SAP EDI

SAP EDI can be a challenging subject for even the largest organizations. Typical approaches to SAP EDI are expensive and time-consuming, mainly due to the implementation consultantÕs need to charge billable hours. SAP EDI can be significantly easier and painless when using an SAP EDI adapter like the SAP EDI adapters from EMANIO. An SAP EDI adapter can often save tens of thousands in reduced man-hour costs.

The most common form of SAP EDI integration is performed using the SAP IDOC format, which is essentially a hierarchical flat file format developed by SAP to enable several types of data integration, including EDI. There are several advantages of integrating EDI into SAP:

SAP EDI Logical Steps

Enhanced data integrity and accuracy:
There is no need to re-key data to and from paper, which prevents data entry errors.

Lowered costs:
By integrating EDI with SAP, there is a lowered need for data entry and auditing personnel. SAP EDI integration ensures that the data is integrated seamlessly into the SAP system, avoiding the costs associated with manual processes.

Improved processes:
With SAP EDI integration, the turnaround speed for orders, invoices and other documents becomes virtually instantaneous, making the company significantly more competitive.

For SAP EDI integration, there are five essential steps that must be completed in any SAP EDI project:

SAP EDI evaluation and project planning:
Determining the business requirements and processes and mapping these to EDI. Gap analysis and consequences, test project, scope and sign-off.

Designing the SAP EDI project:
Determining the EDI standards, versions and other similar issues; determining the type of interface, identifying future needs, disaster recovery, auditing and archiving.

Configuring the SAP EDI implementation:
Ensuring that the business requirements are understood and met, setting technical configuration, functional configuration, testing, quality assurance and sign-off.

Developing SAP EDI for non-traditional functions:
Determining business requirements, functional specs and technical specs; the subsequent development and configuration, quality assurance and testing with business partners and sign-off.

SAP EDI operational environment:
Ensuring that the SAP EDI is supported and functions with required capacity, monitoring and issue resolution.

SAP EDI Working With EMANIO has significant experience working with SAP EDI domestically and internationally. With pre-configured SAP EDI adaptors, implementing EDI becomes virtually plug-and-play, something thatÕs unusual in a SAP environment. With budget restrictions and increased pressure to execute, EMANIOÕs SAP EDI solution is available for both on-site and remote implementation.

SAP customers no longer need to fear implementing EDI due to concerns over expense or technical difficulty of the implementation. With EMANIO,SAP EDI is now an affordable and an easily deployed solution.

SAP EDI Integration

SAP EDI integration is critical to ensure that your supply chain remains efficient and that your processes take maximum advantage of EDI. Implementing SAP EDI integration requires a great deal of preparation and expertise. For most large organizations, SAP EDI is a straightforward process because of their large budgets and plentiful IT resources. Small and mid-sized businesses, with less knowledge of SAP EDI, can experience a great deal of frustration and pain due to the complex nature of SAP EDI integration. To avoid this frustration and because of its complexity, successful SAP EDI integration for small business requires the company to spend some time planning all phases of the SAP EDI integration project before actually implementing SAP EDI.

A key part of the planning process for SAP EDI integration will involve aligning manual EDI processes with the SAP EDI processes that will eventually replace them. How many trading partners will go through the SAP EDI integration process? How many documents will be integrated via SAP EDI? These and other questions should be thoroughly investigated and answered before any SAP EDI Integration project can begin. As the small business begins to look for vendors of SAP EDI and providers who can support SAP EDI integration they must ensure that any vendor they are considering will be able to address the types of SAP EDI processes that have been identified during the planning stage.

SAP EDI Implementation

Implementations of SAP EDI integration must also be carefully planned and resourced. Any vendor that claims to provide SAP EDI Integration should be asking you plenty of questions about how you plan to use SAP EDI in order to provide the best possible SAP EDI implementation and the best results. SAP EDI can provide a significant number of benefits with returns on investment that can be often measured in weeks or just a few months. SAP EDI integration, however, can also lead to a number of problems and pitfalls if the planning has not been done carefully. Poorly planned and managed SAP EDI integrations can drag on for months, and sometimes more than a year, often due to poor planning, poor resource allocation and mismanaged execution during the implementation.

At EMANIO, we have years of experience with not only SAP EDI, but also with integration of other EDI and ERP systems, gives us the type of knowledge that is invaluable to a small business planning SAP EDI.