Exclusive Guide to Choosing the Right EDI Service Provider

Electronic data interchange is known to most industries for speeding up business cycles. EDI has been observed to enhance the business cycle by 61%, allowing process automation that significantly minimizes and eliminates the time delays due to manual processing (entering, filing, and comparing data). 

Indeed, there are other benefits of implementing EDI solutions, such as low operating costs, reduced human error, enhanced transaction security, increased business efficiency, paperless transactions, facilitated human error & improved record accuracy.   

In order to implement EDI, you must connect with an EDI service provider. However, like any other technology, only a particular EDI solution might best suit your business.

This article will help you choose the right EDI solution provider. But before that, let’s understand the EDI services available.

Understanding EDI Services

EDI services are an outsourced solution that syncs with your and similar other companies’ business processes and rules. The modern EDI – Cloud solution consists of two categories – managed services and full service.

A managed cloud-based solution is where the provider is responsible for developing and maintaining the core technology. This solution lets the internal staff say focused on their day-to-day customization, optimization, and maintenance of the technology. 

A full-service solution is more about the association with the staffing resources. The provider under this solution carries out a complete business function. The staffing resource, as aforementioned, is responsible for the end-to-end management of technology.

Moving forward, let us understand the types of EDI Providers.  EDI service providers usually fall under two categories – AS2 and EDI VAN

AS2 Provider

These types of EDI providers are experts in handling EDI, XML data sent and received using HTTP protocol through a certified server. 

The AS2 is known for a secured encrypted process without expensive annual or transaction fees for using unlimited data. AS2 is the best way to integrate with the trading partners. 

AS2 is widely implemented within multiple industries and can handle any kind of file format. AS2 consists of a superior method to send data securely while alerting the trading partner of the delivery of data through MND (message disposition/delivery notifications).

To deploy AS2, you would need an in-house IT resource or a cloud vendor can help you with the same.

VAN Providers

The value-added network works on a single connection to deliver EDI transactions. An EDI VAN builds seamless communication between a traditional VAN and a private network or internet-connected trading partner.  Each trading partner possesses a mailbox as data to deliver to other mailboxes, which minimizes the document processing cost. 

EDI VAN acts as a centralized communication channel that helps with real-time tracking, communication management, multiple connectivity options, rapid message delivery from point A to point B, and local data integration. 

Now that you can determine the type of EDI provider you want, you must look for the best solution provider. In order to find one, follow the simple10 step guide. 

Guide to Choose The Best EDI Service Provider

An EDI service provider plays a vital role in yielding the growth of the business and maintaining a competitive edge in the market. Evaluating the need for data management requirements and the level of EDI transaction volume you will likely have will help you understand the real need for a service provider. Additionally, you must check for the –

 

• Stability of the Partner

 

Their experience with different industry niches matters the most. Ask the provider about their portfolio of having worked with different industry verticals, their system uptime record, the data security standards they follow, and knowledge of the EDI standards, formats, and rules to comply to ensure seamless transactions and deter chargebacks. 

 

• Industry-specific Partner

 

Some of the EDI providers provide expert solutions for specific industries, product lines, or retail chains. Their service niche makes them efficient and reliable to deal with even the most complex challenges. So, collaborating with them can always benefit you in delivering desired future outcomes.

 

• Accessibility When In Need

 

The geographical location of the EDI partner is an important factor to check. Since EDI works the same way regardless of the location, hence data transfers will not be a concern. The only concern will be the availability of the provider due to different time zones. So, before collaborating with an EDI provider, find out about the support policy and hours of operations. 

 

• Support For Any Standards or Format

 

It is essential to understand the level of support your EDI vendor can provide for the required formats or standards. Complying with the ANSI X12, TRADACOMS, EDIFACT, and other primary standards as well as other non-EDI formats (XML, CSV & JSON files) can help in better customer communication and service, ensuring a modern EDI platform.

