3 Common Electronic Data Interchange Challenges (EDI)

EDI electronic data interchange challenges

Your growing organization wants to do business with big-box retailers and online marketplaces, but that requires jumping through some hoops. As you research, you’ll see ‘electronic data interchange (EDI)’ frequently. EDI can be a pain, but it’s a necessary cost of doing business.

Getting started with EDI doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Here are its most common challenges – and their solutions.

You Don't Know What Electronic Data Interchange Is

Organizations use EDI to transmit information digitally from one business system to another using a standardized format. Things you used to send on paper – purchase orders, invoices, advanced ship notices, etc. – can be sent via EDI.

EDI has many benefits. You can increase your business’s cash flow by reducing invoicing and payment processing time, eliminate building individual point-to-point connections with each trading partner, and easily send and receive real-time catalog, inventory, order, and shipping information from your enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

You Need to Become and Remain EDI Compliant

EDI compliance is the accurate configuration of order data exchanged between systems. The challenge is that each retailer dictates which procedures you must follow to conduct business and be EDI compliant. Some retailers require their suppliers to use a specific EDI configuration to exchange transaction data and issue tests to see if the suppliers have adequate software to ensure a seamless EDI exchange.

You Don't Have the Resources

You understand EDI can help your business level the playing field with your larger competitors by cutting through the complexity and cost of doing business with supply chain giants like Amazon. You’re ready to get started – but you don’t have the time or staff to dedicate to it.

Solving EDI Challenges With Digital Transformation

Thankfully, there are EDI experts who can help you automate the time-intensive EDI process. Automation is also a critical part of digital transformation, which is making your business run better by creating new – or modifying existing – processes using technology.

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To learn more about digital transformation and how it can overcome common EDI challenges, visit the resource page below for blogs, customer success videos, on-demand webinars, demos, eBooks, and more.