By Mark Walters
Are you aware of EDI, also known as Electronic Data Interchange? If you are not, it is the standard electronic method of trading information on an automated basis that does not require any human interaction in order to be completed. In terms of eCommerce, all but the most antiquated systems use EDI in order to help themselves succeed in the world of online business.
You can do more with EDI than get invoices and buy things over the Internet. Automatically, companies are able to check on their inventory, get status updates on an order, and send and receive money, immediately notifying the customer that a payment has been received with notified invoice statuses. Automatic transactions can do all that and more.
Here is a small purchase the way it was done before EDI. Someone buys a product, filling out a purchase order. It is sent in the mail after being printed, and four or five days later the supplier gets it. She will enter the data into the inventory system of the computer, and the inventory staff will prep the product and ship it. After that, the invoice is printed out and mailed separately. All of this takes upwards of a week to do, when with EDI, you could shave that time into a matter of minutes. In the same day, a product could be ordered, paid for, processed and shipped out, allowing for quicker delivery.
Also, you only have to enter the information once when you work electronically. EDI has this chief advantage to help your business succeed. Labor times are dramatically reduced, and data entry errors are kept to a minimum, as there is no reentering of data. This also means that there is no backlog to speak of; once the order comes it, it can be invoiced and shipped later that day. According to some research, companies that switched to EDI methods of inventory keeping and shipping were able to shave 40% off their turnaround time, including getting the product and filling out orders.
If you are a company that provides goods for purchase, you should invest in EDI for your eCommerce. Due to the fact that the process helps every facet of your business, form inventory to shipping, you can make orders go much faster and help every step of the process. Most companies in the Fortune 1000 list implement this method, and it helps them become the strong companies they are today.
You can do more with EDI than get invoices and buy things over the Internet. Automatically, companies are able to check on their inventory, get status updates on an order, and send and receive money, immediately notifying the customer that a payment has been received with notified invoice statuses. Automatic transactions can do all that and more.
Here is a small purchase the way it was done before EDI. Someone buys a product, filling out a purchase order. It is sent in the mail after being printed, and four or five days later the supplier gets it. She will enter the data into the inventory system of the computer, and the inventory staff will prep the product and ship it. After that, the invoice is printed out and mailed separately. All of this takes upwards of a week to do, when with EDI, you could shave that time into a matter of minutes. In the same day, a product could be ordered, paid for, processed and shipped out, allowing for quicker delivery.
Also, you only have to enter the information once when you work electronically. EDI has this chief advantage to help your business succeed. Labor times are dramatically reduced, and data entry errors are kept to a minimum, as there is no reentering of data. This also means that there is no backlog to speak of; once the order comes it, it can be invoiced and shipped later that day. According to some research, companies that switched to EDI methods of inventory keeping and shipping were able to shave 40% off their turnaround time, including getting the product and filling out orders.
If you are a company that provides goods for purchase, you should invest in EDI for your eCommerce. Due to the fact that the process helps every facet of your business, form inventory to shipping, you can make orders go much faster and help every step of the process. Most companies in the Fortune 1000 list implement this method, and it helps them become the strong companies they are today.