Over the last several months I've noticed a growing interest in more partners connecting to Grocery Retailers than I have in the past, specifically around NEX/DEX. I'm not sure if these are new partners or if Grocery Retailers are now looking to expand their connections for DSD (Direct Store Delivery) orders through electronic trading but it seems like a good time to educate you on this system. ways that trading can be done, and alternatives to NEX.

This week I wrote about how VANs have evolved, and in my conversations while researching the article one resounding theme kept surfacing: integration.

Seems like today, given the fact just about everyone has a mobile phone (including the four-year-old my daughter played with today; granted it was a hand-me down from the parents, but it still worked!), that supply chain executives would want to access pertinent data away from their desks, while out and about and on the move.

Ok, before I go anywhere with this post I will admit the title is a bit corny. All I ask is to grant me a little leniency with the obvious cheese simply because it hit me like a “eureka” moment and there was no way I could pass up the opportunity.  Now that the pink elephant has been addressed, I can get into one of the topics that I am most passionate about within the EDI industry – integration of EDI into an organization’s ERP system. In order to truly reap the benefits of EDI, integration is not an option but rather a necessity. Any other configuration relegates an EDI relationship to not much more than an email or fax machine which is in direct opposition to the core purpose of EDI.