EDI Software

EDI Software, also often referred to as “EDI translation software”, describes an application whose purpose is to send and receive EDI messages and translate them into a specific new format. EDI software takes an EDI message that is formatted to a specific company’s requirements and translates it to a form that complies with the structure and form dictated by an EDI standard. EDI software should also be able to reverse this process and translate a document from the EDI standard to a company-specific form. EDI software can be developed in-house or it can be purchased from a number of commercial vendors like EMANIO, one of the leading EDI software providers for small business in the market. EDI software is available for anything from a Mainframe to a standard desktop PC.

Methods of Translation in EDI Software

EDI software provides two methods of translating and delivering information. The first is often referred to as “rip-and-read” and involves the process of receiving an EDI document and translating it into a form that can be printed for “human readable form” More recently developed EDI software can translate EDI documents and automatically send data to a back-end system like an ERP or accounting software package. We will focus on this latter type of EDI software that is becoming prevalent in large and small organizations.

How EDI Software Works

The work-flow is comparable to that of a data entry employee who is tasked with creating correspondence. In the scenario below, a letter is being crafted to a recipient named Andrew at your trading partner ABC Company The process which your data entry employee will use to craft the communication might look something like this:

Identify the information needed to create the letters
Collect the necessary information, such as Andrew’s complete name and address.
Arrange the information in the standard business letter format.
Send the letter to Andrew.

The EDI software accomplishes the same duties to create and deliver an EDI message; three of the above tasks are performed by the EDI software:

EDI Software Wins

Extraction and/or conversion of the data
Generation of an outbound message or interpretation of an inbound message
Communication of the EDI data over a network

Who Sells EDI Software?

This software is readily available from commercial vendors. Today there are no circumstances that would ever justify developing EDI software in house. While the number of EDI software vendors is large, it’s critical to choose your provider based on the quality of their software and the quality of their support. Over the past ten years EMANIO has gained an outstanding reputation for both their EDI software and for the quality of their support organization.

How should you select EDI software?

When selecting your EDI software vendor there are a number of critical considerations you should keep in mind:

How valuable is your relationship with your trading partners?

Why is this question critical in selecting your EDI software? for the simple reason that poorly written EDI software, or web based EDI software services that are not properly secured might corrupt your data or even worse, expose your data to theft, causing possibly irreparable harm with your partners. - Rule #1, choose an EDI software vendor carefully.

How much volume will your EDI software need to handle?

When selecting your EDI software you must plan for the future. While at this stage of your relationship with your partners your EDI volume might be low, this will certainly change. One of the principle advantages of EDI software is that it allows for much faster communication with your partners - making it significantly easier to process more orders, faster. With this in mind, your EDI software must be able to grow as your business grows.

How easily can your EDI software need to integrate?

Not all EDI software packages are alike. The ease with which an EDI software package enables the process of integrating data into your back-end is a key aspect of selecting your EDI software vendor. As you select your vendor you must be confident that you can use your EDI software without or with integration.

As you begin your process of evaluating EDI software vendors, find vendors like EMANIO who provide critical advantages. We believe EDI software should hide as much of the manual process as feasible. This is what we call “zero-effort” EDI. Our EDI software is designed to automate as much of the translation and integration process as possible, ensuring that the amount of human interaction needed with the EDI software is kept to a minimum. This “zero-effort EDI” process allows you to focus on your core business and not on having to manage EDI software. Our EDI software is used by over 2,000 companies world-wide and has gained a reputation as one of the most reliable and expandable EDI software packages on the market. Our EDI software is provided in a number of configurations that are ideal for both first time EDI software users and for experienced EDI professionals. Our EDI software can also be easily integrated into your ERP or Accounting system, giving you a safe investment for years to come.