Streamline communication with trading partners through EDI Integration—automate data exchange, reduce errors, and strengthen business relationships.

Tag Archive for: EDI Integration

Top 3 Reasons For EDI Integration With Shopify

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.
EDI integration with Shopify

In short, Shopify is one of the leading Canadian eCommerce platforms offered to businesses and individuals, based on a monthly subscription fee. Anyone can subscribe and then begin to showcase their products online, to sell directly to the public. For more information about Shopify, you can visit their website here.

Who Uses Shopify?

Shopify is a popular e-commerce platform that can be used by individuals and businesses of all sizes to create and manage their online stores. Here are some of the types of people who use Shopify:
  1. Small business owners: Shopify is an excellent platform for small business owners who want to sell products online without having to deal with the technical aspects of building an e-commerce website.
  2. Entrepreneurs: Many entrepreneurs use Shopify to create and sell their own products online, whether it be clothing, beauty products, or digital downloads.
  3. Large businesses: Shopify’s scalability makes it a popular choice for larger businesses that need a platform that can handle high levels of traffic and sales.
  4. Dropshippers: Shopify’s integrations with popular dropshipping apps and tools make it an attractive option for dropshippers who want to sell products without having to hold inventory.
  5. Non-profits: Shopify offers special pricing and features for non-profits, making it an excellent platform for charities and other non-profit organizations to sell merchandise and raise funds online.

Overall, Shopify is a flexible platform that can be used by a wide range of people and businesses to create and manage their online stores.

A Word on Drop-Shipping

One important thing to emphasize here is that with the emergence of the online retail (or eCommerce) market, companies selling products through the Internet on platforms such as Shopify, are not necessarily carrying inventory of their products anymore.

More and more, once a company receives an online order from a customer (through the Shopify platform), these orders are then transferred to the manufacturing business partner(s) for shipping and delivery of the bought item(s), where they are told the “white label” the delivery package. This concept is called “Drop-Ship” (or Drop Shipping) in the retail and eCommerce world. Basically, the seller receives orders from their online retail store and is paid via the Internet (through PayPal or credit card) and then forwards the order to the manufacturer to then ship directly to the client. For many, there is now no need to hold inventory in a local warehouse.

What Does EDI Have To Do With eCommerce?

For those who aren’t very familiar with EDI (or Electronic Data Interchange), it is a set of standards and processes to exchange business documents electronically between Business (or Trading) Partners. Common business documents include Purchase Orders, Invoices, ASNs (Advance Ship Notice), Inventory Inquiry/Advice and more. This data exchange can happen in both directions – incoming and outgoing.

In the context of online sales over the Internet, on an eCommerce platform like Shopify as well as with the introduction of drop-shipping, EDI comes into play for several reasons;

1. Most major manufacturing and distribution companies will require a system-to-system integration through some sort of EDI. This speeds up processes and allows for greater efficiency in partner communication.

2. Shipping companies also require integration via EDI.

3. Today, consumers are very well educated and require to be informed on the status of their orders at every step of the way during the shipping process.

As you may notice, all of the above requires system-to-system integration between so many unrelated or diverse systems and platforms. At this point in time, most major companies and retailers are well equipped with EDI platforms and standards in which they have been investing in for many years now. Companies are now finding more ways to use their EDI to increase efficiency and are truly seeing returns on their investments.

Top 3 Reasons Why You Need EDI Integration With Shopify

The reasons may seem obvious to you at this point, but I will re-iterate the top 3 reasons for EDI integration with your Shopify store or any other eCommerce platform;

Cloud Services Provider If you are in the Drop-Ship business and you are selling online through Amazon, Wal-Mart, Cabela’s or Target, for example, chances are that these retailers will impose certain rules, and require that you go on EDI. If you are dealing with suppliers, they will also impose similar rules and require the use of EDI.

Cloud Services Provider If you are selling online through your own store via Shopify, and you have a high volume of clients that expect to the informed of their orders at any given moment, this is another big reason why you should have EDI integrated with your Shopify store.

Cloud Services Provider If you are dealing with shipping companies like FedEx, Purolator, UPS, etc., and you have a high volume of shipments on a daily basis, then you need to integrate your management systems AND Shopify with EDI.

The above are the main reasons for EDI integration but there are tons of other ways EDI can improve your processes and reasons to talk with an EDI consultant today.

How Can I Integrate My Shopify Store with EDI?

This integration is very feasible however you will most definitely need a team of system integrators with a high knowledge and expertise in EDI. With the right team like the EDI2XML team, there is no going wrong.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic or any other issue related to EDI integration projects, please contact us today and receive your free consultation.
Shopify integration
/2 Comments

The Definitive Checklist For Oracle JDE and EDI Integration Projects

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Article written by Pierre Namroud, EDI Integration Specialist & Business Consultant

I had the pleasure of attending Collaborate17, a Technology and Applications Forum for the Oracle community. This opportunity brought together Oracle professionals, integrators, project managers and IT experts from around the world, who all work in different spaces of integration. It was such a great experience speaking with so many Oracle experts and attending educational sessions.

