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What is EDI?

July 28, 2016
2 min read
General

EDI is driving significant improvements throughout business.
To understand the benefits of EDI, one must first understand what it is.

“What is EDI?”

To save you the time of scouring Google to read through a bland dictionary description, we have provided the answer right here:

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners.

Sounds simple enough, but what does it mean for your business? Specifically, by moving from a paper-based exchange of business documents to one that is electronic, companies experience improvements relating to reduced costs, decreased errors, increased processing speed, and enhanced relationships with business partners.

A recent report from Forrester called “The Future of EDI” outlined some of the benefits EDI provides to businesses. EDI can:

  • Reduce the order-to-cash cycle time by 20+%, whereby improving business partner relationships (1)
  • Lower transaction costs by at least 35% by eliminating expenses associated with paper, printing, reproduction, storage, filing, postage, and document retrieval (1)
  • Improve data quality by delivering at least a 30-40% reduction in transaction errors–no more illegible handwriting, lost faxes/mail, or re-keying data! (1)

Recognizing the importance of EDI to business functions, Distribution One offers EDI as one of the main supplemental components of ERP-ONE. Being a complete enterprise management solution for Wholesalers and Distributors, ERP-ONE delivers MORE of the crucial features and benefits businesses require to compete in an ever changing marketplace.

ERP-ONE provides interconnected applications from Order Entry, CRM, Invoicing, A/R, A/P, Purchasing, Inventory & Warehouse Management, GL, and so much more. ERP-ONE also offers frequently requested features like Quality Control Tracking, RF Scanning, VMI, Lot Control, and a suite of Mobile Apps.

1. Vollmer, Ken.  (2/4/2011).  The Future of EDI.  Forrester.

Grace Barton Avatar

Grace Barton

Marketing Specialist

Grace Barton is a digital marketing and competitive intelligence professional who crafts strategic narratives by bridging marketing insights with analytical expertise. At Advantive, she creates engaging, data-driven content tailored to the distribution, manufacturing, packaging, and quality industries. Her goal is to deliver impactful messaging that drives engagement and growth based on specific gap closure needs, whether responding to sales organization requirements, pinpointing gaps in content, or meeting immediate market trends.
She thrives on transforming competitive intelligence into actionable insights for the sales organization. Grace manages Advantive's competitive intelligence platform, Klue, to equip the sales team with the battlecards and market data they need to stay ahead of competitors. Since launch, she's built 28+ battlecards across four lines of business, ensuring the GTM strategy stays sharp.
Grace has a passion for leveraging market insights with storytelling to guide strategic decision-making, empower sales organizations, and nurture organizational growth.

Areas of Expertise: Digital Marketing, Competitive Intelligence, Strategic Narratives, Marketing Insights, Analytical Expertise
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