Odette — European automotive EDI

The pan-European counterpart to VDA. Odette standardises the European automotive supply chain's exchanges — the call-off and despatch messages, but above all the OFTP transport protocol found at every European carmaker.

What is Odette?

Odette is the body that standardises B2B communication for the European automotive supply chain — much as AIAG does in North America. It covers three areas: messages (call-offs, shipments, invoices), logistics labelling and identification (transport labels, container codes), and file transport.

Historically Odette defined its own message syntax; since the 1990s-2000s its messages are published as EDIFACT subsets (implementation guidelines that pin down the use of DELFOR, DELJIT, DESADV, INVOIC for automotive). Odette's work resembles that of EANCOM for retail: restricting EDIFACT to a precise sector usage.

The Odette messages

The same needs appear on the VDA side: forecast call-off (DELINS / 4905), JIT call-off (CALDEL / 4915), despatch advice (AVIEXP / 4913). VDA and Odette are two expressions of the same business; cross-border flows often run over the common EDIFACT subsets.

Anatomy of a message

An Odette delivery schedule, expressed as an EDIFACT DELFOR subset:

UNH+1+DELFOR:D:97A:UN:OD9711'
BGM+241+SCH-2026-0042+9'
DTM+137:202606231000:203'
NAD+SU+++Lyon Components SA'
NAD+ST+5412345000013::9'        (ship-to point — customer plant)
LIN+1++4006381333931:BP'        (part reference)
QTY+113:7200'                    (cumulative expected — Fortschrittszahl)
SCC+1'                           (schedule status: firm)
QTY+1:240:PCE'
DTM+2:20260701:102'             (due: 240 by 1 July)
UNT+11+1'

As in VDA, quantity is driven by the cumulative expected figure (Fortschrittszahl, here the QTY+113 qualifier), not by an isolated absolute quantity. The NAD+ST segment identifies the ship-to point by its GLN, and each part by its reference in LIN.

OFTP / OFTP2, Odette's signature

GALIA, VDA and the national bodies

Odette federates national bodies that adapt and disseminate its recommendations:

• GALIA — France (Groupement pour l'Amélioration des Liaisons dans l'Industrie Automobile).
• VDA — Germany.
• SMMT — UK; ANFIA — Italy; and others in Sweden, Spain…

In North America, the counterpart is AIAG, on the X12 side. "Global" initiatives (the Global Transport Label, MMOG/LE for logistics maturity) aim to harmonise these worlds.

Further reading

• Odette International (messages, labels, OFTP).
• The associated transport: OFTP2 (RFC 5024).
• The German counterpart: VDA.