One of the main points of discussion during the various speaking engagements was on the challenges that professionals were facing when it came to integration projects involving EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) as well as eCommerce data to JDE (JD Edwards). The opinions were unanimous in the sense that Oracle still has more work to be done in order to strengthen and simplify integration with legacy EDI protocols and build simpler integration flows for protocols such as X12, EDIFACT, Rosetta Net, etc.

I’m writing this article, in order to share my own expertise as a data and EDI integrator, where I had the chance to be involved in several eCommerce and EDI integration projects with Oracle JDE. Hopefully it will help inform other Oracle professionals looking to overcome some of these integration challenges.

Challenges currently being faced by Oracle JDE professionals

There are many challenges that any JDE professional might see when it comes to data and systems integration with Oracle ERP software in general, whether for on-premises or cloud systems. [As a side note, Oracle’s cloud systems have their own specific limitations that I recently learned about during one of the Collaborate Sessions].

Below, I have listed some of the most common challenges that not only have I experienced in my own projects with Oracle customers but that others have expressed during the Collaborate conference;

  • Oracle’s JDE does not have a seamless built-in integration with all EDI X12 documents “out of the box”.
  • The current integration process for EDI X12, EDIFACT, HL7 or any other data format now happens by writing into transition tables (or Z files) and then triggering a business function to process those incoming data.
  • Even though Oracle’s JDE system supports business functions, some older versions do not support new API functions, which can cause some headaches.

    Looking to integrate your EDI or eCommerce processes with Oracle JDE enterprise one, look no further, since we have the best integration option where we turn your Oracle JDE system into a modern REST API, that receives https requests and acts accordingly. Learn More>

Integration Project Checklist

Before starting an integration project with your Oracle JDE system, I recommend that you go through the following list of questions. This way, you’ll be able to make the best decisions to move forward with development efforts as efficiently as possible.

  • Who are the Business or Trading Partners you want to exchange electronic data with?
  • Which documents (or types of data) are you requested to exchange from your Business Partners? In normal circumstances, they’ll provide you with the necessary documentation and specifications as a road map and for compliance reasons.
  • The exchanged data will be sent under what format or standard/version? (X12, EDIFACT, RosettaNet, XML, custom format…?)
  • What is the protocol of communication used to send the data back and forth between you and your Business Partner? Is it point-to-point, such as AS2 or sFTP?
  • Is a VAN required in order to transport the data?
  • Do you have the necessary expertise to select the appropriate certified communication software (for first time project implementation)?
  • Do you have the necessary expertise in your development team to decrypt and understand the terminologies of legacy EDI formats?
  • Has your team ever done an EDI integration project, that includes a full certification process?
  • How many partners will you be exchanging with? The more partners you have, the more complex the project can become.
  • Check the specs of all of your partners (when possible) to verify the differences in their requirements. It is well known in the EDI integration world that there can be many distinctions and exceptions found per Business Partner and per document. Every EDI project can be unique.
  • What is the lead-time to complete the certification and testing phase with your business partner before going live?
  • What is the volume of exceptions that your development team can currently handle in the project in order to be on time and within budget?
  • Do you have the necessary integration tools to simplify the EDI syntax in order to work with one format regardless of the format of the data you receive from different sources?
  • Is your team coding directly in Oracle JDE native framework, or are you using any efficient integration tool available today?
  • Will you be doing end-to-end integration using Z tables of Oracle JDE, or you are going to use API (or business functions) of JDE?

Recommendations for a Successful Integration Project

As you might have noticed, data integration projects involving legacy EDI protocols or custom data format exchange are not simple. They are projects that need a lot of expertise and experience in data communication and transportation, data mapping and systems integration into Oracle’s JDE system.

Moreover, at most enterprises that we’ve completed EDI integration projects for, it was evident how stretched and overwhelmed the internal JDE development team was in their own day-to-day operations, support and maintenance of the application and were incapable of learning new standards to respect the strict timeline given by Trading Partners. In these cases, they looked for help from an outside Service Provider, such as EDI2XML.

My recommendations for such projects are as follows:

  • Outsource the EDI part of the project to a reliable Service Provider, who is highly focused on service availability and quality, since EDI is quite sensitive. This will allow your team to continue working on their daily tasks and keep doing what they do best (JDE support and maintenance, for example). This way, you’ll have a simplified and streamlined EDI integration process; you build one tunnel between your EDI provider, where they deal with the exceptions, and your own process.
  • In case your company policy requires you to deploy the EDI integration solution on-premises, make sure to use an efficient EDI conversion tool such as our EDI2XML technology that has the capability to turn the EDI documents from X12 format to a human readable XML format, for example.
  • Equip your team with the right tools for data integration such as Magic xpi, which we have been using for many years in our data and systems integration projects. Leveraging such technologies allowed us to integrate anything-to-anything (JDE to SAP, SAP to Salesforce, EDI to any system as examples).

I sure hope I was able to expose the most common EDI integration challenges and complexities and help you to overcome these obstacles with the above checklist and recommendations.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic or any other issue related to EDI integration projects, please click on the image below and I will be more than happy to contact you personally for a FREE consultation.

