What is EDI 846 document?

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

What is EDI 846 Document?

One of the most important electronic EDI documents heavily exchanged between trading partners is the 846 X12 document. It is important mainly due to the evolution of the drop-shipping business that saw a great advancement in the last few years, because of eCommerce and online sales.

The EDI 846 document, also known as the Inventory Inquiry/Advice transaction set, is used in Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) to provide inventory information between trading partners in the context of e-commerce. This transaction set is commonly employed in the retail industry to facilitate the exchange of inventory details.

What is EDI 846

This EDI document originates from the paper-based “inventory inquiry and advice”. Basically, it is a notification sent by the manufacturer to the seller, advising about stock status and availability. It can also include pricing information. In other words, this EDI message is to exchange information about stock levels and the availability of goods.

For e-commerce, it is very important to have up-to-date information about the availability of goods. That is why one of the major EDI requirements for Amazon, is the capability of the supplier to transmit an EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry message. This is not only a requirement for Amazon exclusively; Other leading retailers such as Cabela’s, Wal-Mart, Costco … all have the same EDI requirement, to be able to feed their e-commerce platform with quality inventory status information.

The EDI 846 document can be sent to business partners, as many times as necessary. It can be 2-3 times a week, up to several times a day; each retailer has his own requirements. EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice permits suppliers to provide trading partners with information about their products without forcing them to make a purchase. In addition, the EDI 846 transaction is often used to notify business partners about the availability of goods at discounted prices.

EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry and Advice Usage

The other obvious question about 846: who uses this EDI 846 message other than Amazon and the major eCommerce retailers?
The truth is that not only eCommerce retailers can use this EDI transaction and exchange 846 documents. All trading partners can agree to use it to exchange inventory availability and stock level. Some examples:

  • sellers to provide inventory information to a potential customer
  • seller’s representatives to supply the seller with inventory information
  • one seller’s location to give another location inventory information
  • seller to demand the availability of inventory

Diverse Applications of the EDI 846 Transaction Set in Varied Industries and Business Scenarios

The EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice transaction, has varied usage across different industries and business scenarios. Its primary purpose is to provide detailed information about the current inventory levels of a product at a specific location, typically a warehouse or distribution center. This information is crucial for effective supply chain management and helps trading partners optimize their inventory levels and order fulfillment processes.

Here are some of the varied uses of EDI 846:

  1. Inventory Replenishment: Retailers and suppliers use the EDI 846 to communicate current inventory levels and forecast demand. This helps in making timely decisions regarding inventory replenishment and avoiding stockouts.
  2. Order Planning: The information exchanged through EDI 846 aids in order planning by providing insights into product availability. Retailers can adjust their order quantities based on the actual inventory levels at the supplier’s end.
  3. Demand Forecasting: By analyzing historical inventory data provided through EDI 846, businesses can better forecast future demand for products. This can lead to more accurate production and procurement planning.
  4. Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI): In VMI arrangements, suppliers use EDI 846 to monitor and manage the inventory levels at their customers’ locations. This collaborative approach helps in maintaining optimal stock levels and reducing carrying costs.
  5. Supply Chain Optimization: The use of EDI 846 contributes to overall supply chain optimization by enhancing communication and collaboration between trading partners. It streamlines the flow of information related to inventory, reducing manual processes and improving efficiency.
  6. E-commerce Integration: In the context of e-commerce, EDI 846 plays a role in updating online product availability and supporting real-time inventory visibility for customers. This is important for online retailers and marketplaces to provide accurate information to customers about product availability.

Overall, the varied usage of EDI 846 reflects its importance in facilitating efficient inventory management, enhancing collaboration between trading partners, and improving the overall supply chain performance.

What Information Does the EDI 846 Document Transmit?

In the EDI 846 transmission, inventory location identification, item, and part description, and quantity are the basic information included in almost any EDI 846 document; however, additional information can be added such as:

  • Quantity forecasted
  • Quantity sold already
  • Quantity available in stock
  • Pricing information
sample-edi-846

With EDI 846 online stores optimize their deliveries. They do not need to enter data manually into their internal systems, such as ERP  or back-office of their stores. It gives an accurate information to online shoppers about the availability of stock, in a real-time mode. Moreover, it does reduce the administration fees and expenses to process orders and items bought by consumers, while having no stock.

