How long onboarding actually takes, and what decides it
A realistic plan is two weeks of work spread over four to six weeks of calendar.
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The shape of it
For one trading partner and standard retail documents:
- Days 1–2 — transport paperwork: AS2 certificates or a VAN mailbox, plus test IDs.
- Days 2–4 — item data: GTINs, case packs, dimensions, weights. This is where projects stall.
- Days 3–5 — mapping and the first test documents, usually 850 → 855 first.
- Weeks 2–4 — the retailer's test cycle, one or two rounds depending on their queue.
- Week 4–6 — first live order, with monitoring for the first week.
The four things that decide the date
In order of how often they sink an onboarding:
- Item data completeness — a missing GTIN or case pack stops everything downstream.
- The retailer's queue — it runs on their calendar, and it is the reason a four-week project becomes six.
- Label specification — carton labelling and SSCC numbering discovered late.
- Who answers the 824 — a supplier with nobody watching rejections loses days per round.
What makes it faster
Start the transport paperwork on day one, before the guide is read. Send the first test document with your worst item rather than your cleanest. And have one named person on the supplier side who can answer questions the same day, because every round trip costs twenty-four hours minimum.
What makes it slower
Waiting for a platform implementation call before starting the mapping. Treating the retailer's certification as a formality. Discovering the ASN label requirement after the ship notice is built. None of these is a technical failure; they are sequencing failures.
Questions
Can it be done in a week?
The mapping can. The calendar usually cannot, because the retailer's test window is not yours to set. A week is possible when a pre-built connection exists and the item data is ready.
Does more than one partner take twice as long?
Rarely. The second partner is mostly a new guide and a new test cycle, often run in parallel.