Thanks to 900-pound retail gorillas like Wal-Mart, suppliers large and small have had to relentlessly streamline and automate their operations. One such mandated business process is the Advance Ship Notice (ASN). This is a requirement for suppliers to provide their customers with electronic notification in advance of shipping their products. There are two main reasons for insisting on these ASNs:

1. In case of missed shipments, customers might want to execute alternate purchasing plans.