Modernizing B2B integration with EDI compliant automation
Winning contracts to sell products through big-box retail stores such as Walmart, Home Depot, Target, Amazon, and Costco, is a key milestone to grow your business. Implementing an ERP system enables you to establish a partnership with these retailers and grow your distribution. But, it requires keeping up with the large retailers’ ever-increasing demands such as same-day shipping, reserved stock, zero stock-outs and backorders, labeling, plus data and shipping compliance. These demands can negatively impact small and medium-sized business profitability despite growth in customers, channels, and products.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about our EDI solutions for SAP Business One.
Selling to big-box retailers involves a high volume of bulk orders that flow in and out of the supply chain and suppliers like you are required to comply with EDI to ensure that the business systems of all parties involved—from suppliers to logistics partners to retailers— are ‘speaking the same language’, regardless of their back-end systems. EDI, will enable you to receive purchase orders, send invoices, and exchange other transactional documents.
Maintaining EDI relationships can be overwhelming and complex. Incompatible applications and the lack of integration with your ERP system could lead to redundant keying, duplicate entries, and manual errors that cause inefficiency and delays in your supply chain.
Plus, if not 100% compliant, SMBs will either find themselves being fined through chargebacks or just cut off either from further purchases or website prioritization. Even while 100% compliant, SMBs can still get fined! A common solution is to outsource much of the compliance work to third-party logistics providers (3PLs) and focus on product development but SMBs quickly find that it’s an expensive option and still doesn’t ease the pain.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about our EDI solutions for SAP Business One.
Third Wave is familiar with these challenges. Our clients sell to big box retail stores using our complete order processing and fulfillment solutions to manage EDI relationships with trading partners. As a result, our clients have managed to grow while maintaining profitability and strong trading partner relationships.
Using Third Wave solutions designed and built for SAP Business One you can:
- Streamline Operations: Replace manual processes by integrating systems
- Uncover opportunities for growth via new channels: Implement EDI translation and mapping software that matches your business needs
- Simplify compliance: Comply with EDI requirement to avoid chargebacks and fines
- Strengthen relationships: Make the most out of your B2B relationships and trading experience
The measurable benefits of EDI for SAP Business One
Our clients have experienced significant changes in cost, speed, and reliability of data exchange:
- Reduced cost of document management
- Reduction of errors
- Faster invoice payments
- Faster logistic processes
- Reduction of incomplete/ incorrect delivery
- Reduction of administrative work
- Better relations with partners
- Faster clarification of misunderstanding with partners
Learn more about Third Wave solutions —Versago & Bizweaver — built for supply chain and trading partner relationship management with EDI compliant automation.
Schedule a free consultation to learn more about our EDI solutions for SAP Business One.
Q&A
What is the impact of new tech trends?
For the past 20 years, EDI has steadily gained mainstream adoption throughout businesses worldwide as the preferred means to exchange documents in the B2B transaction process. EDI has grown and today, like ERP systems, remains a backbone for small and medium-sized businesses.
What about the APIs?
APIs allow two different applications to communicate. In comparison to EDI, API enables real-time exchange so the value-added for the entire supply chain is visible. However, EDI remains the most popular solution due to its state-of-the-art security and proven reliability which has turned it into a robust data exchange standard it is today. APIs are improving in this regard but EDI is still considered superior for supplier/trading partner data exchange.
Will blockchain technology and artificial intelligence replace the EDIs? Or will these solutions be used to simply improve their overall efficiency?
EDI and Blockchain solve different problems and in fact are complimentary. EDI defines a standard message format for trading non-monetary documents. Blockchain implements a way of sharing, securing, and storing transactional data and in a way where all relevant parties can access the information. Blockchain will enhance EDI. AI and Machine Learning are also complimentary to EDI and can be used in identification and decisioning around certain transactions. Examples would be the identification of events and information connected to a shipment, a non-compliant event, determine if a reshipment is required, analyze the most efficient source of replacement, initiate a new shipment and an authorized return.