What are the Benefits of Using the EDI X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice?

The EDI X12 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice transaction set provides several benefits for businesses that use it. Here are some of the key benefits:

1. Improved inventory management: The 846 transaction set provides real-time updates on inventory levels and enables businesses to quickly identify inventory shortages or excesses. This helps businesses to optimize their inventory levels, reduce carrying costs, and avoid stockouts.

2. Increased efficiency: The use of EDI eliminates the need for manual data entry and reduces the risk of errors. This can result in faster order processing times, reduced labor costs, and improved accuracy.

3. Enhanced collaboration: The 846 transaction set allows for seamless communication between trading partners and provides a standardized format for inventory information. This makes it easier for businesses to collaborate with their partners and share inventory data consistently and efficiently.

4. Better decision-making: By having access to real-time inventory data, businesses can make better decisions about when to reorder products, how much to order, and where to allocate inventory. This can help businesses to reduce inventory holding costs, improve customer satisfaction, and increase profitability.

5. Competitive advantage: By using the 846 transaction set, businesses can differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering faster, more accurate inventory information to their customers. This can help businesses to attract and retain customers, increase customer loyalty, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.

For more information about how edi2xml fully managed services or web service can help you set up your EDI 846 Inventory Inquiry/Advice with your trading partners, please contact us.

Free EDI Consultation EDI 846

Related Posts:

Inventory management and forecast sales using INVRPT, SLSRPT, and SLSFCT
All you need to know about EDI ANSI X12 Transaction Set 850 Purchase Order
How EDI can speed the receiving of goods in a warehouse
What is EDI2XML Managed Services?
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Becoming EDI Compliant with Amazon for a Seamless Integration

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


As the Amazon Marketplace becomes people’s go-to for online shopping, I am asked about this successful eCommerce platform and why should e-retailers embrace EDI when selling on Amazon.com. Other great questions from business people include, “Why is it so important to go that route versus using Amazon Web Forms? What are the benefits to be on EDI? What are the steps that a company needs to follow, in order to become EDI-ready?”

To answer the above questions, I decided to write this article and share my experience. This can be helpful to a lot of business people such as executives and business owners and Amazon Account Managers, who most of the time have limited information about eCommerce integration and the use of EDI to simplify their business flow and processes.

What is Amazon.com?

Amazon.com is the pioneer in online retailing and now third largest retailer, behind Walmart and CVS. Amazon has truly come a long way: starting out as an online bookseller, this online marketplace now sells everything, from “A to Z”. In 2017, Amazon acquired Whole Foods Market for $13.4 billion, which vastly increased Amazon’s presence as a physical retailer. The acquisition was interpreted by some as a direct attempt to challenge Walmart as a physical store (As per Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_(company) ). Amazon, as an eCommerce platform, has a presence everywhere (Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, etc.) and is capable of delivering in almost every country. For more information, you can visit their site and learn more.

Here’s a bit more background on Amazon.com

  • Amazon is known to be “customer-obsessed”; they focus on selection, price and convenience to “build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online” (Amazon’s Mission Statement)
  • They are solely an online eCommerce store (eStore)
  • On Cyber Monday in 2019, it was reported  Amazon sales of $9.4 billion in wider retail.
  • Amazon has acquired Zappos in 2009 and recently acquired Whole Foods
  • It owns 10% of North American eCommerce – which includes Office Depot, Staples, Apple and Walmart

There are 310 million active Amazon customer accounts worldwide, 90 million of which are Amazon Prime members, many companies are looking to sell their products on Amazon.com. Who wouldn’t want to when Amazon is the KING of eCommerce Stores with roughly 175 million monthly visitors or potential buyers – the largest online marketplace.

Creating an Account & Selling on Amazon.com

Selling on Amazon is quite simple and quick to achieve. It takes few moments to create an account on Amazon.com either personal or business account, setup your items and start selling. Amazon themselves provide a payment gateway solution and all kinds of logistics and assistance to make sure your products are sold and delivered to consumers. One thing for certain, every seller should work and respect Amazons’ own terms and conditions and pay the monthly subscription fee along with the selected program fees.

