Who uses EDI? EDI are use by most major companies
ranging from manufacturing to retail. With the
benefits become more accessible, many more are moving toward the use of EDI
technology.
How do
companies communicate through EDI? There are
communication protocols available for PC's and mainframe systems that allow for
the exchange of EDI messages with almost any trading partner.
What is a
Trading Partner? A trading partner is anyone who
agreed to conduct business via EDI, trades their
business documents with one another using a
determine common standards i.e. the ANSI
X12 or EDIFACT standards.
What is VAN? A value-added network (VAN) is a
specialized application service provider (ASP) who act as as an intermediary
between trading partners sharing data or business processes. It was hired by a
company to facilitate EDI or provide other network services. There are a few
different ways of communicating to the VAN include BYSNC and ASYNC dialup as
well as FTP protocols.
Why can't the company just e-mail the
information? Differs from EDI, data sent via electronic mail or e-mail
is in an unstructured format.
Data received needs to be printed out and enter into another program for further
processing. With EDI, data is transmitted in a structured format, which ensures
that all participants use a common language. Business information
is automatically transferred between trading partners
without human intervention,
eliminating repetitive data-entry and common mistakes due to human error, two
conditions to which e-mail is susceptible.
Software for converting - used to translate
the EDI transaction from a format that can be used in your business
application and reversely translate your business application format to an
EDI transaction.
Software for mapping - setting of electronic trading
parameters for every EDI relationship.
Software for communications and connectivity - VAN, ASYNC, BISYNC,
and Internet communications will be required to transfer data.
Software for application integration - allows
companies to move data between their own internal system, eliminating manual
keying of data.
What makes EDI work? The standard system of EDI, ANSI X12,
permits unrelated companies to communicate and process business transactions
electronically. Standard ANSI X12 was developed under the guidelines of the
(ANSI) American National Standards Institute. The ANSI committee ensures that
everyone using EDI follows the same rules and methods, making the program
nationally accessible. As a result, all businesses share a common interchange
language, which minimizes the need for users to reprogram their internal data
processing systems.
