Exchanging documents such as purchase orders, sales orders, invoices, shipping information and other crucial documents can be time-consuming & prone to error.
Each process may require the exchanging of several related documents and using standard methods such as mail, fax, or post will not only take up a chunk of your time but also create significant delays in your processes.
As competition grows within industries, companies struggle to stay ahead by increasing efficiency through automation, and EDI is rapidly taking over the business world in terms of document exchange between businesses.
Derived from the term Electronic Data Interchange, EDI is the rapid digital exchange of business documents from one computer to another via standard formats.
In layman’s terms, EDI means exchanging business documents between a business its suppliers and vendors through software using preset standard formats instead of physically taking the time to fax, email or post them.
SPS Commerce is one of the most established, reputed & trusted EDI solution providers for the product-based industry.
With a retail network of over 250,000 connections and over 500,000 trading connections including giants like Amazon, Cosco & many others across the world, SPS Commerce has successfully built over 12,000 drop ship connections & over 1,000 pre-qualified 3PL connections too.
But it gets even better. SPS Commerce consists of over 200 ERPs to provide businesses with a better retail-supplier experience.
Whether you are a retailer, supplier, 3PL, carrier, grocer, distributor or eCommerce business, SPS Commerce provides solutions to streamline your document exchanging process.
EDI from SPS Commerce also means:
Imagine you are a product-based business dealing with inventory coming in and out of your warehouses.
A vendor places an order to purchase goods from you by sending you a Purchase Order (PO) stating what he wants, in what quantities he wants it, and the date he wants the goods to be delivered to him.
Once you get the Purchase Order you need to send him a document either accepting the PO or informing him if you are unable to accommodate his requirement and providing information on the adjusted terms & quantities that you can accommodate. Once and if you accept it and ship it, you need to send across what’s known as an advanced ship notice, providing crucial information such as when the goods were dispatched, when it is expected to reach their warehouse and shipping labels etc. Lastly, you need to send an invoice to ensure payment.
Now think of the number of documents required to complete one order, and some businesses deal with dozens of orders like these per day. Imagine creating these documents and physically sending them across to each one of your vendors and receiving documents as such too.
Not only will the whole process cost a huge amount of time, but it will also be prone to data errors, and mismatches and run the risk of not being able to send the goods on time.
This is where EDI from SPS Commerce comes into play, allowing businesses to automatically exchange this information using their standard formats with just a few clicks and in a fraction of the usual time required.
How? The giant network of connections that SPS Commerce has built allows you to utilise its EDI solution to its full potential with ease.
Purchase Order (PO) – EDI 850
Purchase Order Acknowledgement – EDI 855
Advance Shipping Notice (ASN) – EDI 856
Inventory Inquiry/Advice – EDI 846
Functional Acknowledgement – EDI 997
Invoice – EDI 810
Apart from these, SPS Commerce also offers you a variety of logistic document formats and more. Find the Full List here.
Although the EDI setup through an API integration may sound simple, integrating it with your existing systems and training your staff to utilise the system to its full potential may not be as simple.
It requires understanding and mapping your business processes and setting it up to align and respond to these processes as well.
We at WAO Connect possess the expertise and experience to proactively set up and manage your EDI connections to ensure the accuracy of data flow.
SPS Commerce integrates seamlessly with ERPs like Odoo and Inventory Management Systems like DEAR to provide an even better EDI experience.