Over 95% of all Electronic Business Transactions take place using EDI. Implementing a new ERP system usually requires a new EDI module. Picture yourself in the Indianapolis 500 driving the wining car on the final lap when all of the sudden your engine starts to shutter. The crew radios you to pull over into the pit stop and when you do your worst fear is discovered. You need to replace the engine. Game over…

2. Electronic Data Interchange Decoupled
Over 95% of all Electronic Business Transactions take place using EDI.
Implementing a new ERP system usually requires a new EDI module.
Picture yourself in the Indianapolis 500 driving the wining car on the final lap when all of the sudden
your engine starts to shutter. The crew radios you to pull over into the pit stop and when you do your
worst fear is discovered. You need to replace the engine. Game over…
EDI transition is an arduous task that can make or break any company. EDI is one of the KEY modules
that needs to be thoroughly thought out at the beginning of the design phase. A “decoupled” approach
can seamlessly change any ERP without the disruption of your Electronic Business Transactions.
The top 3 challenges for EDI Implementation:
1. B2B Integration
The customer onboarding process is quite intense from the mappings to the required
documents. The vendor standards manuals are constantly changing to meet the new
requirements of the trading partners. You’re not just trying to hit one moving target, you’re
trying to hit all the trading partners in a very short time. Also, If you have the need to change
your sender/receiver id than you will have to go back to “testing” mode and start all over.
2. Tightly coupled
There are so many connections from ERP to EDI it is like being tethered down and no room to
move. These connections are like a spider web. “Coupling, combine’s the contradictory
concepts of connection and autonomy.”
3. Lack of visibility
How do I trace the problem back to a specific step without having to receive the document
again? This can be one of the most frustrating tasks for an EDI manager. Why go back to the
beginning if I can go back to where the problem occurred and fix from the specific step.
The ability to see the risks ahead will better prepare and overcome most challenges and align for a
successful implementation.
Strategy, Tactics and Execution…

3. Now that the strategy is established with key risks, the tactics are clearly defined:
 Align business rules by customer for all aspects of pick, pack and ship
 Remove all unnecessary steps from previous EDI module
 Establish the SLA with the EDI software support team
 Build an alliance with the EDI trading partner support team
 Train, Train, and more training
 The “customer rules” can be aligned and setup one time with Partner Link and you can change
ERP seamlessly without any disruption.
 The “Decoupled” approach aligns the EDI module autonomous from the ERP
 No need to change the EDI module when implementing a new ERP
 Cloud scalability
Once all of the pieces of the puzzle are in place the EDI will flow naturally. A reoccurring task is to
update the vendor standards manuals for any changes that may take place over the course of time such
as routing guides DC and Store additions or closings.
The execution of the EDI solution aligned with the required business rules will allow your EDI process to
run smoothly along with KPI’s to alert with detailed information.
You are now prepared to win the EDI race with precision and accuracy.