Managing your Profile on Amazon.com

Part of Amazon’s offering in the eCommerce platform is that they provide an easy “back office” interface, called Vendor Central (for 1P sellers), where brand administrators can add items to the platform, prices, stock availabilities, product descriptions and more. In this same interface, the admin can manage orders received from consumers, updates item statuses and shipment details.

What else is on Amazon Vendor Central?

One of the options provided by Amazon Vendor Central is the ability to set some type of integration between your business software system and your Vendor Central Interface using EDI. This is a very important feature offered at no additional cost to sellers, so that they can integrate their day-to-day orders received from their Amazon store into their Software Management System and vice versa.

Amazon Vendor Central vs EDI Integration

As highlighted in the previous section, the Vendor Central provided by Amazon allows you (as an account and eCommerce store owner) to manage every aspect of your store, manually. This process depends on human interaction and intense manual labour work.

The ability to transport and integrate your data between your software system and your Amazon account in both directions (in and out) is uniquely done through EDI. Meaning when you want to extract an order from Amazon and automatically integrate into your JDE, SAP, Sage or any other system, the only way to do so is using EDI integration. Whenever you need to push new Items, SKUs, pricing ….to your store on Amazon, EDI is the only way to do so without having to manual key in all of this data.

When should you embrace EDI with Amazon?

Selecting the EDI route and becoming compliant with Amazon is truly worth the investment, when the following criteria is met:

  • An overwhelming number of SKUs are being sold on the Amazon Marketplace
  • Your SKUs and items sold on Amazon are dynamically changing periodically which makes it very difficult and time consuming for a human to manage it all manually
  • Your number of orders generated on Amazon are exceeding 15 per day. Why is the magic number 15 orders? This is due to the fact that the window to ship those orders out to your customers is very narrow, about 24 to 48 hours. Therefore, managing this amount of daily orders manually can lead to a ton of human errors and in turn, penalties by Amazon.

What are the top benefits to be on EDI?

There are many benefits to be on EDI when selling on Amazon:

  • Reduced human errors in data entry
  • Increased capacity to deliver quickly and on-time
  • Increased response time when issuing advance ship notices for orders placed on Amazon
  • Increased scores/reviews and happy customers on Amazon
  • Ability to quickly and efficiently update your inventory status from your current software or ERP (i.e. JDE, SAP…) into your Amazon account without the need to even login to Vendor Central

Stay on the lookout for part 2 of this article where I dig deeper into the steps that a company needs to follow in order to be EDI compliant with Amazon. In the meantime, feel free to reach our EDI integration experts today to help you with your Amazon integration needs.

Amazon Integration

For more information on Amazon integration, please read these articles:

EDI Integration: Tips to better manage your online business

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

 

Purchasing tickets, gifts, clothes, equipment and even groceries can now all be done online. Due to its accessibility and convenience, most of us already buy products online, from anywhere at anytime, using a smartphone or laptop, so long as we are connected to the Internet. Simple user interface, quick actions and results: everything is so easy that it only takes a few minutes. This explains why the number of online shoppers is growing at a tremendous rate, year after year. For example, the number of online shoppers in the United States alone is estimated to be 230.5 million by 2021 as compared to 215.4 million in 2017.

Online shoppers USA

Source: The Statistics Portal “Statista”  

The above graphic displays statistics about online shoppers who browsed products, compared prices or bought merchandise online at least once during the corresponding year.  Notice an increase of online buyers year over year due to the active introduction of Omnichannel retailing.

What is the omnichannel retailing?

 

Omnichannel is a cross-channel business model that companies use to improve their customer experience. “Omnis” can be translated from Latin as “existing everywhere”. In our case, covering all channels of communication with customers: as physical locations, online store, social media, live web chats, mobile applications, and telephone communications. The customer accesses all products and services in the most convenient way for him, while being always visible to the retailer.

