If you are a distributor that has larger trading partners, you have no doubt been confronted by the need to have an EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) solution in order to do business with them. EDI is a means to transmit data or documents (purchase orders, advance ship notices, order receipts, invoices, etc.) from one entity to another.
Why Companies Use EDI
In general terms, companies use EDI because it is fast, accurate, and more cost effective. EDI eliminates the manual processing costs such as postage, paper, and labor costs, making it far more economical than not using EDI.
EDI speeds up the process of exchanges. It is done instantly instead of waiting for documents by other means such as an email or mail. These other means also require manual processes which can sometimes result in errors.
The accuracy of EDI can reduce errors in transactions by at least 30% – 40%. These errors often occur as keying errors due to re-keying information, or because a physical document has been lost, or a misunderstanding with your trading partner.
Value Added Network (VAN)
A value added network (VAN) is a private, hosted service that provides companies with a secure way to send and share data with its trading partners. VAN’s are a third party service and, as a consequence, require you to pay for their services. This results in a higher cost per transaction for your EDI transactions.
The DistributionPlus EDI does not require you to use VAN’s. We take care of the heavy lifting, making the cost per transaction minimal.
Benefits of A Integrated EDI Service
EDI in DistributionPlus is integrated with the rest of the software. This means that the transactions that need to be transmitted to your EDI trading partners are automatically transmitted. This eliminates the need for a third-party EDI service. For more information about our integrated EDI solution, please contact us.