 

Free consultation ecommerce JDE integration

 

4 Challenges of EDI and Drop-Ship in eCommerce


This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

EDI integration projects


The term “drop-ship” has been used quite a lot in recent years by retailers and manufacturers alike. This supply chain management method looks to be gaining in popularity going into 2019 and will likely be in high demand for years to come as well.

Let me first explain the meaning of drop shipping and how it has become so popular…

What is Drop Shipping?

“Drop-ship” is a fulfillment method where a merchant does not carry any inventory on hand. Instead they sell products to consumers via an online store (eCommerce), send the customers’ orders to the manufacturer and have the manufacturer ship the goods directly to the customer. The customer will never know the difference since they pay the merchant and receive their goods in a box with the merchant’s labels. This method eliminates the need for the merchant to handle the goods.

The Rise of Drop-Ship Popularity

Due to the fast evolution of eCommerce, coupled with the continuous challenges that businesses face to reduce costs and increase profitability, the drop-ship method is in high in demand by major retailers. You’ll find that eCommerce giants like Amazon.com, Costco.com, Cabelas.com, Sears.com and others, are increasing the pressure on their supply chain to adopt the drop-ship concept. Of course, they also require their business partners to comply with their EDI requirements and specs for a full automation of the entire sales cycle.

The Complexity behind Drop Shipping

If we take a behind-the-scenes look at drop shipping from 2 perspectives, from the eCommerce retailer, like Amazon or Cabela’s, and from the manufacturer of goods, we’ll find the simplicities and complexities behind each process.

From the perspective of the eCommerce retailer, the drop-ship method allows them to eliminate the need to carry any inventory and to ship their goods. Their process is rather simple, profitable and quick. All they need to do is sell products online and ensure that their partnered manufacturers are EDI and drop-ship ready. Once they sell products from their eCommerce site, they will send the orders via EDI to their manufacturer and the manufacturer takes it from there.

From the perspective of the manufacturer, we’ll find some of the complexities. However, if they are setup correctly from the get-go, then it becomes rather simple and quick. In this case, the drop-shipper (manufacturer or distributer) is entirely in charge of the fulfillment of all incoming eCommerce orders (from the retailer). They need to process the sale all the while complying with the retailer’s business specifications such as EDI. Let’s go over the top 4 challenges a manufacturer must overcome during a drop-ship EDI implementation;

Top 4 Challenges the Drop-Shipper Might Face

If you are a manufacturer and have recently partnered with an eCommerce retailer to sell your products, then you might already know that they will require you to drop ship and automate your sales process through EDI integration. I have listed below the top 4 challenges you might face as a drop shipper;

1.    Ability to submit accurate inventory feed (846) to the eCommerce retailer

When starting a new business relationship with an eCommerce retailer based on the drop-ship method, the first step will be to feed inventory & per-item stock statuses to the retailer in a timely manner. This inventory inquiry/advice document is called EDI 846. Major retailers such as Amazon.com, Cabelas.com, Costco.com and Wal-Mart.com require their Trading Partners to send them an 846 document at least twice a day so that their online store can properly show only available products, based on inventory available to ship. Most of the time, companies either don’t have an accurate inventory system or their stock status is not properly maintained, which can be a great challenge to overcome. Even if companies have accurate inventory statuses, many of their management software systems, even reputable and expensive systems such as JDE, do not have built-in capabilities to send the 846-inventory status in X12 format, as per the requirements of the retailers.

2.    Ability to receive and process EDI orders (850)

Another challenge comes in the form of receiving EDI purchase orders (document 850). Many companies struggle with the capability to receive EDI orders, process them and integrate them quickly into their management system before it is sent to the pick/pack/ship process down the line in the supply chain. Most software systems are still missing this integration capability and require end users to manually key-in orders received in EDI x12 format, to then be able to process and ship. This is a great challenge for many manufacturing and distribution businesses. Dealing with eCommerce Stores, orders are continuously coming in, at all hours, in high volumes. The client (retailer) typically expects the manufacturers to ship within 24 to 48 hours (at the latest!). Moreover, eCommerce retailers are expecting to receive a P/O acknowledgment (document 855) via EDI. Therefore, it’s extremely critical that the drop shipper is equipped with a fully integrated software solution where EDI orders can automatically come through in real-time, so that they are quickly processed.

3.    Ability to fulfill orders within a very short period of time

As previously mentioned, eCommerce retailers expect their partners to ship goods to the end-consumer within a very short time frame (24 to 48 hours). They expect them to package the products, print customized picking/packing slips to send with the goods and complete the shipping process in a very quick manner. In case of failure to comply, there is a risk the vendor will be eliminated from the program. At the logistics level, an important challenge is to have a management system and required resources to process orders, pick, pack and ship in the required time frame. Efficiency in this case is imperative since time is money.

4.    Ability to electronically submit Ship Notices (856) & Invoices (810)

Two other EDI x12 documents are sent out to the eCommerce retailer by the drop shipper; the Advance Ship Notice or ASN (document 856) and of course an invoice (document 810). Most companies don’t currently have the capability to turn those business documents into an x12 EDI format and submit to the Trading Partner, straight from their management system.

