Implementing EDI (electronic data interchange) is a time consuming and sometimes costly task. Business processes might need to be changed to reflect the new environment. Due to this and other potential issues, some organizations could consider going for a partial or phased approach to going ahead with EDI. Here are three possible approaches that can be done, individually or in an order that is optimal for the organization.
Paper based transactions
Due to various requirements, ordering between two or more organizations are generally paper based. There are purchase orders, acknowledgments, receipts etc. When shipping is involved there will be even more. When moving to EDI, any transactions like the above will become both paperless and almost instant.
Business partner based transactions
Another approach to take is to look at which of the organization’s business partners are already on EDI. This is useful when you can only look at implementation for specific business processes rather than the whole organization, for whatever reason. Look for the EDI provider that has the most business partners on it and then look to implement for that business process.
Time intensive transactions
Since the advent of the internet EDI implementation has increased due to the ability to run VPN’s cost effectively. EDI makes most transactions almost instant, and in this approach, look at the parts of the business that have the most to gain from improved speed and start there.