Simplify Your Processes by Using EDI for Manufacturing

Electronic data interchange is a critical component of today's manufacturing business process. EDI can accelerate production, reduce high labor and storage costs, and bring efficiency to all manufacturing business processes.

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) remains the standard within the Manufacturing industry when it comes to purchase orders, invoices, shipment notices, and other common documents.

While manufacturers are far from the only industry to rely on EDI systems, it is fundamental for the manufacturing industry when communicating with trading partners.

How EDI Helps Manufacturers

As a manufacturer, what if you could:

• Reduce the time it takes to connect to suppliers, logistics partners, and distributors?
• Reduce chargebacks for data exchange errors?
• Increase monitoring and EDI visibility across your global ecosystem?
• Reduce costs for operational maintenance and annual support of legacy and end-of-life solutions?

Manufacturing companies must have the ability to perform modern EDI in order to effectively work with the various trading partners, including suppliers and vendors, customers, distributors, fulfillment organizations, and retailers.

Benefits of EDI for Manufacturers

EDI provides the reliable communications that manufacturers require. In fact, there are numerous benefits the manufacturing industry can gain from embracing and optimizing their EDI order processing. These include:

• Increased business efficiency through automated transaction workflows
• Reduced dependence on manual data entry and a reduced number of data errors
• Cost savings through reduced EDI chargebacks and SLA violations
• Expedited order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, and load-tender-to-invoice processes

Additionally, legacy EDI systems and services, including EDI through a VAN, can get expensive due to transaction fees and leave numerous. Taking control of your EDI directly – and even outsourcing EDI as a managed service with a trusted vendor – allows manufacturing companies to regain control of their critical data exchanges, gain visibility into the processes, and stop worrying about the cost of fluctuating transaction volumes.

The Fresh Approach to EDI Manufacturing

Modern EDI, however, is more than a document standard or format; it’s a B2B data exchange mechanism that also includes the processes surrounding:

• Governance
• Partner onboarding
• Data orchestration
• SLA management
• Visibility

EDI integration, then, is essential for manufacturing companies looking to streamline how they communicate with customers, trading partners, and other members of their digital ecosystem. The ability to submit and receive purchase orders, invoices, and other EDI transaction sets aren’t enough. Companies stand out when they bring on new business faster, embrace responsiveness and agility, and proactively troubleshoot errors.

How to Get Started

Modern EDI is core to a successful digital transformation strategy, one that gives companies the flexibility to reshape how they use technology to interact with customers, trading partners, suppliers, and applications. ECS can assist you to learn how to leverage the correct EDI solution to speedily onboard new partners and strengthen connections with suppliers, logistics partners, and retailers. Contact us today to find out more.