EDI – Electronic Data Interchange

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange), is the exchange of information between IT systems using previously agreed upon standards. The purpose of EDI is to eliminate multiple entries of the same data and to accelerate and increase the accuracy of the information sent. EDI defines the manner and scope of electronic communication between partners.

Within the EDI process, it is possible to define a sequence of sent and received messages, which may reflect the full business process with our partner. In the case of a sales process, it may be: Inquiry -> Offer -> Orders -> Delivery note -> Invoice -> Payment confirmation.

Advantages of electronic document interchange:

• ongoing, automatic data exchange, without the need for manual replication and without user participation,
• optimization of processes between business partners,
• reduction of time spent on transaction processing,
• reduction of errors in handling transaction documents,
• elimination of some documents created in paper form,
• improvement of commercial procedures,
• tightening the cooperation between the supplier and the recipient,
• reduction of costs of sending documents in paper form.

Types of EDI messages:

• basic data, containing information about companies and products that are exchanged between business partners, and which are referred to by other messages sent between them,
• transactions describing commercial processes between cooperating companies. They start with the order of a good or service and contain the messages necessary for the transport of the goods. The transaction ends with an invoice and payment order for goods or services,
• reports and planning are messages used to inform business partners about the current situation in the field of goods and plans for the future, enabling effective planning and management of the supply chain.