Overcoming Drop-Ship Challenges

Our team’s experience with EDI drop-ship has allowed us to overcome the above challenges in an efficient and timely manner. Since every project varies, it’s important to do the following;

  • Surround yourself with experts in EDI who have the experience in dealing with drop-ship projects. It’s important to have enough knowledge and expertise in these methods prior to beginning any EDI drop-ship project. It’s important to get organized internally before any major project.
  • Ask an EDI Provider, who offers flexible and affordable EDI & IT services, to help you streamline your processes and advise you on best practices.
  • Opt for a full EDI integration with your current management software solution, if possible. Of course, such an option is not always possible or provided by your Software provider but if it is, it’s our recommendation to go ahead with this since it will eliminate chargebacks and increase efficiency in your EDI projects so you are best capable of complying with your Trading Partners’ demands. Don’t forget, partner demands and specs can change at any moment. It’s best to ensure you can handle changes at a moment’s notice. (Flexibility is the way to go!)

If you’re looking to complete an EDI Drop-Ship project, contact us today. We’ve got the experts and the EDI2XML service to get you drop-ship ready. Contact us today for your FREE consultation to evaluate your EDI project.

Free EDI consultation

 

EDI, XML or Web Services; what’s Best for eCommerce Integration

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.



eCommerce platforms have been largely used by small and mid-sized enterprises, to sell their products and services to the booming consumer market (B2C) on the internet. Amazon and eBay for example, are among the most popular eCommerce platforms; for ease of operations and integration they offer different ways to exchange data between the trading partner and the platform. As an example, Amazon offers EDI integration capability, or Web service calls to exchange data or simple XML transactions. The most frequently asked question, by business owners, is: what is the best option to have a quick integration at a minimal cost with a maximum return on investment?

In this post I will explain the different integration mechanisms and share my opinion on how to decide which way to go. As a complementary article to this post, I invite you to read my previous post entitled Tips to Empower your eCommerce with great Supply Chain through EDI Integration to get more detailed advise about eCommerce and EDI integration to be able to build a strong SCM channel.

Let me start by quickly defining each of the above technical terms:

EDI

EDI is the oldest protocol used to exchange data between business partners. It has been standardized and heavily used for decades. It is very well ingrained in the manufacturing and retail verticals. Data in EDI format has a pre-defined format and structure. It is transmitted using different types of secured communication protocols (i.e. VAN, AS2, FTP, sFTP…).

Useful reading: What is EDI? 

 

XML

As defined by the W3Schools website , XML is a markup language much like HTML, meant to carry data, not to display data. It is designed to be self-descriptive, where users define their own XML tags to describe data. XML is a W3C recommendation. XML was created to structure, store, and transport information, in contrast to HTML that is meant only to display data in a web browser.

Since XML has been developed, it quickly became a popular means to transfer very well structured data between business partners. Thanks to its ease of use, and its descriptive aspect of the XML data format, it has been the preferred choice of many software vendors and applications used in integration projects.

Web services

Wikipedia defines a Web service as “a method of communication between two electronic devices over a network. It is a software function provided at a network address over the web with the service always on as in the concept of utility computing”.

Web services are designed to support machine-to-machine interaction over a network, using different protocols, by sending and receiving “messages” using HTTP and XML in addition to other web-related standards.

Now for the technical use and interpretation of Web Services, it is simply triggering the execution of a program or function remotely, using the internet, and returning the result to the caller. In addition, Web services use XML in different formats to send structured data back and forth. The advantage of Web services is that it uses the internet as a communication and transport protocol, in addition to the XML structured language to format the data transmitted back and forth.

If you want to know more about  different types of web services such as SOAP and REST and why EDI developers prefer use RESTful services, read our new article: Seamless EDI implementation through Web Services

Useful reading: What is EDI2XML web Service?

 

eCommerce integration

eCommerce integration means the process of sending data from the eCommerce platform to an external system or platform, and receiving data into the eCommerce platform using an automated process. Integrating your ERP system or a company’s CRM system with the eCommerce platform enables the necessary data to be sent in both directions so that both systems can interact in a seamless way, without the need for human intervention. This will improve efficiency and enterprise capabilities to serve clients faster.

Useful reading: Tips to Empower your eCommerce with great Supply Chain through EDI Integration

How to select an integration method and what is the best option

In my opinion, there is no single rule when selecting an integration method. Any business owner, executive or integration consultant should ask the following technical questions before selecting a technology and protocol to integrate their eCommerce platform with their own system:

  • What’s the expertise of my integration team?
  • Are they familiar with EDI format and protocols as well as its business flow?
  • Are they more familiar with XML and web services?
  • What are the additional technical advantages that the enterprise would gain by selecting one versus the other?
  • Are these advantages important issues for our business?
  • What are the add-on costs for both options?

Basically, the decision comes down to evaluating the level of expertise of the integration team and their zone of technical comfort. From a technical perspective, there isn’t a perfect option. Of course, the business aspect of the decision is a major factor and sometimes, business reasons might outweigh technical reasons.

If you need more information or would like to discuss your eCommerce integration needs, I will be more than happy to provide a free 1-hour consultation.

EDI Web Service for edi integration
/2 Comments

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

,


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

/0 Comments

What you need to know about EDI integration in JD Edwards World

EDI integration project into JD Edwards (JDE) system.


