Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the structured transmission of data between organisations by electronic means. There are many types of EDI and approaches to enabling EDI across a trading community. Whether looking at EDI for the first time or expanding an existing EDI infrastructure to support business partners across the globe, there is a method of utilising EDI that will suit your business needs, technical capabilities and budget. Many larger companies adopt hybrid EDI solutions to connect with their business partners, dependent on size and frequency of their transactions.
Below is an outline of the different methods available:
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Direct EDI/Point-to-point
Brought to prominence by Walmart, direct EDI, sometimes called point-to-point EDI, establishes a single connection between two business partners. In this approach, you connect with each business partner individually. It offers control for the business partners and is most commonly used between larger customers and suppliers with a lot of daily transactions. Read More »
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EDI via VAN
Value Added Networks (VANs) are private networks where electronic business documents are exchanged between partners. The VAN provider manages the network and provides companies with mailboxes where they can send and receive EDI documents. Read More »
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EDI via AS2
AS2 is an Internet communications protocol that enables data to be transmitted securely over the Internet. EDI via AS2 delivers the functionality of EDI with the ubiquity of Internet access. Read More »
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Web EDI
Unlike EDI via AS2, Web EDI conducts EDI using a standard Internet browser. Organisations use different online forms to exchange information with business partners. Web EDI makes EDI easy and affordable for small- and medium-sized organisations and companies that have only occasional need to utilise such a service. Read More »
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Mobile EDI
Users have commonly accessed EDI either by a private network such as Value Added Network or the Internet in order to send and receive EDI-related business documents. Mobile EDI has had limited adoption, in part due to security concerns with mobile devices across an EDI infrastructure, but mainly due to the mobile devices themselves. The quality and size of the screen of most devices has been relatively poor until recently. There is a growing industry for developing software applications or ‘apps’ for downloading onto mobile devices and it will be only be a matter of time before you will be able to download supply chain and EDI related apps from private or corporate app stores. Read More »
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EDI Outsourcing
EDI Outsourcing (also referred to as Managed Services) is a fast-growing option that enables companies to use external resources to manage their EDI environment on a day-to-day basis. This is in part driven by companies wanting to integrate to back office business systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platforms. Many companies do not have the internal resources to undertake this type of work so they outsource it instead. Read More »