Overview
When a retailer sends you an EDI 850 Purchase Order, it specifies the unit of measure (UOM) for each line — for example, Carton, Case, or Pair — rather than just individual pieces. When you later send the EDI 810 Invoice or EDI 856 Advance Shipping Notice (ASN), the trading partner's system automatically validates that the UOM on each line matches what was on the original 850. A mismatch causes the document to be rejected.
Luminous stores the inbound 850 and uses it as the authoritative source for UOM when composing outbound documents.
How UOM is resolved on outbound documents
When Luminous builds a 810 Invoice, 856 ASN, or 855 PO Acknowledgment, it follows this priority order for each line item:
- Stored inbound 850: Luminous looks up the original 850 document linked to the sales order and matches each line by PO line number, then by retailer SKU. The UOM (and base UOM) from the stored 850 line is written onto the outbound document line.
- Order item's recorded UOM: If the 850 data is unavailable, Luminous falls back to the unit of measure stored on the order line itself at the time the order was posted.
- Default: If neither source resolves a UOM, the line defaults to EA (each).
This matching happens automatically — no manual step is required.
Why a trading partner might reject the document
Common causes of UOM-related rejections:
| Cause | What to check |
|---|---|
| The original 850 was not stored correctly | Open Insights → EDI Report, filter by the sales order, and confirm an inbound 850 record exists with json_data populated. |
| The line item key on the 850 doesn't match the sales order line | Check that PO line numbers in Luminous match what the retailer sent. Channel SKU mapping issues can shift line numbers. |
| The order was created manually (not from an inbound 850) | There is no stored 850 to inherit UOM from. The line will use whatever UOM was set when the order was entered. |
Checking EDI document status
- Open the sales order in Luminous.
- Go to Insights → EDI Report and filter by the sales order.
- Confirm the inbound 850 has a
Successstatus — this is the document Luminous reads back when generating the 810/856. - After an 810 or 856 is sent, its status appears in the same report. A
Failedstatus with a schema-validation error often points to a UOM or custom-field mismatch.
Common questions
Q: The retailer is rejecting my 856 because of a UOM mismatch. What do I do?
First confirm the inbound 850 is stored (Insights → EDI Report). If it is, open the 810 or 856 document record and check the json_data payload to see what UOM was emitted. If the 850 record is missing or has no json_data, contact Luminous support to investigate whether the original inbound document was saved correctly.
Q: We sell in eaches internally but our retailer orders in Cartons. Does Luminous handle the conversion?
Yes — Luminous stores both the ordered UOM (e.g., Carton) and the base UOM (e.g., ea) on each line. The outbound 810 and 856 report the retailer's ordered UOM and quantity. Inventory deductions happen in your internal base unit.
Q: Can I resend a 810 or 856 after fixing a UOM issue?
Yes. On the sales order, open Actions → Send EDI Documents and choose the relevant document. Luminous will recompose the document, picking up the UOM from the stored 850 again.