How EDI increases turnover in various branches

How EDI increases turnover in various branches

EDI or Electronic Data Interchange is the exchange of documents according to standards, electronically. A revenue-increasing method that has traditionally been used with great success in logistics. Roughly 60 to 85 percent of all companies in that sector work with it. But there are of course many more industries in which it pays to significantly reduce the number of manual processes. In this blog you can read more about the benefits of EDI in wholesale and retail, banking and insurance and healthcare.

Logistics

Portbase's figures are illustrative of the impact of EDI in logistics. That is the neutral organization set up by the port companies of Rotterdam and Amsterdam that facilitates data sharing. More than 15,500 users are connected, who together send more than 94 million electronic messages every year. Thanks to EDI, all those users communicate seamlessly with each other, as if they were speaking the same language. As a result, processes in the chain between ship and consumer are set in motion on time and a crane, train or truck is ready at the right time.

EDI therefore has important advantages. It takes care off:

• more efficiency.
• lower costs.
• better service.
• better planning.
• less mistakes.
• shorter lead time.
• 24/7 availability.

Retail

EDI also has a strong position in retail. Fashion retailers, for example, say they can achieve an average of 8 percent more turnover. Their administrative costs drop by 10 percent and their time savings can be as much as 90 percent.

A large toy manufacturer uses EDI for optimal inventory management. Systems in stores keep track of how many boxes are still on the shelf. An order goes to the factory as soon as shelves are about to run out. There, orders can be read in all kinds of formats, after which stores are supplied with new toys in good time.

The manufacturer has also built integrations with banks. Financial data transport therefore also requires fewer actions. This applies to both payment transactions with the customer and with raw material suppliers.

Finance

As an intermediary between buyers and sellers, banks themselves also benefit from streamlined data traffic in both directions. This ensures fewer errors and more safety.

A translation of data is not always necessary in the financial world. It is often enough if they can safely receive and send privacy-sensitive documents. Think of income data for a mortgage. Managed File Transfer is the appropriate method for this.

The agreement with EDI is that systems of transmitters and receivers must be able to communicate with each other. In the financial world, this is sometimes difficult because all kinds of new services have been introduced over the years, resulting in a fragmented application landscape. Integration of systems brings data back together and allows its exchange to take place in a uniform manner.

Healthcare

Healthcare is one of the sectors where digital transformation is high on the agenda. There, too, there are often legacy systems and a jumble of applications. The covid-19 crisis shows that seamless exchange of patient data is important. When ICU units reached their capacity limits, patients were transferred to other locations where beds were still available. There was then a need for options to securely share patient data at the touch of a button. As a stopgap solution, a portal was introduced that works like a kind of secure Dropbox. This way of working is described by some as a piece of cake, but hospitals do not have to work with faxes and DVDs.

The government now has the ambition to achieve uniform data exchange in healthcare. An EDI system, which makes this process largely automatic according to GDPR standards, can ensure this. Patient data is then automatically placed in the right place. That saves time that can be spent on patients.

Wholesale

Finally, wholesale is a sector that can benefit a lot from EDI in communication with customers and suppliers. Take, for example, a restaurant that automatically orders fresh fish. If the wholesaler then communicates seamlessly with suppliers and carriers, a waitress does not have to say 'no'.

ECS takes care of it

ECS International is a party that ensures that systems within and outside organizations can "talk" to each other, in a safe and reliable manner. The X4Connect cloud platform developed in-house makes it possible to receive and send data in any format. Apart from EDI, ECS is also strong in Managed File Transfer. Our experts can help you with advice, implementation, management and maintenance and can, if desired, completely unburden you.

Do you want to know more? Download our e-book 'How to smoothly overcome obstacles on the path to EDI' via the form or view our explanations