionnaire is intended to provide assistance to client service technicians who are configuring a new supplier within Dropship Manager.
1.2 Related Documents

Radial Supplier Access Agreement

Exchange Drop Ship Supplier Guide Click Here for Link

Exchange Drop Ship Supplier Compliance Click Here for Link

Doing Business with the Exchange eCommerce Click Here for Link
3 Technical Questionnaire (Exchange Supplier to Complete) 

Thank you for your interest in the Exchange Dropship Program. Please engage the necessary people at your company or 3rd party provider to accurately and fully complete this technical questionnaire, including any systems or EDI personnel.

 

The Exchange has partnered with Radial for managing all Dropship order processing.  The purpose of this document is to provide a broad overview of the Dropship Manager requirements for B2B data transmissions as well as ensure that all parties understand the requirements. 

 

If you have questions while completing this document, please reach out to your Exchange Buyer or the Drop Ship Support Team (DSSupport@aafes.com).

3.1 Assigned Technical Contact

Your Radial Technical contact is responsible for seeing the system to system testing process through to the end and will be assigned to you once this completed document has been submitted and Radial has received a completed Supplier Access Agreement.

 

This technical contact will be your point person for testing and answering questions and/or concerns regarding systems, file formats, and file transmissions. This support contact will also arrange training for your personnel on usage of your Radial Dropship Manager account via the web portal, and will include handling order cancellations and exceptions. 

4 Timeline

Milestone/Deliverable

Owner

Duration

Description

Setup Form

Exchange Buyer

Variable

Forms are completed and sent to Exchange Dropship Team

Exchange Dropship Team Approval

Exchange

Variable

Exchange team approves Dropship setup based on setup form and technical information

Supplier Access Agreement/ TQ Completion

Radial/Supplier

1-2 weeks

Supplier receives the Welcome Packet with all of the necessary information to move forward with onboarding including the Supplier Access Agreement. The agreement must be faxed or emailed and executed with payment information.  The TQ will be completed by the supplier and/or their third party EDI provider.

Setup and Testing Begins

 

Resource Assignment

Radial

5 business days

The assigned Radial Client Services Technician will reach out to the Supplier to initiate kickoff.

 

Configure Supplier in test and production environments

Radial

The assigned Radial technical contact or Client Services Technician (CST) will create the initial Supplier setup and apply pre-existing data maps to any transactions required by the retailer.

 

Create and Import Test Order(s)

Radial 

Radial CST will create test and import order(s) based on information in the Technical Questionnaire.

Send Test Order(s) to Supplier

Radial

 

The assigned resource will send test order(s) to the Supplier in their requested file format based on pre-existing data maps and specifications*. Non-Radial hosted connection methods may extend timeline.

 


 

Return Shipment and other required transactions to Radial

Supplier

5 business days

The Supplier will send shipment, invoice, inventory files and any other required return transactions for the test order(s) back to Radial.

 

Review return transactions for data map compatibility

Radial

Variable depending on accuracy of data

The assigned Radial CST will review the return transactions from the Supplier for data map compatibility and work through any mapping discrepancies or data issues.

 

Complete production Supplier configuration and QC signoff

Radial

5 business days

 

The assigned Radial technical contact or Client Services Technician will complete any additional steps required before going “live” including sending and receiving of transactions.

 

Supplier Training

Radial/Supplier

On-demand

 

Supplier Services Specialist enrolls supplier contacts listed in the Technical Questionnaire in web based on-demand training.

 

Cutover

Radial/Supplier/

Exchange 

2 business days

 

Supplier Services send a cutover report to the Exchange every Wednesday. Once cutover is complete the Exchange will notify the supplier via email. Products will be live on shopmyexchange.com following cutover.

 
5 Automated Processing

Radial has a built-in mapping utility (Dropship Manager) that is capable of processing a variety of file formats including fixed-width, delimited, and standard X12 v4010 EDI documents. 

 

If your order management system or accounting system already has a custom file format that it can import and export, Dropship Manager may be able to reproduce those formats to your specs.


Exchange’s Radial site currently supports the following standard EDI and file formats:

  • 850 Purchase Order (Exchange to supplier) - contains all the necessary Dropship Manager order data, including requested shipment date for all items on the order.
    • Note: It is expected that logic is in place in your EDI system to ensure any duplicate orders received are not double-processed.

  • 856 Ship Notice (supplier to Exchange) - used to update the status of the order/item to “shipped” and triggers the billing of the customer.  This file should be sent within 24 hours of the shipment.  Tracking numbers are required on every shipment update. For LTL shipments the PO number (for SEKO shipments) or the bill of lading number should be sent, and if there is no tracking number available such as for USPS packages the tracking number value should include the Customer Order number.

