EDI Translation Software
EDI translation software is often also referred to as EDI software
or simply an EDI translator. The function of EDI
translation software is to transform EDI from an organization
specific format to one that is accepted by another organization.
The EDI translation software interprets a document and ‘translates’ it
into one that conforms to a structured EDI format
as prescribed by various standards bodies. The EDI translation
software is also capable of performing this function in reverse
enabling the exchange of documents using EDI. EDI translation
software is available for a broad range of operating systems and
computers – ranging
from mainframes to PCs and from Windows to Linux.
EDI translation software has been available for some time from
vendors like EMANIO. Our EDI translation software (known as Trading
Partner) is used by over 2,000 companies world-wide, one of the
most popular EDI translation software packages available.
How EDI Translation Software is Used
The process used by EDI translation software is very similar
in nature to a manual order process. Imagine a
scenario where a company places an order for goods with a vendor.
The process might look something like this:
Identify the information necessary to create a purchase order.
Collect
your vendor specific information like address and
contact information.
Arrange the information on
a purchase order
Send the purchase order to your
vendor.
The EDI translation software performs the same tasks to create
and remit an EDI message; all four of the above tasks are performed
by the EDI translation software in the following sequence:
EDI mapping
Extraction and conversion of data
Generation of
an outbound message or interpretation of an inbound
message by the EDI translation software
Communication of EDI
data over a network
Selecting
Your EDI translation Software
The process of selecting your EDI translation software begins with
understanding your business requirements. The type of EDI translation
software you choose will depend on the size of your organization, the
amount of automation you wish to have and the amount of control you
wish to have over your EDI translation software. When selecting a vendor
of EDI translation software you should also consider the support question.
While EDI translation software has become significantly easier to use
over the past few years, the process of using EDI translation software
can require support and a certain level of hand-holding that your vendor
will need to provide. EMANIO, with over 2,000 users of its EDI translation
software around the world, is one of the premier suppliers of EDI translation
software for small and mid-sized businesses. We have gained a reputation
as a provider of reliable and easy to use EDI translation software
with a support team second to none.
What Type of EDI Translation Software is Right for You?
EDI translation software is available across a broad spectrum of vendors
and with a number of features. From web based EDI translation software
with few features to EDI translation software that sends your data
directly to your ERP or accounting system. Many small business don’t
consider this second type of EDI translation software because of the
initial cost. While the up-front investment of EDI translation software
that maps your data directly to your ERP system may seem high, the
long-term benefits of this EDI translation software are well documented.
EDI translation software that maps data to your in-house systems can
help you reduce costly overhead dedicated to data entry clerks while
also saving you significantly in lowered costs due to data entry errors.
An additional benefit of EDI translation software that maps to your
in-house system is the significantly higher processing speed an automated
system can achieve.
Is Integrated EDI Translation Software Right for You?
In order to answer the question, consider this scenario: A business
processing 10 EDI transactions per day manually will
spend in excess of $17,000 each year processing transactions manually
from their EDI translation software. For a business of this size an
integrated EDI translation software system would not cost much more,
providing a return on investment easily in the first year. Once you
factor the costs associated with data entry mistakes caused by manually
processing data received by your EDI translation software, the pay-back
time for investing in fully integrated EDI translation software becomes
even shorter. EMANIO has been powering EDI for its customers using
an integrated EDI translation software product for many years. Our
EDI translation software is easy to set up and even easier to use,
and comes with the support of an organization that has implemented
EDI translation software for over 2,000 companies world-wide. Our EDI
translation software is available in manual versions as well as fully
integrated EDI translation packages with a seamless upgrade path between
the two.
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