The same questions and concerns keep arising when designing the requirements for an EDI integration project into JD Edwards (JDE) system. As I have been involved in my fair share of EDI integration projects, I have witnessed companies struggling with integrating EDI in JDE systems. I’ve decided to share my experience, not as a JDE expert but as an EDI integration expert and consultant, to help those with this kind of project. Let’s begin…

Why EDI integration is important

More and more companies are adopting different communication protocols to exchange business-related messages electronically. Today’s business environments are working harder to be well connected with outside parties for improved communication. It is almost impossible nowadays for a company to trade and do business without having the capability to electronically exchange messages and important documents with its suppliers and customers. This is why EDI has gained tremendous attention in recent years; businesses, no matter how large or small they are, are looking to receive EDI documents (i.e. customer orders) and send out responses such as invoices, or advance shipping notices (ASNs).

On top of this, with the expansion and popularity of eCommerce (electronic commerce), businesses have no choice but to integrate EDI into their systems as consumers expect quick response times in providing more accurate inventory availabilities and quick order processing for better customer service.

All of the above make it almost impossible for any company to ignore electronic processing of sensitive data, all in real-time. However, what’s been challenging for most, is that various business partners adopt different EDI standards, some even choosing a “custom made” version, which all adds new layers of complexity to an EDI integration project in JDE and more pressures to comply with tons of different EDI standards (i.e. X12, EDIFact, XML, CSV,…).

Benefits of integrating EDI into a company’s system

EDI has been around for quite some time now. At this point, there’s no question about the real benefits that come from using this B2B communication method. Companies are seeing more advantages and improvements when they integrate EDI transactions (incoming and outgoing) into their management software system. Some of these EDI integration benefits include:

  • An increase in a company’s response time and a decrease in their fulfillment cycle
  • Increased information integrity and a reduction in errors due to the elimination of manual data entry and human intervention
  • Fast and accurate delivery of goods and services

There’s no doubt that companies gain a competitive advantage by successfully integrating EDI into their management system. They are better equipped to handle more orders and have no problem doing business with large retailers who expect electronic messaging. 

How EDI processing works in JD Edwards

Let me give a quick description of the EDI processing cycle in JDE, as described by Oracle’s own documentation of the JDE system.

“When you receive inbound documents, the translator software retrieves the data using network communications and translates the data from EDI Standard format to JD Edwards World application file format”.

Here is a simple drawing posted in their online documentation:

EDI processing cycle in JDE

In simple terms, when a company running JD Edwards World or its previous version (Enterprise One) needs to process EDI data received from a business partner for example, the data will go through different stages:

  1. A communication software (a third party software) would connect and get incoming EDI files using network communications.
  2. The translator software translates the data from EDI Standard format to JD Edwards World application file format.
  3. Once the above two steps are completed, the system 47 of JD Edwards application, will take the data from the JDE flat format to JD application files.

JDE has its own EDI (Electronic Data & eCommerce) integration module. This module, can be configured to integrate EDI data formatted in JDE acceptable format and turn it into JDE application files. While doing so, tons of automatic triggers are fired up, such as billing address, items and pricing verification. In addition, error reports are generated and email alerts are sent.

Unfortunately, the file format that JDE is capable of processing is still a flat file format. I invite you to read this article where the author had explained a lot about JDE EDI integration and its file format.

It is important to know that the user must complete several tasks in order to customize the Electronic Commerce system to interact with your other applications and to fit your company’s needs, as per JDE’s online documentation.

Challenges with EDI integration in JD Edwards World

As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many challenges that business executives struggle with when deciding to implement EDI and integrate it into their JDE system. I will highlight the most important ones and give my recommendations as an EDI integrator and expert on the topic.

Writing directly in JDE application file or using the EDI interface module

A very good question that comes up regularly is “Should we plan the integration engine to translate and write DIRECTLY inside the JD Edwards World applications files or use the Electronic Commerce module in JDE?

I personally recommend to work with the EDI module of JDE for the following reasons:

  • Out of the box, it works well once the right data in the appropriate format is provided to the engine.
  • Obviously, in the beginning, your JDE team will need to spend some time and effort setting things up; they can either do this all themselves or with the help of your EDI consultants.
  • Out of the box, when set up is completed correctly, the JDE engine is capable of taking the data and passing it through tons of validation steps (i.e. price, items, billing instructions…) prior to moving the clean data to JDE application files, without any human intervention.
  • Please note, however, that if you choose to have the EDI integration engine write directly to the JDE application files, a new JDE update or application upgrade can result in potential damages to this process. Upgrading the JDE application will require a full cycle of QA to make sure the integration engine of EDI into JDE is still working 100% efficiently.

Exchanging and translating XML, JSON, and other non-Flat File formats

The other challenge many have faced is knowing how to enforce JDE with the capability to translate non-standard EDI files such as XML, JSON or any other format given the fact that JDE’s EDI module is only capable of integrating with one single file format (more specifically a Flat file).

My recommendation would be to adopt a strategy where any file no matter its format received from your Trading Partner is automatically translated into a single format that is acceptable by your JDE EDI module, prior to initiating the process in JDE. I know it may seem difficult to achieve for such a mechanism considering the level of limitations provided by JDE, but this option is more feasible than you may think. I will go on to explore this possibility in the following section.