  • 810 Invoice (supplier to The Exchange) - used to update the status of the order/item to ‘invoiced’ and triggers payment to you. It must include your Terms in the ITD segment.

    • Example: ITD**01***35****NET 35 DAYS***

    • If you are charging freight and/or handling, it must be included in the SAC segment.
      • Handling fee Example: SAC*C*D500***550
      • Freight Charge Example: SAC*C*D240***2850

  • 846 Inventory (supplier to Exchange) - used to update current vendor inventory at The Exchange.  This file is required at minimum once daily, however can be sent at max of one per hour. The products provided in the file should be limited to only those that are a part of the Exchange product assortment.

  • 870 Order ESD Updates (supplier to Exchange) – can be used to update the Estimated Ship Date on an order. (not required)

  • 870 Order Cancels (supplier to Exchange) – can be used to Cancel items or orders. (not required)

  • 997 Functional Acknowledgement - used to provide receipt of successful file transmission.


6 File Format, Layout, & Transmission

Radial Dropship Manager will transmit new order files to the supplier as they are provided to Radial Dropship Manager from Exchange, unless otherwise requested by the supplier. Dropship Manager will retrieve files throughout the day on a periodic, batch basis.

6.1 File Transmission

The standard supported transmission method is FTP or SFTP.  As a preference, Radial will host the *SFTP site, but can also connect to a supplier or 3rd-party hosted FTP/SFTP site.  Radial may be able to connect to an FTP/SFTP site hosted by a VAN, provided that there are no additional fees assessed to Radial or The Exchange for such a connection.  

 

*Note: For privacy and security reasons, Radial is only able to host an SFTP connection.

 

Please note Radial does not subscribe to a VAN. If you plan to connect via a VAN, you must provide FTP/SFTP credentials that are unique to the connection for The Exchange.


If working with a VAN/EDI partner, please share this information with them before submitting this form.

IF A VAN WITH A SHARED CONNECTION IS BEING USED ONLY THE VAN NAME SHOULD BE PROVIDED. PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE THE CONNECTION PASSWORD. IF THE PASSWORD IS NEEDED THE RADIAL ONBOARDING RESOURCE WILL REACH OUT TO THE VAN.


If the 2nd or 3rd option was chosen, please specify the FTP/SFTP connection info below:




For shared VAN connections, please leave blank.

Contact details for your VAN or EDI provider:



6.2 File Format and Layout

*Please note, The Exchange requires all suppliers to utilize EDI. If you do not have EDI capabilities in-house, there are 3rd party providers available.








Please indicate the supplier's EDI Qualifier and ID:

Note: This is your unique EDI Qualifier and ID. Check with your EDI provider if you are not sure. Please do not copy/paste the Exchange's EDI information in this field.


Supplier's EDI Qualifier

Supplier's EDI ID


Please note the EDI Qualifier and ID used in The Exchange's EDI transactions are as below:

EDI Qualifier:        ZZ

EDI ID:                   VNEXCHANGE

 

6.3 Ship Methods

Dropship Manager expects the following ship method codes in the EDI 856 (TD5:03 element) document or shipment notification documents as required. 


These codes will sent in the EDI 850 order file (TD5:03) and are expected to be used in return EDI 856 files (TD5:03). NOTE: Using incorrect ship codes in your 856 may lead to delays in shipment/invoicing processing.

Please indicate the ship method codes you will be using by checking the corresponding boxes on the table/s below.



6.4 Technical Questions



6.5 Technical Contact Information


*Please provide name, email and phone for the primary technical contact who will be involved in the EDI testing.




7 Test Data

Radial will generate sample order files for the purpose of testing. Dropship Manager will in turn transmit those test orders to the supplier. The information provided below is the basis for Radial testing.

 

Please provide 2 products (required).

Product 1





Product 2





7.1 Test Orders

For the purpose of data validation, the following onboarding scenarios will be tested. These scenarios tested during the onboarding process will be driven by the type of orders you will be fulfilling for The Exchange.

 

SCENARIO 1

Multi-quantity, multi-line purchase

SCENARIO 2

Ship to Store


8 Training

Please provide a list of names, e-mail addresses, and phone numbers that will need to be trained on how to handle order exceptions such as order cancellations in Dropship Manager.  The Exchange requires that at least one person/email address be provided by the supplier to receive email notifications from Radial and at least one back up person/email.  Suppliers are expected to log into Radial daily to review order comments and open POs and invoices.