To begin to understand the integration and advantages of ERP combined with EDI, we need to understand what EDI is. So, what is EDI? It stands for Electronic Data Interchange and has been widely used by businesses for over thirty years. It’s an essential part of many business plans. It has immensely increased efficiency and productivity through the tailored exchange of documents between organizations.
ERP, Enterprise Resource Planning, is a highly customized accounting system that allows your company to share data in real-time with your business partners — one of the key advantages of an ERP system. Your supply chain will be updated instantly, avoiding human error and processing orders automatically to reduce lead times. Order-to-cash cycles will be accelerated and you’ll see improved productivity across the entire fulfillment process leading to higher customer satisfaction.
At 1 EDI Source, we believe no two businesses are the same, so there is no one-size-fits-all software package we can plug and play. To get the most out of the advantages of ERP, you need to have an EDI in place. Without this crucial electronic sharing tool, you won’t have that established connection with your business partners, and you won’t be able to get all the advantages of an ERP system. 1 EDI Source will happily work with you to develop a tailored EDI solution with ERP integration if necessary.
Architecting how your business-critical systems communicate and exchange information, we then create the crucial systems and processes that will work seamlessly with your EDI, both internally and externally. This “talking” within your entire organization and between your business and all of your business partners in real-time is the integration of ERP with EDI.
Now that you’re on board with EDI, you have that excellent database to build upon. Along comes ERP, and then what? What does it do? What are the advantages of an ERP system to your business today and going forward? Let’s do a quick comparison:
As you can see, EDI is an essential tool for you and the businesses you partner with. But for today’s frenzied pace, the sharing of information and how it’s formatted are more critical than ever. The advantages of ERP vary per business, but a lean organization is an efficient one, and that’s what ERP brings to the table.
Have you ever played the “telephone” game? The game in which the first person in a group whispers a message to the next, and so-on until the last person tells the group the message they heard? How often is the last person’s message similar to the first?
Seldom.
How often is the message exactly like the first?
Almost never!
But what if the last person had access to the exact same whispered message that started the game? That’s what ERP does when integrated with EDI. Your “back end” business, the day to day internal operations, will use the exact same formats and documents as your “front end” external operations. No more mismatched documents and unstandardized formats. No need for manual re-entry means no human error and leads to a lean office and organization.
At 1 EDI Source, we offer multiple solutions tailored specifically to your business. We empower our clients daily with an array of flexible EDI tools designed to work for you (not us). Is your business ready to enjoy the advantages of ERP? Reach out to us to discover how we can integrate your existing EDI with a tailored ERP solution.