Setting up your online store

 

Opening an online store in today’s digital world is NOT difficult; however, running the operations of an online business is of course a little more challenging. Here are some of the undeniable advantages of running an online store:

  • There are no rental fees
  • You need fewer employees to operate the store
  • Companies can overcome geographical limitations
  • Best of all, it is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

Use the best e-commerce practice

 

In order to not be left out of the e-commerce game, you should give great attention to detail and look for the best practices in operating your e-commerce business. On the Internet, there’s a ton of great advice for entrepreneurs who have started their online business already; it is about choosing an e-commerce platform, optimizing the page load speed, creating unique content, promoting the products, and the list goes on…

However, there isn’t much information out there that talks about the technical and logistical aspects of running an online store. Critical information that e-business owners should know are things like how to exchange documents electronically between your e-business and trading partners or transport companies. There’s also the important e-commerce practice of integrating your systems and electronic exchange of data (or EDI) in order to improve speed, accuracy, quality of information and overall business efficiency.

The role of EDI integration in logistics and e-commerce

 

The term “logistics” even in the traditional retail sense was not always so clear-cut and far from being obvious. Business logistics can be defined as:

Definition of business logistics

When running an e-commerce business, regardless of which supply chain management methodology you choose (Drop-Ship or other), you will have to face a substantial amount of business related documents that you need to exchange with your trading partners.

Now, let’s do a simple calculation: how much time do your employees spend on order entry, shipping advice, invoices, generating labels? What is the error rate? Maybe that’s why the rate of returns of online sold products is sky-high. Research about e-commerce product returns shows:

statistics online return

Online return reason

In my opinion, the statistics shown above reflecting e-commerce product returns looks frightening… Is it possible to reduce the above percentages?  Can your online business avoid those errors?

EDI integration improves the quality of the data by at least 30% to 40 % reduction in the transactions containing errors, by eliminating unreadable writing or typing errors, the losses of faxes/mail, transmission, and re-manipulation of errors.

Think and manage your online business better

 

The positive effects of EDI Integration will be measurable across all of the following services: commerce, production, logistics, and finance.

In sales:

  • Sales cycle and quality of the relationship with your customers are improved and processing times reduced (reliability and efficiency of exchanging orders, shipping advice etc. …)

In production:

  • Reduced production costs
  • Better management of your stocks
  • Short production times

In logistics:

  • Reduced processing times for shipments
  • Elimination of anomalies or errors
  • Elimination of paper documents
  • Strong improvement in the quality of information

In finance:

  • Reduced billing times
  • Reduction of disputes

In conclusion, moving forward with an EDI integration project gives a business the access to an undeniable competitive advantage; companies are able to reduce the costs of its products and services, improve business processes and meet the demand of customers and suppliers. What’s better than that?

Keep learning about EDI integration and the MANY benefits it has for your online business by visiting our website EDI2XML.com or contacting us directly today!

Free EDI Consultation

 

How EDI integration can boost your eCommerce Store

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

With the evolution of eCommerce in the last few years, EDI integration is getting more and more widespread in the e-retail vertical. This trend is due to the heritage of the traditional retail businesses. Why is this happening and how EDI is helping e-commerce retail stores?

According to Statista.com, in 2016, retail e-commerce sales worldwide amounted to 1.86 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are projected to grow to 4.48 trillion US dollars in 2021. Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide.

Therefore, today, e-commerce sales is one of the segments of the economy with a huge development potential.

e-commerce-sales-worldwide-from-2014-to-2021

 

What are the most popular e-commerce platforms in 2019?

Plenty of e-commerce platforms are available on the Internet, but the most popular and most effective in 2019 market are the following:

Shopify  Shopify
Bigcommerce bigcommerce
Magento  Magento
WooCommerce  Woocommerce
Volusion  volusion

If you look at the comparative table in Google trends, you will see that Shopify is the leader in terms of how many businesses use this platform for their own eCommerce, versus how many they show interest in the other e-commerce platforms.

google-trends-e-commerce-platforms

 

How many Stores are using Shopify?

Launched in 2004 Shopify is one of the leading Canadian e-commerce platforms, trusted by over 500,000 businesses worldwide. As new shops are signing up every day, the real exact number is higher. For more information abut shopify, you can visit their website.

Fully Managed Shopify Integration Service

We at EDI2XML eliminate the need for manual data entry using Magic xpi Integration Platform, we automate the most important business processes, ensuring data exchange between Shopify/Shopify Plus and leading ERP and accounting systems. LEARN MORE>

Boost your company’s productivity with EDI

Business owners, including e-commerce store owners, are all always looking for a better way to improve efficiency, and customer service in a very well connected digital world.

