Estimated reading time: 3 minutes, 45 seconds

Cecil's Reality Check

I had the windows down as I cruised up I-35 toward Minneapolis. Spring was in the air and my thoughts were on... well, let's just say that I was revelling in the fresh air and sunshine. I pulled in for a late lunch at a little downtown restaurant that was recommended to me by a frequent visitor to the Twin Cities.

I sat at a table for one and sipped on my tea, eyeing the lunch crowd. A few locals strolled over to what seemed to be their regular table and sat down. They were talking business of course, but interestingly they were talking about EDI, and what their customers were going through. I debated introducing myself and joining in to the discussion, but frankly I thought that I would get more interesting information just listening in rather than participating. Turns out my hunch was right.

These people were employees of a local EDI provider, and were discussing the challenges they were finding when dealing with their clients and prospects. In general, they were all experiencing the same issues but of course each client had a different version.

Growing up and growing out
What had previously been a fairly focused sales process had become a complex adventure into the prospect's internal workings. These folks deal with large retailers with $200 million or more in sales... precisely the kinds of companies that find themselves squeezed by their behemoth competitors who not only have the resources to make the rules, but are far ahead in implementing solutions. Rather than concentrating on purchase orders and invoices, the process now revolves around expanding the scope of both existing and planned EDI initiatives.

Management of the entire supply chain is expanding, and the requirements for maintaining control, reducing errors, optimizing shipping and delivery, and integrating with ERP is at the center of these companies' demands.

I didn't hear any one particular requirement stand out. Rather, the table-talk was rife with acronyms that didn't even exist in the EDI world a few years ago.

One trend did seem to emerge, and that was the need to automate multiple order management models into a cohesive system. The old model of shipping from a supplier to a central warehouse, then to distribution centers, and out to stores has morphed into a variety of shipping arrangements. They range from direct to consumer, direct to store, cross-docking, and any other way of getting product from supplier to end use that can shave off a stopping point.

The logistics of this disjointed distribution can be a nightmare. And these folks spent a lot of time talking about labels, and how important they are to the process. The problem they most often identified was getting the small, non-English speaking suppliers especially in the Asian market to label shipments. If the proper label is attached at the package level, the entire route can be managed. Of course, the problem is delivering the technology half way around the globe.

A related issue then, is the increased complexity of the ASN that becomes more than just a "It's on its way" message. Again, the trick is getting the level of complexity wrapped into easily usable systems.

Is there an answer?
The group got up before they solved all the problems of the EDI world, but they did come to a couple of conclusions beyond just the fact that life is more complex. They've been able to deliver the technology to pretty nearly every size organization from mom&pop to Fortune 500 using online services that don't need to be installed on local computers. And all the complexity is centralized so that mapping and translations are done once and reused, rather than created individually for each trading partner.

If that's the only thing they've accomplished, I call it a big win. But they were still chattering about catalogs, data synchronization, and application integration as they walked out the door. I was tempted to follow them to hear the rest of the story but I couldn't leave that piece of apple pie on the table.

I'll check in with you once more before the UConnect conference in Nashville. If you haven't made your plans yet, be sure to check it out. And if you think you've done a good job at an EDI implementation, grab a nomination form and fill it in quick. You can still be eligible for one of the eC-BP Best Practices Awards that will be given out Tuesday night during the conference.

Till next time, Cheers!

Cecil

Read 3776 times
Rate this item
(1 Vote)

Visit other PMG Sites:

PMG360 is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal data we collect from our subscribers/agents/customers/exhibitors and sponsors. On May 25th, the European's GDPR policy will be enforced. Nothing is changing about your current settings or how your information is processed, however, we have made a few changes. We have updated our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy to make it easier for you to understand what information we collect, how and why we collect it.