Electronic data interchange is the automated interchange of business information using a standardized format. EDI standards, which stipulate what data goes where in an EDI message or document, do away with the need to manually rekeying information so that it can be accepted. As a result, information is shared in minutes, instead of hours, days or weeks required with paper documents or other methods.
Organizations use EDI to integrate and exchange a variety of document types – from purchase orders to invoices to loan applications. In majority of instances, these businesses are trading partners that exchange goods as well as services on a regular basis as part of their supply chains and business-to-business (B2B) networks.
During the information exchange process, normally industry or trading partners can employ EDI standards such as ANSI X.12, EDIFACT, TRADACOMS, VDA, and GENCOD. But a lot can also rely on non-EDI standards such XML to communicate with their trading partners, customers, and suppliers. So, it is safe to say that organizations are looking for an EDI technology that supports EDI and non EDI workflows at the same time. Additionally, it’s essential for firms to seamlessly ingest and integrate ad hoc data flows into their EDI processes.
EDI and Non-EDIFormats Decoded
EDI standards determine what information goes where within the EDI document. Trading partners decide which standard to use to facilitate this exchange. Common standards include X12, EDIFACT, etc.
Non-EDI exchange involves the transfer of data that does not fit into a predefined standard. Such communications include exchange of information like fixed-length flat files, XML files, and more.
For any organization to use data effectively, support for all EDI and non-EDI formats is required.
Traditional Approach to Non-EDI
For years, businesses have been placing orders, updating shipping notices, and sending invoices through non-EDI means. They have been submitting flat-file and binary file formats via email and digital fax processes. The traditional approach to handle non-EDI data is done manually. Meaning that organizations manually enter data, integrate, and process data, or write complex scripts that perform pseudo-functions. The result is tedious manoeuvring and fragile integrations that make organizations difficult to work with.
Switch to a Modern Approach
Nobody wants to turn away a customer, whether they are using EDI or non-EDI formats. Organizations must facilitate non-EDI communication to streamline B2B exchange. They can replicate data fields (in a purchase order) and then proffer that replication via a portal or document template to trading partner network. This way organizations can use those pseudo-EDI workflows and automate non-EDI file interactions. The data can later be integrated automatically. In other words, all the manual effort involved to process orders gets eliminated.
How Adeptia Can Help?
EDI integration solution can help companies do this without resorting to complex coding which makes the process brittle, resource-intensive, error-prone, and time-consuming. Adeptia’s self-service approach to EDI integration empowers non-EDI-“speaking” partners, to integrate data without difficulty. Apart from that, Adeptia’s EDI solution provides:
- End-to-end automation of B2B processes by directly integrating to internal applications.
- Robust support for data transfer options.
- Low total cost of ownership of a B2Bi solution vis-a-vis managed service providers and value-added networks.