The electronic passing of information between businesses, or Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), is an ever evolving process. In its most basic definition, EDI is the standardized format of the electronic documents that are transferred electronically from one business to another or internally across a specific business’s electronic communication means.
A business considering an EDI solution needs to evaluate whether they need EDI software, EDI services, or both. EDI solutions can, and should, be customized for every business. Since every business is different, the EDI solution that fits for one may not be applicable for another. For example, what kind of volume of transactions are you currently processing and how many are you expecting to ramp up to?
There are a few things to consider when deciding on the EDI solution that is right for your business:
• Are the standards used by the EDI provider supported within both your company and your trading partner’s company?
• Who is set up to maintain the software being implemented?
• Is the EDI solution easily used, updated and amended?
• Is there technical support from the EDI provider?
• Is there a cost associated with technical support for the EDI solution?
• Are there any unique features that would be advantageous to your business?
It is important to keep in mind the skill sets of the employees that you have. Training and preparing them for a new EDI solution can be costly. You want to evaluate what kinds of cost you can expect from training for implementation, use and maintenance. By making sure that your work force is adequately prepared for the transition to a new EDI solution, you can save money in technical support down the road.
A properly and professionally implemented EDI solution will improve efficiency and accuracy of data transfer. In the long run, these improvements can assist your work force with processing orders in a more timely fashion, along with making sure that your customers’ information is transferred with little to no chance of manual error in the data process.
