# My 3PL says they handle EDI, do I still need my own EDI provider? or How does EDI work when I use a fulfillment warehouse?

Your 3PL likely handles part of EDI, not all of it. You almost certainly still need your own EDI provider.

What your 3PL typically handles: Generating the 856 (Advance Ship Notice) and GS1-128 shipping labels once they pack and ship your order. Some 3PLs also receive the 850 (Purchase Order) to know what to pick and pack. That's usually where their EDI responsibility ends.

What's still on you: Receiving and acknowledging purchase orders (855), sending invoices (810), managing your trading partner relationships, maintaining compliance with each retailer's specs, and integrating EDI data with your own accounting or ERP system. If your retailer sends you a PO and your 3PL only sees the fulfillment side, someone still needs to own the full document flow and make sure everything reconciles.

The risk of relying solely on your 3PL: If you ever switch warehouses, you lose your EDI connection. We've seen businesses go through painful re-implementations because their entire EDI setup was tied to a 3PL they outgrew. Keeping EDI independent gives you flexibility to change fulfillment partners without starting over.

How we set this up with Elevate ( <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://edielevate.com">https://edielevate.com</a> ): We act as your central EDI hub that receives POs from your retailers, sending acknowledgments and invoices, and coordinating the ASN/shipping data with your 3PL. Your 3PL handles what they're good at (fulfillment), and we handle the complete EDI lifecycle so nothing falls through the cracks. If you switch 3PLs later, your EDI stays intact.

Ask your 3PL specifically which document types they send and receive. That will tell you exactly where the gap is. Happy to help you map it out for free: <a class="a a--md" elv="true" href="https://calendly.com/edisupportllc/30-minute-meeting-z">https://calendly.com/edisupportllc/30-minute-meeting-z</a>

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: 4 months ago
- Author title: Always By Your Side, Solving EDI Challenges
- Net upvotes: 1



## Related Product
[Elevate](https://www.g2.com/products/edi-support-llc-elevate/reviews)

## Related Category
[Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)](https://www.g2.com/categories/electronic-data-interchange-edi)

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