Looking to integrate your EDI or eCommerce processes with Oracle JDE enterprise one, look no further, since we have the best integration option where we turn your Oracle JDE system into a modern REST API, that receives https requests and acts accordingly. LEARN MORE>

What is the best option to integrate EDI in JD Edwards

Having listed the major challenges above, it is clear that the best option for a seamless, simple and quick EDI integration with your Trading Partners or your eCommerce platform is to adopt one single protocol of communication between your outside world and your JDE system.

In fact, Oracle’s JDE team have anticipated for such a protocol. They refer to in their documentation as the “translation software (third party)”.

I understand that managing a third party translation software internally by your team will add another layer of complexity, additional resources and expertise, not accounting for the countless number of EDI file formats found in today’s business world: TXT, CSV, EDIFACT, X12, XML, Json, etc.

You’re in luck though! There are a few companies out there, like Namtek Consulting Services, that can outsource the job of managing your translation software. Our EDI2XML cloud integration platform can act as your translation software; it can turn all your incoming files, no matter its format, into one format that your JDE loves to work with. The opposite works for outgoing files; your JDE-preferred format is easily and automatically converted into the specified format of your Trading Partners.

What challenges have YOU faced regarding EDI integration into your JD Edwards World system?

Free consultation ecommerce JDE integration

/0 Comments

Integrating EDI into your Management System


This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


EDI Communication is one of the best ways to exchange important business documents with Trading Partners. Documents such as Purchase Orders, Invoices and ASNs can be safely exchanged electronically with business partners, like retailers, in a matter of seconds. In many cases however, Small and Medium Enterprises do not have the budget for some of these EDI communication solutions out there and do not have any in-house staff experienced with EDI exchange. What should these businesses do?

EDI Solution as a Service for SMEs

After over a decade of working hand in hand with Small and Medium Businesses, we’ve come up with a solution. Our EDI specialists realized that it might not be realistic to have SMEs hire in-house EDI experts or purchase expensive EDI communication solutions on the market. This is when our experienced team designed and developed a tool that can be implemented as a Service – no need for any setup or equipment on premises – called EDI2XML as a Service. Here’s how it works:

  1. We communicate with your EDI Trading Partner in order to pick up any incoming EDI documents from their mailbox
  2. We convert all EDI documents into XML or CSV format (whichever works best to be integrated into your management system (ERP suite, CRM system, etc.))
  3. We push all XML documents to you, to be integrated into your system
  4. You will be notified every time EDI documents are sent and received
  5. The opposite process (from XML to EDI) works for outgoing documents.

Click here to view an infographic on EDI2XML as a Service.

Converting from unreadable formats like EDI x12 or EDIFACT (for those companies in Europe) to XML or CSV, allows for easy integration into ERP suits or CRM systems out on the market. On top of this, XML format is easy to read by any businessperson. Our goal was and continues to be to simplify the EDI communication process for Small and Medium Enterprises that are looking to increase efficiency. It’s time SMEs eliminated manual data entry (or human intervention) and enjoyed a smooth, continuous order processing flow.

 

/0 Comments

Tips to Empower your eCommerce with great Supply Chain through EDI Integration

 

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.


The term “eCommerce” is generally understood as the process of selling products and services over the Internet. However, there is much more that happens behind the scenes of an eCommerce Store. Business transactions such as electronic data interchange (EDI), supply chain management and funds transferred are all part of this online store, as it involves the exchange of all kinds of business transactions to keep the business running smoothly. In this article, I will dig deeper into these hidden eCommerce business transactions. To learn more about the positive effects an online store has on a company, read this blog written by my colleague.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Supply-Chain-Management-SCM

In general business terms, SCM is the management of the flow and movement of finished goods from point A, where goods are produced and stored, to point B, where the goods are consumed (final destination).

There are many elements, parameters and interconnecting networks involved in the process of provision of products and services required by the consumer. The challenge with supply chain management is to synchronize the line of supplies with consumer demand and also be able to measure the performance and success rate.

eCommerce & SCM Challenges

In today’s digital world, more and more businesses are embracing the online trade by building electronic stores and creating a web presence to promote and sell their products and services to a wider range of consumers around the world. Due to the revolution of mobility and Internet connectivity, consumers today are much more Internet savvy and are very capable of browsing and shopping online to quickly find the products or services they want. However, in turn, consumers are becoming impatient and request their bought products to be delivered to them in the shortest amount of time. This has created some challenges for e-retailers, such as the following:

  • How to keep the supply chain line full in order to respond to the growing demands and trends of the consumers
  • How to balance between incoming demands and production, knowing that major production facilities today are overseas and avoid a high level of inventory storage and great “over-stock”
  • How to quickly communicate the right business information and requests between the different systems of multiple business partners involved in the supply chain pipeline?

#1 – Use fully integrated software systems

The first tip in overcoming the above challenges would be to use integrated software systems when running an eCommerce Store. Whether it is a small business or a larger enterprise, having one platform to manage and run your business is very advantageous. I have witnessed many enterprises with over 50% of their business coming in from their eCommerce store and they are still keying in information manually. To be efficient, enterprises should be using integrated software systems to manage their eCommerce and retail business.

