TVS Supply Chain Solutions built a file transfer platform using AWS Transfer Family for AS2 for B2B collaboration

TVS Supply Chain Solutions (TVS SCS), promoted by the erstwhile TVS Group and now part of the $3 billion TVS Mobility Group, is an India-based multinational company who pioneered the development of the supply chain solutions market in India.

For the last 2 decades, it has provided supply chain management services to customers in the automotive, consumer goods, defense, and utility sectors in India, the United Kingdom, Europe, and the US. It has a presence in 26 countries with over 17,000 employees and provides services to 78 global Fortune 500 companies. The company went public in 2023.

To meet its customers’ compliance requirements, TVS SCS sought a reliable file transfer solution supporting Applicability Statement 2 (AS2), a business-to-business (B2B) messaging protocol. This post describes how TVS SCS built a secure file transfer platform using AWS Transfer Family for AS2 to exchange Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) documents with their B2B customers in the logistics industry.

Business use case

Several end customers in the manufacturing sector mandated the exchange of EDI documents through the AS2 protocol over the internet. To address this requirement while maintaining manageability, security, and scalability, TVS SCS implemented a file transfer platform on AWS.

TVS SCS serves end customers in the manufacturing sector who require supply chain solutions between various locations:

• Source – Plants, warehouses, technology
• Destination – OEM vendors, plants, dealers

The process involves the following steps:

1. The end customer sends a booking request document (booking fact) to TVS SCS.
2. TVS SCS and the end customer exchange a series of EDI documents.
3. TVS SCS must acknowledge, process, and update the end customer upon receipt of each EDI document.

TVS SCS built a file transfer platform using Transfer Family with AS2 configuration to achieve the following:

• Securely exchange EDI documents with end customers
• Provide continuous notification using Message Disposition Notifications (MDNs)

The following diagram illustrates the end-to-end business process (requisition, sourcing, purchase orders, receiving, and invoicing) between TVS SCS and an end customer using the AS2 protocol.

Why the cloud?

TVS SCS chose AWS to build their AS2-compliant file transfer platform for three key reasons:

• Data location – All relevant data (such as order creation and customer details) already resides in AWS
• Infrastructure management – AWS addresses challenges in the following areas:
  • Maintaining highly available and scalable infrastructure
  • Maintaining correct AS2 system interoperability with trading partners
  • Meeting compliance requirements
• Versatility for non-AS2 customers – TVS SCS uses multiple scalable and fully managed AWS services to build customized APIs and webhooks for customers not using AS2

This cloud-based approach allows TVS SCS to focus on their core business while AWS handles the complexities of secure, compliant, and scalable file transfer infrastructure.

Why Transfer Family and AS2?

AS2 is a B2B messaging protocol commonly used for exchanging EDI documents securely with integrity control according to the EDIFACT standard, reliably, and cost-effectively over the internet using the HTTP and HTTPS protocols. B2B integration over the AS2 protocol can be challenging, such as with trading partner onboarding, AS2 EDI integration, firewall configuration, certificate maintenance, and high licensing costs for commercial AS2 solutions.

By choosing Transfer Family with AS2 configuration, TVS SCS addresses these challenges and gains several advantages:

• Simplified partner onboarding
• Managed infrastructure, reducing maintenance overhead
• Built-in security features
• Flexible scaling to meet changing business needs
• Pay-as-you-go pricing model

Solution overview

The following diagram shows the relationship between the AS2 objects involved in the inbound and outbound processes.

The following diagram illustrates the solution architecture with AWS services.

For step-by-step instructions about creating an AS2 server using Transfer Family, refer to Create an AS2 server using the Transfer Family console.

The allowlisted IP address of the end-customer AS2 server is allowed to communicate with Transfer Family for AS2 on AWS. The customer sends the EDI document through Transfer Family, and the EDIs are stored in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). The business logic is implemented in AWS Lambda functions to read the EDI documents, process them, and update customers. AWS B2B Data Interchange, a fully managed service for automating EDI document transformation, can be considered as a complementary or alternative solution for EDI processing. There are two Lambda functions created: one handles truck booking using NodeJS, and the other handles outbound file transfer (from Amazon S3 to the AS2 server) using Python 3.2.

This architecture enables TVS SCS to securely and efficiently manage the EDI document flow, from receipt through processing and outbound transfer, using scalable and serverless AWS services. The solution provides a compliant and cost-effective approach to B2B data exchange with customers and partners.

Prerequisites

For the prerequisites to configure Transfer Family with AS2, see Configuring AS2. To learn more about the security features in Transfer Family, see Security in AWS Transfer Family.

End customer to TVS SCS communication workflow

The following diagram illustrates the step-by-step process of a truck booking request from an end customer to TVS SCS using AWS services.

This streamlined workflow demonstrates how TVS SCS uses AWS services to efficiently handle truck booking requests from customers:

1. The customer initiates a truck booking by sending a booking fact EDI to TVS SCS. The EDI contains details like customer name, date, source location, destination location, and more.
2. The signed and encrypted booking fact EDI is sent as an inbound HTTP AS2 payload to Transfer Family through the internet.
3. Transfer Family writes the booking fact EDI to the S3 bucket.
4. TVS SCS confirms receipt of the booking fact EDI either through the inline HTTP response or an asynchronous HTTP POST request to the originating server.
5. The EDI exchange audit trail is logged in Amazon CloudWatch Logs.
6. The EDI document is available for TVS SCS consumption, and a Lambda function processes the document using business logic.

TVS SCS to end customer communication workflow

The following diagram depicts the workflow from TVS SCS to the end customer.

This workflow demonstrates how TVS SCS uses AWS services to provide timely and accurate updates to customers throughout the delivery process:

1. The customer confirms the price quote. TVS SCS uploads EDI documents to S3 bucket.
2. TVS SCS sends a series of updates using the AS2 outbound connector, such as truck allocation, truck departure, truck in-transit status, truck delay notifications, delivery confirmation, and billing invoice. A Lambda function reads the EDI documents from Amazon S3 and runs business logic to generate responses for the end customer.
3. The EDI documents are sent as an outbound HTTP payload.
4. The customer AS2 server sends an acknowledgment using MDN.
5. The EDI exchange audit trail is logged in CloudWatch Logs.
6. The EDI document is available for the customer’s consumption and further processing.

Results

The following customer challenges were addressed with this solution:

• It meets end customer requirements for EDI file exchange through AS2 protocol
• It eliminates the need for in-house AS2 infrastructure management
• It provides flexibility to add new customers to the file transfer platform

By addressing these challenges and using AWS services, TVS SCS has created a future-proof file transfer platform.

Summary

This post demonstrated how cloud-based services can transform traditional B2B communication processes, offering supply chain companies a path to improved efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction. For supply chain providers facing similar challenges, this solution offers a blueprint for modernizing file transfer systems while maintaining compliance with industry standards.

To learn more about this AWS solution for supply chain companies, contact AWS for further assistance. AWS can provide detailed information about implementation, pricing, and how to tailor the solution to your specific business needs. They have teams of experts who can guide companies through the process of modernizing their B2B communication systems using cloud-based services.

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