You know you have to use the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) data format to conduct business. So you went out and bought EDI software. Now you’ve got it installed, but you find — to your dismay — that you are still up a creek! Instead of streamlining transactions, you find that you are spending more money and more effort than before — and experiencing more complications and errors than ever. Here’s why:
1. Many of your business partners do not have EDI software.
If a business partner does not support EDI (and many don’t), then you end up with a huge volume of documents that cannot run through your EDI software interface. What do you do with those?
2. Getting data into the backend applications is time-consuming — and error-prone.
You have to take the data received from business partners (both those who use EDI software and those who do not) and manually input that data into your backend systems – and that means errors. Lots of them.
3. EDI software cannot automate exception handling.
Even though automating the exchange of data between companies does greatly reduce errors, they do still occur. In fact, 3% or more of EDI transmissions can contain errors. At $60 per error to correct, the costs quickly rack up.
4. Partner onboarding is more time-consuming than expected.
EDI software is not the same everywhere — there are different implementations of it, different software versions, different file transfer methods. So even when business partners already support EDI, onboarding is no picnic.
5. There is no end-to-end visibility of the data.
EDI software simply cannot provide an end-to-end process. Data comes in, but then comes to a screeching halt until it is manually input into the backend systems.
The traditional alternatives to EDI software — such as B2B Gateways and Value Added Networks (VANs) — have their own slew of problems, including high price tags, custom coding, service issues, and frustrating complexity. What you really need is EDI software integration. It’s like a B2B superhighway: a solution that is business-centric, end-to-end, format-agnostic, cost-effective, and easy-to-use. A superhighway that takes data from any source system, validates it, translates it, and then maps that data into any another application — such as a backend SAP system — without a single “bump.” A multi-lane road that can incorporate human workflow capabilities right alongside the data.
The great news is, that B2B superhighway exists. Learn more about this new EDI option and the benefits it can bring your company by reading the full white paper, “I Bought EDI Software, But I’m Still Up A Creek.”