 

• End-to-end Visibility

 

Visibility is knowing the execution of EDI processes, identifying the errors & failed transfers, and acting on them for a quick resolution. A large enterprise with siloed data and multiple trading partner collaboration can be daunting. Monitoring each trader’s demand, maximum business profits from the trader, most orders from a particular trader, all those governance and transparency is extremely difficult to keep. Hence ensure that the EDI service provider offers a comprehensive dashboard for both admins and technical users that provides insights in order to make well-informed decisions. 

 

• Automated Business Processes

 

Many companies suffer from the manual data entry in payroll for incoming orders. As the business grows, the companies have to hire resources to meet the rising demands. But, this method of scalability has become obsolete. Companies, instead of working on the legacy EDU technology, must move to modern amenities. Spending precious hours on the manual task must be given to process automation that enables seamless B2B communication and EDI order processing. Hence, integrate an EDI technology with EDI maps to accelerate order-to-cash instead of bogging it down.

 

• GDSN Compliant Services

 

Compliance with the global data synchronization network (GDSN) has been trending for a long time in supply chain management. GDSN standards ensure that buyers and sellers are sending EDI data through a common structure globally. In order to stay ahead of the curve, ask your partner about the GDSN-certified data pool as large & international retailers have mandated GDSN compliance for their suppliers. 

 

• Minimized SLA Fines

 

EDI compliances and SLA violations can lead to serious and costly chargebacks. In order to avoid financial penalties, ensure whether your ASN  fails to send acknowledgement documents or errors routinely. Also, a leading third-party EDI provider can eliminate these errors and provide alerts & notifications for the events and non-events. Further, it can reduce operational latency and other errors, ensuring reliable and effective B2B communication and a healthy partnership with members and customers. 

 

• Software as a Service (EDI Solution)

 

SaaS-based EDI platforms do not require any additional cost for hosting remotely. You can ask your service provider about the benefits of storing the database on remote servers that can be accessed anytime. SaaS EDI solutions do not require additional hardware and are considered future-proof solutions. Since the solution works over the internet, collaborating with a service provider will help you when the internet is not available, or the computers are down. The data are backed at the EDI provider’s server to ensure that you always stay on track and lose none of your data. 

 

• Faster Onboarding

 

Implementing or investing in a modern EDI environment renders multiple benefits. With the right platform and technology, you can always ensure a well-executed interaction with the new trading partner. Further, you can set the right tone for the relationship, accelerate the EDI trading partner process, and quicken the configuration and data migration processes. Thus resulting in a better EDI experience, increased time to value, automated map generation workflows, faster interaction, and added credibility as a true business partner. 

Questions You Can Ask For EDI Service Implementation

In order to get your new EDI solution designed and configured, you must know how much effort your team has to put in and what will be handled by the service provider on your behalf. You can ask these quick questions to comprehend.

• Who will develop the project plan for rolling out the EDI solution?
• Based on the requirements, who is responsible for designing the EDI solution?
• Who will fulfill trading partner requirements, such as model fulfillment, connectivity, and relevant specifications?
• Who will be responsible for managing the risks that may occur during implementation?
• How will my team collaborate with your team? What will be their tasks? What will the tasks of your team be during the implementation of the EDI solution?

In a Nutshell

EDI is stated as a data pipeline established between the supplier and the retailer. The data flows to and fro continuously to process inventory, sales, reports, purchase orders, invoices, and similar pieces of information. EDI supports retailers as well as suppliers with all kinds of data management headaches only when it is flexible, customizable, and modern. Legacy EDI solutions are rigid and do not align with future needs and market changes. 

The right EDI service provider is proficient in rendering EDI services integrated with a strategic blend of managed and self-service options. They can offer cloud-integrated EDI with data transformation capabilities that can accept and transform EDI and any other data format (with EDI translator) to exchange data with other systems and applications. Additionally, you can always expedite B2B communications with process automation while deploying EDI tools in any strategy business requires to eliminate complexity and accelerate your time to market.

So, reduce cost, ensure faster onboarding time for a business partner, greater visibility & control, and above all, peace of mind for the entire organization.