In that direction, the Drop-ship concept has emerged to become one of the top delivery model adopted with major ecommerce retailers. With this concept, consumers have access to a large inventory of goods, delivered directly from the manufacturer (most of the time). This is delivering a smooth shopping experience that is secure, convenient and comfortable.

In order for the ecommerce owners to compete in this new reality, their offerings of products and services, should be built in such an efficient way, where their items’ prices, stock and inventory availability, are all up-to-date right from their manufacturer’s system, in near real-time.

Their delivery schedules are also a factor: eCommerce stores should be equipped with real-time calculation of delivery cost and ETD, again right from the shipping or transport company.

EDI integration between an eCommerce platform and the manufacturers, in the drop-ship world, is one of the best options to accomplish the above objectives. EDI helps streamline the Supply-chain management and improve efficiency.

To know more about the reasons why you should integrate EDI with your Shopify eCommerce store, read our previous blog called “Top 3 Reasons for EDI integration with Shopify”

Benefits of EDI

It’s no secret to anyone that the traditional methods of document management are outdated, they are quite costly and can impede the interaction between trading partners. This becomes especially noticeable when the business grows.

 EDI interchange has existed for more than 30 years. Over the years, EDI has been tested and proven to work, in North America and Europe. EDI has repeatedly and most importantly demonstrated its effectiveness in reducing human errors and improving quality of information.

EDI is a major helper for online stores

EDI service translates into electronic format (or messages), the entire interaction between the eCommerce store, the supplier and the consumer – from the order to the signature of delivery documents.

The exchange of information takes place directly between the systems of trading partners, therefore, the influence of the human factor, and errors are at its minimum.

If you want to know more about EDI2XML translation, read this article on our website

EDI significantly simplifies and speeds up the logistics work: ordering, packaging, shipping and delivery.

Comparing eCommerce store to a traditional outlet store, the latter will have more constraints and limitations on stock availability and delivery methods: with an online store having EDI integration in place, this problem does not exist. All availabilities are up-to date right from the supplier’s system. An eCommerce store owner, with integration capabilities will not worry about having an “empty shelf”…he does not have to worry about hiring more employees to answer customer service calls.

EDI integration, empowers eCommerce online stores with the capability to reduce their costs, increase efficiency, improve stock availability and customer service.

If you are interested to learn more about this topic or any EDI integration related issue, don’t hesitate to Contact us for a free Consultation and we will be more than happy to answer your concerns and questions.

Free EDI consultation

How to solve Shopify eCommerce integration with EDI

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

 

ECommerce (or online retail) has been a growing trend over the last few years. Due to this, business partners, retailers and suppliers have been transforming their flows and processes in order to better serve today’s well-connected, tech-savvy and wise consumer, who is constantly plugged in to the latest technologies. Read more

EDI X12, EDIFACT, CSV, XML – Why is a conversion necessary?

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
x12-to-xmlcsv

EDI formats are not understood or easily read by just anyone. It requires an EDI expert to be able to read the files and dissect them. Many large Trading Partners impose their own rules and requirements on top of those outlined by the standards, which is why, in many cases of translation, it is not always as straightforward as hoped. Most business executives are hesitant to begin trading via EDI because of these complexities.

However, if you find the right EDI Provider, who can handle all translations, all EDI mapping, all Partner configurations and all outbound and inbound communication with your partners, then you have nothing to worry about.

Our very own EDI2XML translation and integration services eliminate all of these complexities for you and you can begin trading electronically in no time. If you have your own in-house EDI and IT integration expert(s), then they can simply use our EDI2XML Web Service.

If you’re looking to meet your Trading Partner’s requirements but also keep your business processes streamlined and integrated internally, then check out EDI2XML. Our team of EDI experts are experienced and flexible enough to work with any EDI format, where specs are readily available, and convert to a format your team or system can work with. It’s about keeping costs low and simplifying the whole EDI communication process. Contact us today!

 

Free EDI Consultation

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Convert EDI to XML: The EDI2XML Way

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

 

Why convert EDI to XML?