#2- Integration & Data Exchange (EDI, XML..)

To be able to balance between the demands of products and services coming in from the eCommerce site and the supply chain demands, the best option is to empower the eCommerce platform with EDI capabilities. This way businesses can exchange data automatically in real-time with suppliers and business partners, in order to keep the supply chain filled.

Most of the time, enterprises are not able to change their “legacy systems” quickly and at a low or affordable cost. This kind of project requires a large budget and a lot of resources. Therefore, unfortunately we still find too many legacy systems based on AS400/DB2 and other platforms that are still in production.

At the same token, modern ERP systems such as JDE and SalesForce lack many built-in features capable of exchanging data such as EDI. They offer the gateways for integration (i.e. API, Web Services…) but they expect the company to invest time and effort on integration and data exchange projects.

Read: EDI, XML or Web Services; what’s Best for eCommerce Integration

#3- Adopt Modern Solutions

In order to be able to exchange data electronically, enterprises should invest in modern, scalable integrated IT solutions that are flexible enough to grow with the business. The ideal integration solution should have the capabilities to parse data of different formats (such as EDI, XML, Json, CSV…), translate EDI from one format to another and it should be powerful enough to interact with different systems and platforms.

In addition, a modern efficient integration solution is the one that offers the flexibility to communicate with different business partners, using various modern communication protocols such as AS2, sFTP, Web services, etc.

Is your eCommerce & Supply Chain out of sync?

We often believe that we are sheltered from these common problems and that our IT systems work fine. After taking the time to analyze your business processes a little more you may begin to see some problems or room for improvement. With my 20+ years of experience on the matter, I have seen it all. Start empowering your eCommerce site with the best tools and processes.

 

 
/0 Comments

Top 3 Challenges to Overcome in Salesforce and EDI Integration Projects

Today’s business environment is full of complex business processes; lead time to deliver, merchandise fulfillment, forecasting and more. On top of these processes, there are constantly new strict regulations imposed on businesses by major retailers, like Amazon, Sears and Wal-Mart. Most often, restrictions are enforced when dealing with data exchange, stock and inventory availability and other compliances.

Top 3 Challenges to Overcome in Salesforce and EDI Integration Projects

Luckily for companies, a diversity of efficient ERP systems, EDI tools and enterprise software applications, such as JDE, Salesforce, SAP, are running businesses of all sizes. Integration between different systems is becoming more than a luxury, it is a necessity. Enterprises of all sizes are making greater efforts to equip their IT systems with the capability to comply with requirements imposed on them by major retailers. One such issue is EDI integration and the ability to exchange and comply with retailer’s requirements. The key is to ensure you have chosen the right technology and the best team to handle the integration projects.

In my previous article, I addressed the major issues related to EDI integration with JDE. In today’s blog, my focus is on EDI integration with Salesforce or any other software CRM application. These projects can be long and costly if not done right, therefore read below to have an efficient, cost effective and solid integration for EDI communication.

What is Salesforce?

Top 3 Challenges to Overcome in Salesforce and EDI Integration Projects 2Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software system. It is very popular amongst enterprises of all sizes as it is best known for its openness for integration. Developers and integrators can read and write data using API and web services. Many companies use Salesforce as a unified tool for leads, campaigns, opportunities and customer tracking.

EDI Integration with Salesforce

Salesforce is simply a CRM system but add-on modules have been developed so users can enter sales orders for clients and confirm processing. However, when it comes down to needing to complete further business processes, which are included in an ERP solution, such as EDI communication, a different approach should be followed. Integrating EDI orders sent by retailers to a CRM user requires further expertise by a team of IT professionals with a solid knowledge of integration and EDI.

Read: Why we love EDI2XML for EDI Integration with JDE (And You Should Too!)

Following are the top 3 challenges that any EDI integration project manager should consider and overcome:

1) The Technology

It is essential in any EDI integration project with Salesforce to be using good technology; that is scalable, flexible and easy to use, with little training necessary. Such technologies exist in the IT marketplace and if properly used, it can be leveraged to save a lot of time, effort and money in the integration process. The ideal tool should be able to interact with XML and Salesforce and all its interfaces (API, SOAP…).

2) EDI via AS2 or VAN

The second issue to consider during an EDI integration project with Salesforce is in regards to the communication protocol to transmit EDI data between you and the retailer. More and more, retailers such as Amazon, Wal-Mart and Sears, are mainly offering AS2 connectivity for suppliers wishing to exchange EDI with them. AS2 is a protocol of secured communication of EDI files from point A to point B. When setup and implemented correctly, this kind of implementation saves a lot of money.

However, most often, companies go with a VAN due to the retailers’ incompliance with AS2. It is difficult to do business with these big players without them enforcing their rule by using the service of EDI VAN to all their suppliers. Therefore, the choice to even go with a third party service provider is not given but it does exist.

