Kroger EDI Standard Agreement

The purpose of this document is to advise The Kroger Co Vendors of the policies and standards relative to EDI transactions. Adherence to these policies and standards enable The Kroger Co and the Vendor to conduct business in a cost effective and efficient manner.

The Kroger Co uses Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) as an integral business strategy to increase Customer satisfaction. The General Terms and Conditions of Order requirements and the other provisions supplied in our Standard Vendor Agreement apply to EDI transactions. The following data interchange standards are currently in use: ANSI ASC X12 including UCS, VICS, and Motor. The Kroger Co primarily uses value-added networks (VANS) and occasionally may elect to communicate directly to a partner through an agreed-upon format.

EDI Non-Compliance Program (DC Purchase Orders) Vendors who accept product orders that require shipment to any Kroger distribution center ("DC") are required to have the ability to receive the issued purchase order via EDI as well as to return the associated invoice via EDI.

Vendors not meeting this requirement will be given ninety (90) days to comply. Should Vendor not conduct the transactions via EDI within the ninety (90) days required an additional fee of 1% of total invoice amount or $250, whichever is greater, will be deducted by Kroger from payment to help offset the cost of manual processing.

The Kroger Co requires vendors to acknowledge our transactions of UCS, VICS, and other ANSI ASC X12 transaction sets. The Kroger Co will monitor for acknowledgments and take appropriate action if the expected acknowledgment has not been received within the time specified by the standard and version being used or within 24 hours, which ever is the shorter period.

Transmission of vendor EDI transactions will be acknowledged according to the guidelines for the standard version being used. For ANSI ASC X12 transactions including UCS and VICS, the 997 acknowledgement will be used. As the sender, it the vendor's responsibility to verify The Kroger Co has acknowledged transmissions and take appropriate action if the expected acknowledgments have not been forthcoming within the time specified by the standard and version being used or 24 hours, whichever is the shorter period.

The Kroger Co reserves the right to revoke an EDI partnership at any time and revert to documentation transmitted in hard copy or electronically without being on a formal EDI basis.

When initiating a new partnership, the Fred Meyer Non Food Group of The Kroger Co, considered partners to be in test or parallel mode . The paper document is the official document to be processed by the Vendor, and the EDI transaction should be used only for confirmation. In test mode, the paper order will indicate as such, and the ISA 15 flag will be set to "T." While in test mode, the paper order and the EDI order should be compared for agreement. The Vendor will be held liable for a return or penalty if a test order is filed from the EDI order, rather than the paper order, while still in test or parallel mode. The Fred Meyer Non Food Group changes the ISA 15 to a "T" during the testing phase only.

When the Fred Meyer Non Food Group of The Kroger Co and the Vendor agree to move to production, the ISA 15 flag will be set to "P." The only authorized document will be the EDI document. Distributing information about the document needed by various other business units of the Vendor (Customer Service, Accounts Receivable, Shipping, Sales Rep, Broker, etc.) is the responsibility of the Vendor.

Note: The Kroger Food and Peyton Groups will always send a "P" in the ISA15 and use the production ISA ID's. No PO testing is conducted with new partners from these 2 groups.

The terms and conditions stated under "General Terms and Conditions of Order" in any Kroger Co legal documentation are also the terms and conditions of our EDI purchase orders except as stated in this document.
Your shipment of all or any part of the goods in response to a Kroger Co EDI transmission will indicate your unconditional consent to the General Terms and Conditions of Order found elsewhere in Kroger Co legal documentation. No change from this course of dealing will be binding upon The Kroger Co unless approved in writing by an authorized officer of The Kroger Co.

Should The Kroger Co agree to accept a vendor's invoices via EDI, the following conditions apply:

• The invoices will conform to an agreed upon format detailed in the latest release of the Kroger Co EDI Invoice Mapping documentation.
• A thorough testing period will be initiated, and the Vendor must meet the business and technical requirements as defined in the latest release of the Kroger Co EDI Invoice Mapping documentation before moving to production.
• Once in production mode for EDI, invoices will only be sent via EDI. Paper Invoices will not be processed. Vendor could incur a non-compliance charge of 1% of total invoice amount OR $250 (whichever is greater) per transaction.
• If any errors occur, the Vendor must be able to fix and re-send the invoice in a timely manner.
• Valid GTIN/UPC numbers are required for identification of all products on an EDI Invoice.
• The purchase order and buying location on the invoice must match the purchase order and buying location on the purchase order.
• All divisions of the company must go live n the same date. Failure to do so will delay invoices going into production.
• Vendor must communicate any DUNS number or address changes within 30 days of the actual DUNS number or address change appearing on invoices.

Should The Kroger Co agree to accept a vendor's ASN via EDI, the following conditions apply:

• The ASN must conform to an agreed upon format detailed in the latest release of The Kroger Co EDI ASN Mapping documentation.
  • Valid UPC numbers are required for identification of all products on an ASN.
  • The required ASN hierarchy is; Shipment, order, Pack and Item.
• A thorough testing period will be initiated, and the Vendor must meet the business and technical requirements as defined in the latest release of the Kroger Co EDI ASN Mapping documentation before moving to production.
• During the test period, the Vendor must continue to send packing lists attached the lead carton; the lead carton should be clearly marked "LEAD CARTON." Vendor will be notified when to stop sending packing lists.
• Once in production mode, an ASN that accurately reflects the contents of the shipment must be sent for all shipments. The Vendor will be held liable for a return or penalty when receipt of the product is delayed due to problems in content or timing of the ASN.
• Receipt of the ASN must occur prior to the physical receipt of the product.
• If ASN error occurs, Vendor must be able to fix and resend the ASN in a timely manner.
• No split shipments or back orders will be accepted when shipping ASN via EDI.

The Kroger Co requires use of the GS1-128 on certain shipments, and exclusively on "pack by store" purchase orders with the following conditions applying:

• The GS1-128 serial shipping container code must be present at the proper hierarchal level in the ASN.
• Bar codes on the label must adhere to the GS1 specifications for format, size, color, location, and clarity.
• Bar codes must be clear, scan legible and represent the human readable numeric code located beneath the barcode.
• Label hazardous substances in compliance with the Federal Hazardous Substance Labeling Act.
• All required data elements must be present.

Failure to follow these conditions will result in a chargeback.

Click into GS1-128 Label Guidelines (for Fred Meyer)