In this blog post, I will explain why our team decided to convert EDI to XML as well as the advantages and benefits of using this conversion from EDI to XML. On many occasions, EDI consultants, project managers and EDI developers and implementers brought up the following questions:

What are the benefits of having an EDI X12 file format converted to XML?

Why do we need to convert from EDI to XML and not to a database, csv or other file formats directly?

Quick review of EDI2XML

As you might already know, EDI2XML is a technology to convert X12 EDI to XML for incoming EDI documents. At the same time, the engine is intelligent and capable of converting an XML document to an EDI X12 format. This process of turning an X12 EDI file to XML happens because we have taken the time to build pre-defined xml schemas (xsd files) that respond to the business needs of 99.99% of EDI consumers.

EDI developers and integrators are able to use any loop, node or element they need to push to their database for incoming EDI documents. While for outgoing EDI documents in XML format, they are able to pick and choose the node, or EDI element they want to transmit out, fill it in, and send over to EDI2XML engine in order to create the EDI file in X12 format.

Read: Best EDI Processing Options: Service Bureau VS Translation & Integration Solution

Convert EDI to Database or other formats

In the beginning stages of development, we established a list of objectives and a list of possible formats we can use. This was essential, as we needed to evaluate which file format would be best to use as a destination format for incoming EDI documents and outgoing EDI documents.

Objectives to convert EDI

We wanted our EDI conversion technology to respond to the following criteria, as much as possible:

  • Cross-platform: could be triggered on multiple platforms (at least Windows and Linux)
  • Scalable: easily upgradable without the need for heavy work and programming to add a new document or process
  • Portable: could run without any limitation on database, file format or operating system
  • Simple to operate and launch: at the time, we wanted to have the solution as simple as possible so no need to have a very extensive EDI expertise and knowledge in order to work with our EDI conversion tool.

Options for EDI conversion

Below is the list of formats we had put together when we started the R&D, during our brainstorming sessions prior to developing the engine to convert EDI.

  • Convert EDI to Database: this was the first option we had in mind since it was simple and easy to deploy. However, we went into the limitations of portability and compatibility as well as the choice of the Database. What database is the most portable?
  • Convert EDI to CSV: option #2 was also on the table early on, since the csv format is commonly known and heavily used. However, because of the quality of data that anyone might receive within an EDI transmission (carriage return, line feed, special characters…), which might cause the data to be a little less “sanitized”, we opted out of this option and eliminated this format from our list.
  • XML: this was the last option we had on the table. We decided that this would be the best choice due to its flexibility, good structure and ease of use. It responded extremely well to all our technological objectives and more.

Why EDI to XML

Read: Free EDI to XML converter: What’s the catch?

There are many reasons why we selected the XML format as a destination to translate EDI, over other means. Following are some of these reasons:

Simplicity and self-descriptive: data encoded in XML is easy to read and understand by humans (i.e. EDI developers,) and it was becoming easier to process by computers

  • XML format is standardized: XML is a W3C standard and it is endorsed by software industry market leaders
  • XML is structured: No fixed tags; it represents perfectly the hierarchical structure of an EDI file.<
  • Support of multi-lingual and Unicode: very important for exchanging EDI documents at the international level
  • Rapid adoption by programmers and developers: since the use of XML was on the rise, converting EDI to XML was a good decision. Nowadays, it is very rare to find a developer or a consultant who does not work with XML

Having the ability to convert X12 EDI to XML gave us a competitive advantage over other developers involved in EDI projects. We have already implemented this converter in many businesses as well as helped IT consultants leverage EDI2XML in their EDI integration projects.

If you would like to know more about the plans offered for EDI2XML (Free Consultation), or would like to see it in action (live Demo), please do not hesitate to contact us.

Free EDI Demo

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EDI2XML | SAAS EDI translation software

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EDI (or Electronic data interchange) is the electronic file format used to exchange business transactions between trading partners. ANSI X12 is the most commonly used format of EDI in North America in the retail, manufacturing and healthcare industries.

EDI2XML is a mapping tool, capable of converting EDI files to XML. “Out of the box” EDI2XML translates EDI documents (i.e. 850, 860, 820…) into XML format that is readable by people and systems. It is capable of translating an XML format into an EDI format (i.e. 810,856,..). Basically, EDI2XML is an EDI to XML converter; it is also an XML to EDI converter.

