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EDI in general
Companies have used paper as the traditional medium for conducting business. Company records are filed on
paper, and paper forms are mailed between companies to exchange information. The advent of the business
computer has enabled companies to process data electronically; however, the exchange of this data between
companies still relies heavily on the postal system. Oftentimes, a company will enter data into a business
application, print a form containing the data, and mail this form to a trading partner. The trading partner,
after receiving the form, re-keys the data into another business application. Inherent in this process are
poor response times - use of the postal system can add days to the exchange process, excessive paperwork for
both companies involved in the exchange, and the potential for errors as information is transcribed.
TORRAK-software
can help you to learn more about EDI, discover its possibilities and find the right EDI-solution for your company. We provide a customized solution based on standard applications to an affordable price.
Definition of EDI
EDI is an abbreviation for Electronic Data Interchange. The most basic definition of EDI is:
Computer-to-computer communication of business documents, in
a standardized format, between two companies.
Although it has a technical-sounding name, EDI is fundamentally a business
initiative, which has been developed over the past thirty years. It was pioneered by the transportation,
retail, and grocery industries, in an effort to increase quality and customer service, and offer long-term
cost benefits. EDI also represents a major step in creating a paperless office.
By replacing paper documents such as purchase orders or invoices, with its EDI
"equivalent" a computer-readable EDI document - four key benefits are realized:
- Accuracy is increased, since human intervention (the acts of entering and
re-keying data) is eliminated
- Timeliness is increased (the electronic transmission of forms eliminates the delays inherent in
conventional mail, or even Fax)
- Customer service is improved
- Bottom line costs are reduced
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