Recently I've had opportunity to converse with suppliers who have won contracts with large organizations….refreshing to see. Maybe our economy is continuing to turn for the better - that's only my own opinion as my expertise isn’t in our economy. But like everyone else, I can have hope! Securing a contract is a big win. But now is the time to execute on the finer points. I can state with some certainty the contract will probably involve the use of EDI for purchasing tasks. It is becoming more of the norm sans Mom and Pop operations...but can’t rule our smaller businesses these days!
If you are a supplier newer to this requirement, that’s okay. An organization is no longer labelled as “not on the forefront” if they don’t house their systems. It’s a figment of the past. There are now many options available to fulfill EDI requirements without traditional in-house systems. The biggest decision these days is which solution is best to execute. It's important to keep an open mind to allow for the best decision for the short and long term.
EDI solutions today include the traditional translator/software ownership, sourcing to a third party to translate or using a web based application. This just conveys a few of many. But let’s focus on what your decision tree should probably look like to determine what is best for your organization.
There are some important areas to think about in greater detail prior to making a decision.
- Which transactions must your organization support - PO, POA, ASN, Invoice? It is also important to understand the volume. Is it one PO per day? 100? Multiply the POs with additional transactions and this will lend you some thought to manpower required given your chosen EDI solution.
- How clean and simple is your item data? Is it in your system as repeatable? Does it require special entry per item? Would the data require manual entry or manual manipulation once in your order management system?
- What are your customer’s expectations for transaction receipt? 24 hours? 48? This will assist in determining resource from a timing basis. For example, if product was shipped for ten POs and the customer required the ASN and invoice within 24 hours, will you have the manpower to enter 20 transactions via a manual method? What happens if there are more transactions? What if there is less?
- What growth opportunity lies ahead for your organization? Do you need to start big?
The largest system does not necessarily execute the best processes any longer. Have a vision of what the process steps are needed to support your customer and apply a solution that is most simplistic. Less is more these days. Think about an EDI solution that allows for the ability to grow, expand or migrate to another solution. Do you need to have a final solution today or can the solution grow with your company? Bigger is not always better anymore. Something to think about.