EDI Solution
An EDI solution is generally a solution to a company’s
EDI needs. This can be to fulfill customers’ EDI
mandates or manage a rapidly growing supply chain.
EDI solutions can include EDI integration into backend
ERP, accounting, warehousing or supply chain management
systems. In addition, an EDI solution will
include communication, translation and mapping functionalities.
Most vendors for EDI solutions actually survive by providing
consulting services rather than basing the EDI solution
on pre-configured software. The difficulty for someone
in the market for EDI solutions is to know whether they
need mostly software or mostly services, since most vendors
seem to claim the same benefits.
Once the decision has been made to purchase an EDI solution,
the decision of “from whom” will become prominent.
Regardless of the type of solution, an number of factors
should be considered in selecting an EDI solution. These
factors include:
- Standards supported
- Ease of use and customization
- Software maintenance
- Special features
- Technical support
- Vendor experience
- Platforms supported
The EDI solutions deployed should support all standards
in use within your company and within the trading partner’s
company. At a minimum, the EDI solution should
support X12 and the industry subsets of X12, and the
same for EDIFACT. The EDI solution should also be able
to support multiple versions of the EDI
standards since not all trading partners will use
the same version.
Since trading partner mapping – identifying the
optional segments and elements to be used in transaction
sets – is done with each trading partner, the EDI
solution should be easy to customize for each trading
partner. In fact, in addition to having an easily customizable
EDI solution, EMANIO provides EDI kits that facilitates
initialization and trade with several hundreds of major
trading partners.
Because standards will change, the EDI solution will
need to be adaptable. In selecting an EDI solution, consider
the cost and timeliness of standards upgrades. Most EDI
solution vendors modify packages as standards are modified,
but how those modifications are provided to customers
varies. Ensure that your EDI solution is easily upgradeable.
Depending on the particular EDI application, special
features such as encryption techniques, control reporting
and audit reports may be important in the EDI solution.
One of the most important features of any EDI solution
is after-sale support. Services to look for include:
a vendor hotline staffed with knowledgeable technical
people who can provide quick answers to problems and
account representatives who are willing to assist in
installation of the EDI solution and issues after it
is installed. Ask for references!
Another factor to consider with an EDI solution is the
stability and experience of the vendor. Does the vendor
have experience in your industry, with your application?
There are many small vendors of EDI solutions in the
market but few that can be considered stable or experienced.
In general, an EDI solution is purchased for a specific
hardware platform, usually PC based, although some companies
require multi-platform EDI solutions.
The EDI Solutions available to small and mid-sized businesses
can range widely in capabilities and price. When selecting
an EDI Solution, it’s important for the small and
mid-sized organization to make a careful evaluation of
the EDI Solution’s features and cost. An EDI Solution
that provides the best price often has very few features.
An EDI Solution that includes many high-end features
is often very costly and may turn out to be overkill
for a small business. Selecting an EDI Solution
on the basis of cost alone is as great a mistake as selecting
an EDI Solution with features that may not ever be used.
The right balance of features vs. price for an EDI Solution
will depend on your individual needs. An EDI Solution
must provide the necessary features and support for trading
partners that will allow you to comply with your retailer
mandates. If your EDI Solution makes it difficult to
implement new trading partners or to comply with new
documents, the pain of maintaining the EDI Solution will
far outweigh any savings in its low price. On the
other hand, an EDI Solution that is so feature- rich
and so difficult to use that it requires months of learning
may sit unused, defeating the whole purpose of acquiring
the EDI Solution in the first place.
EMANIO Trading Partner® 7 was designed to be an
EDI Solution that provides the perfect balance between
affordability and features. At EMANIO, we believe
that most businesses want an EDI Solution that will do
most of the work – letting the business focus on
its core competency rather than on EDI. Our EDI
Solution provides this level of “zero-effort” EDI
through automation. Our EDI Solution allows the
business to automate the entire process, whether the
EDI Solution is used for manual “rip-and-read” operations
or as part of an Integrated EDI Solution that brings
EDI data to the back-end system.
EMANIO’s EDI Solution has been deployed at over 2,000
companies. It is the chosen EDI Solution of many small
businesses. Our EDI Solution is backed by the level
of support the small business needs, and gives small and
mid-sized organizations the type of EDI Solution that will
allow them to focus on their core business rather than
on managing the EDI Solution they purchased. When you select
an EDI Solution correctly you will find that an EMANIO
EDI Solution is right for your business. |