HOW TO MAKE YOUR BUSINESS EDI CAPABLE

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BOLD VAN Marketing
August 27, 2023
5 min read
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START ENJOYING THE BENEFITS OF EDI

Making your business EDI capable is a necessary step to optimize your supply chain and take your operations to the next level. Whether a vendor requires you to be EDI compliant, or you've simply decided to implement EDI in your operations, You'll be very glad you made the move.If your business already has an extensive supply chain that relies on manual data entry, paper processing, and fax machines – EDI is going to be a game-changer. Beyond having the ability to send documents safely electronically, the purpose of EDI is to make your supply chain as efficient as possible.The result is a lot of time and money saved while reducing processing errors and increasing visibility in your supply chain. However, before you can start enjoying the benefits of EDI, you have to become EDI capable.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE EDI CAPABLE?

Although EDI is all around us, it remains a foreign concept to the majority of people. We're often asked “what is EDI capable?” or “what is EDI capability?”.Being EDI capable simply having the ability to use EDI for business communications. The process of becoming EDI capable is usually referred to as EDI implementation.EDI capability is the infrastructure required to use EDI, but you will still have to do custom configuration for each trading partner in your EDI network – referred to as EDI compliance.

HOW TO BECOME EDI CAPABLE

Implementing EDI can be expensive and time-consuming when you do it yourself, but the good news is you can always have an EDI service provider implement EDI for you.Here's a basic overview of the EDI implementation process:

  1. Purchase and install your EDI software
  2. Configure your mailbox for receiving and storing EDI transactions
  3. Purchase and configure the necessary hardware for EDI
  4. Meet EDI compliance requirements set by your trading partners
  5. Purchase and configure EDI mapping and translation software to build maps for each trading partner
  6. Staff and train an EDI team or train existing IT team

Finally, You'll want to add digital security and backup solutions to ensure your data is safe from malicious attacks, as well as unexpected outages at the server location.As you can imagine, becoming EDI capable is a hassle for people who aren't already familiar with EDI. However, there's an easier option that removes all of the work and the significant upfront investment – outsourcing your EDI to a professional EDI service provider that handles all of this for you!

THE BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING EDI CAPABILITY TO BOLD VAN

Modern businesses want to keep their operations as lean and efficient as possible. For most businesses, it's more cost-effective to outsource EDI entirely to an EDI service provider.However, the benefits extend far beyond avoiding the cost and hassle of EDI implementation. Once you are EDI capable, you will still need to do EDI compliance to exchange EDI with trading partners, based on your industry and the type of documents you will be exchanging. Plus, regulatory bodies also have EDI compliance regulations that regularly change.Regardless of whether you develop your EDI infrastructure in-house or you outsource your EDI, you will still need an EDI VAN provider. A VAN (value-added network) is a network that meets the security requirements to exchange EDI documents with trading partners.As a BOLD VAN client, you never have to worry about anything related to EDI because we take care of everything for you. You can think of us as your virtual in-house EDI team.Why outsource EDI to BOLD VAN?

  • There's no hardware or software installation required from you.
  • EDI implementation is complimentary, and in most cases, we'll have you ready to go in less than one business day.
  • We provide a cloud-based EDI solution that you can access from any device with an internet connection.
  • We handle all EDI compliance for new and existing trading partners, as well as trading partner migration, at no extra cost.
  • Our VAN is fast, secure, and reliable with 24/7 security monitoring and a 99.998% uptime.
  • You won't have to hire and train any new staff to maintain EDI.
  • We cover all ongoing maintenance and regulatory compliance requirements.

Best of all, at BOLD VAN we offer a unique pricing model that allows you to exchanged EDI data each month while only paying a flat rate based on the number of active trading partners in your EDI network.In fact, thanks to our exclusive Trading Partner Pricing, businesses save up to 80% on their EDI costs when they switch from other EDI service providers.Get in touch with us today to learn more about how our EDI services can help your business scale efficiently!

BOLD VAN Marketing
Content Manager

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