In these times of modernization, organizations leverage digital infrastructure more than ever to drive their fundamental operations. And solutions such as electronic data interchange (EDI) are the ones that empower companies to digitally transform their business processes in an effective and efficient manner.
EDI involves the computer-to-computer exchange or transfer of business documents or files in an electronic format across business ecosystems. Simply put, it’s the way companies communicate, transact, and do business better together.
Companies need to exchange multiple types of documents with the support of EDI. Among the most common documents, including sales orders, invoices, advanced ship notices, and purchase orders. EDI eliminates the need for paper forms and receipts and accelerates the data exchange process – all while minimizing human interference via digital automation. Obviously, that eliminates the risks of expensive errors.
Along with increasing speed and efficiency, EDI provides a high-value service for companies that fail to incur expenses associated using printing and mailing physical documents. Also, this increases speed, security, and traceability, which is deemed essential when exchanging vital business documents between companies.
With more business transactions taking place in the Cloud, the document exchange process has also migrated with it. As a matter of fact, the market of EDI is gaining traction slowly. In 2019, the market’s value was $24.64 billion value, and that number is expected to nearly double to $49.213 billion by 2027.
Benefits of EDI
1. Speed Up Business Cycles and Outcomes
Currently, business happens in real time. Every company’s asset is agility. The instantaneous nature of EDI offers a much-required edge for document exchange and transfer processes. As per a study, EDI can accelerate business cycles by as much as 61 percent. That’s one of the major reasons for the increase in efficiency for businesses.
Automation and self-service play key factors in this acceleration. It greatly reduces time delays that happen while entering, analyzing, and filing bits of data. Less time spent on complex manual processes means companies can focus on driving storage tasks. For example, instead of going under the heaps of data, IT/ administrators can invest more resources and effort into marketing, development, or a myriad of other projects that can drive the business forward.
2. Decrease Operating Costs through Added Efficiencies
EDI enable companies to save costs. With digital transformation surging in recent days, it has become easier for companies to realize how much business still runs on paper. And EDI changes that. Companies can get rid of the costs of paper, printing, storage, reproduction, postage, filing, and document retrieval. All those factors can increase costs, and eliminating them could significantly trim overhead. Additionally, the costs incurred due to mistakes and errors are reduced. Even small mistakes can become costly. EDI reduces the impact of errors, including protecting businesses from costly audits, fines, misreporting errors, and numerous other headaches caused by incorrect data.
3. Reduce Error and Improve Accuracy
EDI isn’t just more impactful than manual processes. It’s also more accurate. When electronic data exchange processes are used, companies can cut down on the likelihood of human error. Self-service and automation further help companies improve the accuracy of data exchange. These solutions even empower non-technical business users to implement business connections and drive data exchange in an accurate manner. It provides a smart way to eliminate duplicated work and improve accuracy while increasing speed.