It’s rare that I decry EDI, but I encourage a serious look into how and if this bastion of trade is keeping up with the needs of commerce and incorporating the most appropriate technologies. Here’s a look at what might be a shortcoming that needs to be addressed.

Christina Robinson of Mastercraft Manufacturing talks with Scott Koegler at the 2011 U Connect conference.

ec-bp.com  eCommerce Best Practices for the Supply Chain

ec-bp was established in 2003 as the advocate for lowering the barriers to the adoption of EDI, and our email newsletter has been published every month since that time. Our focus has expanded beyond EDI to encompass the full gamut of supply chain practices and technologies. In addition, our readership  has grown to become the largest of any similarly focused publication, and has expanded to include more than 70,000 professionals involved in nearly every aspect of the supply chain.

Today’s supply chain is more than simple transport of EDI documents. The complexity of maintaining compliance with trading partners, managing the ever increasing amount of data, and analyzing that data to drive constant improvement in processes and service take supply chain professionals far beyond the basics of mapping EDI documents.

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This On the Line interview is with Chelle Wright, director of vendor compliance for Helen of Troy. She's been able to reduce the company's chargebacks from a previous rate of $12 million to the current rate of $2 million. Nice work.