3) EDI Translation

The EDI translation and integration into the Salesforce databases is the biggest challenge of all. It truly takes some major evaluation and analysis of the situation before beginning. One major question to consider and ask is whether to do the EDI translation and mapping on-premises or as a service. Of course, it all depends on the company’s budget and the capacity of the company’s IT team and knowledge of EDI communication. Also, another consideration is the type of technology. Nowadays, there are experienced service providers that are capable of taking on the service of:

  1. Receiving EDI transactions from the retailer
  2. Processing the EDI files
  3. Translating the EDI files and integrating it into the company’s Salesforce system

What’s Next?

As you might know, a lot of parameters are involved in EDI integration projects, whether you want to integrate with Salesforce or any other software application. A professional opinion from EDI experts is important and very much needed for any business.

Namtek’s IT & EDI Consultation is free and at your convenience. Do business the right way – contact us today.

2 copy

/0 Comments

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

In today’s article, I will be addressing the best option to process EDI data, exchanged between business partners, by identifying the advantages and inconveniences of two methods; an EDI Service Bureau and a Translation/Integration solution.

It’s not a surprise to business people that exchanging business data using EDI protocols and formats has been around for a while and is clearly here to stay. If you’ve stumbled upon this EDI article, then you are perhaps either interested in enhancing your EDI capabilities or looking to implement EDI in your business environment. Either way, it is proof that EDI is still in demand in the business community.

As this is my first time addressing EDI through a Service Bureau in my blogs, I will clearly define and explain what a Service Bureau does and provide my opinion on the topic.

EDI Service Bureau

EDI Service Bureaus have been around for many years. They were created as a third party provider sitting between business partners. How it works is simple. The Service Bureau receives EDI data from one partner to process into a human readable format (on behalf of the destination partner) and then send out to that destined business partner.

How A Service Bureau Processes EDI Data

As mentioned above, upon receiving the EDI data from a VAN or directly from a business partner, a Service Bureau will take that data and process it to generate a format that is agreed upon by the destination partner. The most commonly used formats are:

  • Paper document
  • PDF document
  • Excel format or CSV (Comma Separated Values)
  • Web-based document

Once the EDI data received by the Service Bureau is translated to one of the above formats, the Service Bureau would then transmit the translated document to his client (final destination partner) using one of the following methods:

  • Fax
  • FTP or sFTP
  • E-mail

For outgoing EDI documents, the partner would return the information to the Service Bureau in the same formats as mentioned above (i.e. paper, PDF, Excel or CSV documents). Nowadays, some Service Bureaus provide web-based interfaces for their clients, to manually enter the data in order to generate outgoing EDI files to be sent to their partners.

EDI solution and ERP

How Businesses Process Data Received From Service Bureaus

Depending on which format the Service Bureau translates the EDI data into, the business partner would have to deal with it differently. Here are the possible scenarios for incoming EDI documents:

  • If the data is treated in a web-based format, the business would need to login to the Service Bureau web portal, retrieve the data (orders, invoices, etc.), print or export the document, and then either key it in manually into their own management system or import it from CSV, only if their internal system supports this kind of process.
  • When the EDI converted data is sent as a paper document or PDF (received by either fax or e-mail), the user will then have to key the information received in manually into their system, without question.
  • When the data is received in Excel or CSV format, the user can either key in the data manually or import it into his internal ERP system.

The same concept applies for outgoing EDI documents through Service Bureaus. In all cases, the business has to either key in data in Excel or manage it through a web-based interface provided by the Service Bureau.

Service Bureau Inconveniences

As you may have noticed by now, exchanging EDI via a Service Bureau is not the most efficient way of communicating with business partners (click to tweet). In fact, the likelihood of human errors and inefficiencies are very high. In this day and age, where there are constant improvements in technology, it is extremely inefficient for SMEs to be keying in orders received by EDI (through paper document or PDF) (click to tweet). Even with the web-based alternative that Service Bureaus offer, it is still unproductive to manage multiple systems rather than having one single platform with full EDI capability.

Read: Convert EDI to XML: the Winning SaaS Option

EDI Translation & Integration

Once businesses have switched from using a Service Bureau to implementing an EDI translation and integration solution, they have eliminated all kinds of inefficiencies and human errors and have become much more efficient. The way it works is by having a fully integrated business solution in place that has built-in capability to process incoming and outgoing EDI documents. Refer to my previous article entitled See What It Means To Be Fully Integrated with an Efficient Business Software Solution that expands more on integrated solutions.

However, it is very common for business owners to be hesitant to implement a fully integrated solution into their small business, as they believe all ERP systems are expensive. That is simply not the case anymore, as we are in 2014 and IT solutions have become very affordable. EDI2XML offers affordable EDI integration that fits into the budgets of small and medium sized businesses (click to tweet).

What Is The Best Option: EDI via a Service Bureau or a Translation & Integration method?

As a professional IT consultant and developer, I have helped many small and mid-sized businesses streamline their business processes for over 20 years. I truly believe a fully integrated process and solution would be the best option to go with. Not only is it more efficient for your company as a whole but is also affordable. I have already published my arguments in a previous article entitled EDI integration projects: Advantages and Benefits.

If you are interested to learn more about this topic or any other issue related to IT or EDI, please click on the image below and I will be more than happy to contact you for a FREE consultation.

2 copy

 
/0 Comments