Using EDI2XML helps you:

  • Streamline and simplify EDI projects, and cut EDI mapping software costs by 75 %.
  • Increase your Return on investment on EDI integration projects, by eliminating the need for complex EDI systems, and expensive EDI software that takes weeks and months to setup and configure.
  • Increase efficiency of your developers and EDI integrators, by providing them with a great EDI translation software, without the need of  extensive EDI expertise. “Out of the box”, the edi2xml engine provides an easy to read EDI document in a user friendly XML format which is very simple to integrate into any business software application.

EDI2XML converts EDI to XML. The same engine is intelligent enough to process XML and convert to EDI. Both engines, are bundled together and offered under the SAAS model (software as a service), where you pay per EDI docmeunt, per trading partner and per year. EDI2XML is the EDI translation software as a service that can help you get started with your EDI integration projects at a very low initial capital investment.

Read: Convert EDI to XML: the Winning SaaS Option

Free EDI Demo 

Not interested in EDI integration projects, and looking for a complete Business Management Software Suite, that has a built-in EDI capability? Click here to learn more about our ErpWizard Suite, our premium management software solution!

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How is EDI2XML licensed ?

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The licensing scheme of EDI2XML

EDI2XML is licensed in two ways: On Premises or as a Service. Both of these plans consist of converting EDI X12 files to XML format, as well as XML to EDI X12. The licensing scheme is affordable and very simple, allowing users to have unlimited EDI transactions per month per partner.

A license consists of an affordable one-time initial investment fee per partner as well as a recurring fee – maintenance & support fee paid yearly for the ‘on Premises’ option and a monthly subscription fee for the SaaS option.

Please consult our list of features for EDI2XML on premises as well as for EDI2XML as a Service.

We provide an EDI2XML portal for self-service users, where they are able to login and manage their EDI2XML profile at any moment.

EDI2XML was developed to simplify EDI projects and keep them under budget. Start enjoying cost savings and more free time when it comes to your EDI assignments!

 

Read: How much does a license subscription cost?

Free EDI Demo

 

*Please note that the EDI2XML “on premises” engine (or executable) runs on your server, on a platform running Microsoft windows operating system and .NET framework.

*VAN fees are NOT included

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How does EDI2XML work ?

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How does EDI2XML work?

In simple terms, EDI2XML is a converter from EDI X12 format to XML format. The result XML format file is based on a pre-defined schema (xsd); we call it our “EDI2XML format”. Here is a very simple graphical description of the EDI2XML engine “in action”.

EDI Platform

Read: What is EDI ?

EDI2XML can work in two directions by changing a little switch when executing the command:

  • Convert incoming EDI X12 files to XML format
  • Convert outgoing XML format files to EDI format
For incoming EDI files, after a raw X12 EDI file is received using communication software and the EDI2XML engine is triggered, the following actions are executed one after the other:
– EDI2XML will verify the structure of the received file to make sure it is a valid raw EDI X12 format file
– If the raw EDI X12 file is valid in terms of structure, it will run another path to eliminate any information not considered part of EDI; for example, some headings and footers sent through the EDI VAN are automatically cleaned as it does not relate to any business information exchanged with the EDI partner
– The engine is smart enough to split a batch of incoming EDI files inside the same physical file, by envelop (ISA) and by ISA id, as a preparation for the conversion to XML, regardless of its EDI standard and revision
– Once all of the above is completed, the engine would generate for each one of the EDI files an equivalent XML formatted file.
The EDI2XML engine works a little differently when converting raw X12 files from an XML format. Once the engine is triggered with the option to convert XML to EDI X12 format, it will do the following actions:
– For each XML file found, EDI2XML will validate its structure and find out if it is well formed, to make sure it is compliant with edi2xml format and schema
– For each valid XML file, the engine will convert from XML to X12 raw EDI format
*It is important to note that the XML file should comply with a pre-defined xsd (or schema). All necessary information related to EDI versions and standards are sent within the XML file. For incoming and outgoing edi2xml formatted files, only files from the “ licensed” partners are being processed. Any EDI or XML file sent from/to an unlicensed partner will NOT be processed at all.

Read: How is EDI2XML licensed ?

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