What Is an EDI 753 (Request for Routing Instructions)?

An EDI 753 is the X12 Request for Routing Instructions, the electronic message that asks how merchandise that is ready to be shipped should be routed and describes that merchandise in general terms.

X12's purpose statements for the pair set out the exchange:

• Request: the 753 can be used to request routing instructions.
• Content: it provides general information about merchandise that is ready to be shipped.
• Answer: the 754 Routing Instructions is used to communicate routing instructions to a supplier for a specific shipment, and it can also be used to respond to a 753.
• Standards family: X12 lists the 753 and the 754 among the transaction sets of its Supply Chain subcommittee (X12M), not its Transportation subcommittee (X12I).

EDI 753 vs EDI 754: the 753 asks, and the 754 tells the supplier how one specific shipment is to be routed. X12's purpose statements do not name the sender of the 753, but because the 754 that can respond to it goes to a supplier, the request comes from the supplier side. GS1 US's routing guide guidelines point the same way: if the logistics provider rejects the routing request, the supplier must statically route the shipment.

The 753 belongs to dynamic routing. GS1 US, the standards organization, describes dynamic routing as the process whereby the routing requirements are determined on a per-shipment basis, with the shipping information communicated by EDI or other electronic means and the routing response normally provided electronically. A static routing guide, by contrast, contains routing instructions which remain constant for a specific period of time.

In a routing guide built on the GS1 US template, a "Y" in the DR (Dynamic Routing) field indicates that routing instructions will be received outside of the static routing guide, for example by EDI or through the Internet.

GS1 US gives a sample routing guide scenario in which shipments that weigh more than 150 pounds are designated to be dynamically routed using an outside logistics provider. Suppose a supplier's customer uses that rule.

• Order A: 12 cartons at 18 pounds each, so 12 x 18 = 216 pounds. That is over 150 pounds, so the supplier sends a 753 and waits for routing instructions.
• Order B: 6 cartons at 18 pounds each, so 6 x 18 = 108 pounds. That is under 150 pounds, so the supplier follows the static routing guide and sends no 753.

Only order A starts a 753, and a 754 can come back with routing instructions for that specific shipment.

On Shopify, a fulfillment order represents either an item or a group of items in an order that are expected to be fulfilled from the same location, and Shopify creates fulfillment orders automatically when an order is created. While a 753 waits for an answer, an integration can use these GraphQL Admin API mutations to hold that work:

• Hold: the fulfillmentOrderHold mutation applies a fulfillment hold on a fulfillment order. If the line items are left blank, all line items of the fulfillment order are placed on hold.
• Reason: each hold takes a reason. The OTHER value means the fulfillment hold is applied for another reason, and reasonNotes carries additional information about the fulfillment hold reason.
• Status: an ON_HOLD fulfillment order can't start the fulfillment process until the hold on the fulfillment order is released.
• Release: the fulfillmentOrderReleaseHold mutation releases the fulfillment hold on a fulfillment order. An integration can call it once the routing instructions arrive.

Uncap's guide to EDI on Shopify for distributors notes that the 850 arrives with "the retailer's line items, prices, ship-to locations, and routing requirements," and that "EDI should terminate wherever inventory allocation and invoicing live."

• EDI 754 (Routing Instructions)
• Routing guide
• EDI 856 (advance ship notice)
• EDI 850 (purchase order)
• SCAC code
• Bill of lading

• X12 Transaction Sets
• GS1 US: Guidelines for the Routing Guide
• Shopify Dev Docs: fulfillmentOrderHold