Aligning processes in the supply chain is essential to streamline transactions between buyers and suppliers. Hindered communication and transactions between business partners can lead to missed orders and late payments. Supply chain integration with electronic data interchange (EDI) enables businesses to improve their agility and performance. With EDI businesses can simplify supplier onboarding, optimize inventory levels, leverage e-invoices, and streamline procure-to-pay and order-to-cash. Read this blog to know the benefits of integrating EDI in supply chain.
EDI is an electronic exchange of business information between trading partners (B2B) through a standardized format. It enables trading partners to speed up logistics timelines and eliminate manual errors by automating B2B communications. The EDI process is paperless and requires no human intervention. It enables businesses to save countless dollars that are otherwise spent on purchasing, printing, processing, and delivery of paper documents. Integrating EDI in supply chain facilitates the transfer of a wide range of documents like lading, inventory, payment information, and shipping status documents.
Benefits of Integrating EDI in Supply Chain Management
Integrating EDI in supply chain enables businesses to speed up transactional and informational flow among various SCM processes. Let’s explore some key benefits:
Reduces Costs and Saves Time:
Integrating EDI in supply chain enables businesses to eliminate repetitive tasks like the processing of paper documents including printing, copying, filing, delivering and postage. With EDI, businesses can resolve the issue of the paper-driven transaction by processing the payments faster.
Streamlines Communication Between Trading Partners:
EDI not only streamlines transaction processes but also the communication between trading partners. Effective communications increase sales and improve partner and customer relationships. For instance, EDI shortens sales cycles and ensures orders are taken and confirmed instantly. EDI integration also ensures customers gain more confidence in delivery services.
Enhances Real-time Transactions:
Integrating EDI in supply chain enables businesses to execute transactions between trading partners in real-time. Real-time visibility into transaction status facilitates faster decision making and improved responsiveness to changing customer and market demands. It eliminates the chances of redundant, time-consuming and error-prone tasks.
Integrating EDI in supply chain enables retailers to execute transactions and information interchange between trading partners in real-time. It eliminates the chances of redundant, time-consuming and error-prone tasks.
Real-time Updates for Accurate Inventory Levels:
EDI integration in the supply chain ensures businesses meet immediate demand and optimize stock levels for the future. Businesses can use EDI updates to set up benchmarks and alert stock management team to allocate optimal resources. Real-time information also prevents shortages or excess inventory issues.
Greater Accuracy:
EDI eliminates the need for manual intervention to reduce the chances of errors. Since the transactions in EDI are exchanged electronically, they are faster and accurate.
To Read More: Importance of Inventory and Asset Management in Supply Chain
Empower Your Supply Chain Processes with Oodles
Empower your business with our supply chain software development services. Our development team enables businesses to streamline their supply chain processes and collaborate better with partners and suppliers.
We provide EDI integrations with different types of systems in different standards to ensure smooth transactions throughout the supply chain process.
EDI Implementation: We have the skills set to create point-to-point EDI capabilities using standards like FTPS, SFTP, and AS2. We also enable the use of network service providers.
Custom EDI Systems: Our development team creates custom on-premise, cloud, and hybrid systems to ensure reliable EDI communications.
EDI Integration: Our development team has the experience to perform EDI integration and generating EDI-ready output files automatically.
Concluding Thoughts
Cutting costs especially with IT infrastructure expenditures is a critical business requirement that needs to be managed on an ongoing basis. Integrating EDI in supply chain will enable businesses to focus on their core business practices. It ensures transaction messages are successfully delivered to important retail customers. EDI enables businesses to reduce operational silos and manage their supply chain processes efficiently.
Reach out to our development team and avail EDI integration benefits within the supply chain.
