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Buyer’s Guide Finding the Best Total Solution for Your Business EDI TABLE OF CO

Buyer’s Guide Finding the Best Total Solution for Your Business EDI TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 EDI 101 3-4 Selecting the Right Solution 5-7 Product Decision Making Process 8 About 1 EDI Source 9 1 EDI Source Buyer’s Guide 1 1 EDI Source Buyer’s Guide 2 INTRODUCTION For more than 25 years, 1 EDI Source Inc. has focused on solving EDI business challenges while empowering our customers to be more productive, efficient, accurate and confident in their EDI solution. Over the years we have supported leading companies in multiple industries to identify, analyze and implement the 1 EDI Source solution best tailored to meet their unique needs, resulting in a significant impact on service levels and bottom-line performances. This experience positions us well to guide your decision-making process and ensure you find the best EDI solution for your needs. New to EDI or Transferring Systems? There are a handful of reasons that you might be looking for a new solution. Are you struggling with compliance on your current system? Are you currently using manual or automated systems that are not productive or efficient? Are you new to EDI? Do you have a customer that requires it? Finding the right EDI partner can solve all of these challenges. If you aren’t familiar with what an EDI system can do, below are the critical benefits for investing in a state-of-the-art EDI solution. Error Reduction Integrating your EDI transactions with your back office systems eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors related to these manual processes. Manage by Exception Choosing a system that “manages by exception” allows it to essentially run itself, reaching out to you via alerts only when necessary. Faster Onboarding A rapid do it yourself onboarding system for new trading partners facilitates growth and adaptability. This is critical to quickly realizing new revenue generating opportunities. Move off Vendor Portals Some of your larger customers may require new vendors without EDI to process transactions using arduous methods and multiple online portals. By having your own solution, it will eliminate these extra steps and improve efficiency. One System of Record An enhanced leading edge EDI solution will replace outdated systems providing you the transparency needed to directly access the actual data exchanged with your most important business partners. A Happy Accounting Team Your accounting department will often be the first to realize the measurable benefits from the proper EDI system. This can include more timely customer payments, reduced pricing mismatches and fewer compliance deductions, fines and chargebacks. Optimize Allocation of Resources A reduction in manual data entry allows your team to focus on higher value activities while decreasing the chance of human error. Improve Customer Relationships Removing outdated systems and/or manual processes can positively impact customer satisfaction and loyalty, consequently improving your potential for growth. 1 EDI Source Buyer’s Guide 3 How Does EDI Work? An EDI solution, just like any other business system, must handle a variety of tasks reliably and cohesively. The end result should be automated and integrated B2B transactions. The following are important functional requirements to consider when choosing an EDI solution. Mapping Possibly the most important aspect of an EDI solution is how it allows you to map EDI data into a format that your back- office system can accept. While the process of mapping is universal, it is often tailored to each individual business since each company uses its back-office systems differently and requires the data to be mapped differently. Mapping may be part of the EDI solution or offered as a service from the provider. The most common data formats supported by a top tier mapping solution allow you to map your data to flat files, XML, Comma Separated Values (CSV) files and directly map your data to database tables via Open Database Connectivity (ODBC). If you choose to map your EDI data internally, be sure that your provider can offer you the training necessary to fully leverage your EDI solution’s mapping capability. Communication Communication is the cornerstone of EDI. Your solution must be able to communicate automatically using the approved method your trading partners require. These communication methods may include the exchange of files by secure FTP or AS2 communication protocols or leveraging a Value Added Network (VAN). Setting up the communication requirements for your EDI solution should be included as part of your overall package. Data Management Implementing your EDI solution is only the beginning, then you must manage your EDI operation and ensure that data is being exchanged with your trading partners consistently. To position you for success, choose an EDI system that has a full suite of built in alerts and an easy- to-use dashboard that shows all of your information in one place. This will allow users to manage by exception and enable organizations to realize the full operational value of EDI. Integration Do you have other back-office systems that your EDI solution needs to communicate with? Integration can bridge the gap between disparate systems allowing smoother business processes and operational efficiencies. Many commercial or custom Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERPs), Warehouse Management Systems (WMSs), and Transportation Management Systems (TMSs) do not natively accept EDI formatted transactions. Therefore, if you have these integration needs, you will need an EDI partner that can integrate these systems on your behalf. Translation Another key functionality of your EDI solution is the ability to ensure received documents are valid and acceptable based on common industry approved EDI standards, as well as provide timely and accurate Functional Acknowledgments (FAs) that act as a digital receipt for the transaction. The quality of the translator varies from one solution to another and not all are created equal. It is important to evaluate the degree to which the translator is automated to provide standards validation and FA reconciliation to ensure that all documents, sent and received, are accurate and correct. 1 EDI Source Buyer’s Guide 4 Understanding Your EDI Needs Choosing the right EDI solution is imperative; it can be the difference between smooth operations and efficiency, or a very frustrating experience. It is important to take the following into consideration when finding the best EDI Solution for you. The first step in choosing the right solution is to understand your needs. The following questions will help you begin that process: 1. How many trading partners do you have? 2. What kind of growth do you project, and how many trading partners do you plan to have over the next five to 10 years? 3. Do you have integration requirements that require you to push data into and pull data from an ERP or other back-office system? 4. Are you looking for a solution that you or your team can manage, or would you prefer that the EDI provider manage it for you? 5. Are you currently struggling with chargebacks, fines, deductions or other compliance issues? Do you need a solution in where you can build in custom business rules and alerts to ensure the data you are exchanging is accurate, timely and correct? 6. Do the EDI solutions you are reviewing allow you to search and find data easily? 7. Do you have special requirements with any of your trading partners that requires specific logic within your EDI data maps, such as translating customer item numbers with internal item numbers or pricing validation? 8. Would you prefer an on-premise software program providing you 100 percent control over your operations, or a cloud-based solution in which your infrastructure needs are handled by the provider? 1 EDI Source Buyer’s Guide 5 Solution Types To help narrow the list of potential providers, you should determine what type of solution would be best for you. While there are a number of details involved in finding the right EDI partner, these questions will enable you to be more knowledgeable about your needs going into the process. The goal when looking for an EDI solution is to find a partner that will not only meet your needs in the short-term, but also provide you the flexibility you need to ensure that it can support you over the long term. The right EDI solution should be considered an investment in your business to facilitate the exchange of business documents with your most important customers and suppliers for many years. Once you have chosen the right partner and the system is integrated into your operational workflow, all of the work will have been well worth the time and investment. Web-Based EDI Solutions If you are new to EDI or expect to exchange a limited number of documents (less than 200/month) with just a few trading partners (less than five), then a web-based solution is a good one. Web-based solutions may be implemented without integration with your back- office systems and present EDI from your trading partners as easy to read web pages. This allows you to “turn around” these documents using web forms so that you can respond to your trading partners via EDI through a simple web browser. Managed EDI Solutions If you expect uploads/Management/ buyer-x27-s-guide-finding-the-best-total-solution-for-your-business.pdf