Companies worldwide have a language when dealing with other organizations. It’s called electronic data interchange (EDI) — the electronic exchange of business documents between suppliers and retailers.
Enterprises use specific codes to refer to documents like invoices and purchase orders. They must follow specific standards to show they understand these codes, which is where EDI compliance comes into play.
What Is EDI Compliance?
Being EDI compliant means a business can accurately send and receive EDI transactions following the EDI requirements of its trading partners. To simplify it, companies wishing to do business with others must show their capability to follow their business partner’s EDI rules. This ensures a smooth and error-free exchange of data like orders, shipping information, invoices, and so on.
Many big names in business require their trading partners to communicate using EDI software. Some of these include Amazon, Walmart, and Costco.
Why Is It Important?
Before EDI was widely used in the 1990s, businesses had to exchange documents manually. Every transaction occurred via fax or mail, leading to errors, delays, and losses to the companies involved.
EDI eliminated the need for manual handling of these documents and improved the efficiency of electronic data interchange. It standardized the way organizations communicate with each other to facilitate transactions and exchange information.
If enterprises had different protocols and document codes, communicating what specific information meant would be more difficult, leading to confusion and mistakes during transactions. EDI solves this problem by ensuring every code and document is uniform across all processes.
Top 3 Benefits Of Being EDI-Compliant
EDI changed the way businesses handled their transactions. These are the top three benefits of being EDI compliant.
- Easy and error-free transactions: Electronic data exchanges between two companies directly to minimize errors. Removing the middleman helps make transactions go smoothly compared to traditional data interchange.
- Quicker exchange of information: Since every invoice or purchase order is sent electronically, enterprises can reach their partners quicker and more efficiently.
- Better relationships with business partners: Convenient, accurate, and easy business-to-business transactions lead to better relationships between partners. This greatly benefits organizations in the long run.
5 Tips On How To Become EDI Compliant
Fully understanding and implementing EDI systems in-house is possible but can be complicated and time-consuming without the proper resources and learning. Luckily, there are several workarounds. Here are five ways to be EDI compliant.
Understand Business Needs
Reading and understanding guidelines is essential for a healthy business partnership. Suppliers must be able to identify their retailer’s needs to fulfill their obligations smoothly and on time.
Use Reliable EDI Software
Choosing software that ticks off all requirements for EDI compliance is essential for any business. Companies need to adapt to the rapid development of compliance technology, like using cloud systems, algorithms, and analytics to improve their processes.
Implement EDI Solutions
An end-to-end EDI solution that handles all aspects — data mapping, translation, and network maintenance — can drastically improve efficiency.
Self-Test EDI Systems
Finding issues within EDI systems is crucial for accurate data interchange between organizations. If a company catches problems within a testing stage, it can work on them before putting EDI solutions to work.
Follow a Schedule and Stick With It
Some businesses require vendors to prove they can transmit all basic documents within a specified time frame, or they will be deemed non-compliant. Meeting time requirements is vital if a company wants to be EDI-compliant.
EDI Compliance Is Crucial For Enterprises
In the age of digitization, EDI compliance is a requirement. It helps ensure companies can transmit information safely, lessening the risk of a cyberattack doing major damage. Robust communication, up-to-date solutions, and attention to detail can assist a business in remaining compliant and keeping great partnerships.