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Tag Archive for: EDI Integration

Take this QUIZ: Is your business cut out for on-premises EDI software?

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

As an EDI expert, I receive many questions related to deployment of the EDI software. “Should our business go with on-premises or “in the cloud”?” As many business executives are not sure which way to go, I have listed a few questions that will make their EDI deployment decision easier.

Below are the right questions to ask yourself in order to make the best decisions for your company when it comes time to implementing EDI software.

Please note: if your major problem is how to integrate EDI with JDE, please refer to my previous blog entitled, ‘How to Solve the Biggest EDI Integration Problems with JDE’.

1. Do we have the proper in-house EDI expertise?

Before making any decision about how to deploy EDI2XML, Namtek’s EDI conversion solution, or any other EDI software internally, one should ask the very basic question: Do we have an IT professional in-house with a basic understanding of EDI? A basic understanding is all an IT expert needs when dealing with EDI2XML on premises.

2. Do we have the expertise to work with XML?

The second question is of course asking whether your internal IT team has the necessary capabilities and expertise to work with XML and its schemas. An IT professional having expertise in XML is much more probable than EDI expertise. However, never assume, as it is always best to confirm this beforehand.

3. Do we have enough time for our IT resources?

Once you realize you have an in-house IT team with the expertise in EDI and XML, you need to evaluate if they have enough time to handle an EDI implementation project. Many executives underestimate the time and effort involved in EDI communication, especially if their IT team is handling other priority projects and tasks. The same question should be asked if the company does not have an in-house team and has hired outside IT consultants for their day-to-day IT needs.

Read: SaaS EDI or On-Premises EDI Translation Software: What you should know

4. Do we have the necessary IT infrastructure?

Another very important factor to consider before deploying EDI translation software on premises is your company’s current IT infrastructure. If your current hardware and infrastructure cannot support an EDI software solution, then it is time to invest, which can of course add more costs to your project’s budget. Nowadays, many business executives do not want to worry about this and have opted for “cloud-based” software services. Adopting SaaS solutions (Software as a Service) does not require any investment in IT hardware and infrastructure.

5. Can my current ERP software handle EDI integration?

Any time there is an integration project within a company, a crucial question to ask is if your current ERP software (if your company even has one) can handle EDI integration, or any add-on software integration. If your company is still running a legacy software system or out-dated software, with no support and maintenance, integration becomes very difficult. The best way to go for any integration project, including EDI, is to begin with an upgradable and scalable management software solution where integration is easy and quick.

Please review my article about the importance of fully integrated software in a business of any size.

Where do we go from here?

If you’ve answered “YES” to all 5 questions above, then your company is suited for an on-premises EDI implementation process. However, if you’ve answered “NO” to at least one of the questions, then it is best to go with an EDI conversion service that does the complex work while your team of IT consultations take care of the integration with your internal software system. If however you do not have an internal IT team, then simply go with an EDI software solution “in the cloud” with full service. At this point, you wouldn’t need any IT infrastructure or in-house IT team as all you would need to do is hire an outside team of EDI experts to implement and handle the EDI communication. Please check out our EDI2XML as a Service for more information on how an EDI solution “in the cloud” works.

If you need further help in determining what the best steps are for your company, I am be happy to offer my team’s long time EDI and systems’ integration expertise for a Free Consultation.

Free EDI consultation

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How to Solve the Biggest EDI integration Problems With JDE

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

EDI integration projects have always been time consuming, as it requires an expert team with EDI knowledge and many resources. No matter how small or large the company is, the previous statement falls true for them all. It is the nature of EDI and all the processes involved that makes an EDI integration project complex and problematic for the developers and executives. In this article, I would like to identify a few of the major problems of EDI integration with JDE (JD Edwards) and how to solve them, in order to have a smooth and successful EDI implementation.

About JDE

JD Edwards, also known as JDE, is an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software that Oracle sells and supports. JDE is offered in two different lines (or editions): JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and JD Edwards World. In most cases, JDE software solutions are implemented and deployed in corporate level enterprises. It is less present in small enterprises since most SMEs cannot afford its maintenance costs.

Why EDI integration with JDE is a problem

Read: EDI Integration with JDE Made Easy with EDI2XML

While JDE is a great corporate level ERP solution, offering lots of tools and connectors for data integration (flat file and other format), it does NOT offer out of-the-box an integrated EDI solution or connector that would make EDI integration seamless. It offers the necessary interfaces to define file formats for export and import, but it stops short on completing the loop into a full EDI solution.
For EDI project integration, JDE heavily relies on third-party “EDI translation software” to send or receive EDI files, and to turn the EDI files into a format (flat file for example) that can be easily interpreted and processed by JDE.

Having said that, you can now imagine how complex and time-consuming integration of EDI in JDE is for a company’s IT personnel and developers. The major problems can be summarized as follows:

  1. IT personnel need to have an extensive EDI expertise; for example, a high knowledge of EDI is needed to be able to define the data to be extracted from the incoming EDI file
  2. They need to learn how the “EDI Translation software” works as well as how and when to extract data and transform it into the proper format for JDE
  3. Of course, they need to know how to work with JDE and setup interfaces and connectors. This one is not of a major concern as IT personnel handling JDE are experienced with this platform

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>

How to solve the integration problems

In order to solve problems associated with EDI integration with JDE, it comes down to reducing the number of points identified in the previous section to 2 rather than 3, by capitalizing and building on JDE expertise. So how can this be done in order to have an EDI integration project run smoothly, on budget and on time?

Read: Top 3 Challenges to Overcome in Salesforce and EDI Integration Projects

The answer is simple. Companies running JDE can leverage:

  • EDI2XML : the technology to convert EDI to XML (and XML to EDI)
  • Magic xpi: the business integration platform from Magic Software, that is able to orchestrate the entire business process. It is an “Oracle Validated Integration” solution for both JD Edwards EnterpriseOne and JD Edwards World.

Magic xpi comes with a lot of built-in features to support an EDI project implementation such as:

  • Communication components (FTP,sFTP)
  • Ability to execute scheduled tasks based on several triggers
  • Ability to execute tasks based on file scanning triggers

EDI2XML has complementary features to make an EDI integration project within JDE very simple and straightforward:

  • EDI2XML is able to generate FA 997 out-of-the box for incoming EDI documents
  • EDI2XML turns the EDI files received into readable XML format, so no need for extensive EDI expertise

Therefore, EDI integration projects with JDE don’t have to be so dreadful anymore. The marriage of EDI2XML, Magic xpi and our team’s EDI expertise can definitely benefit your company and make EDI projects easy and under budget.

To read more about using EDI with JD Edwards and the third-party applications, Click here

Free consultation ecommerce JDE integration
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EDI Translation Software “On-premises” or “As a Service”

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

As soon as there is a requirement for EDI implementation and integration, company executives, along with their IT personnel, begin by determining how they will comply with their EDI business partner to exchange EDI documents. They will need to acquire EDI translation software, initiate testing, and so on. This however is a complex and lengthy process, which many executives do not look forward to. Difficult questions arise, such as, “Shall we outsource to an EDI service provider? Shall we do it ourselves “on-premises”? Shall we do the translation and conversion of EDI “as a service” using an outside provider?

Which of these options is the best and most affordable way to go?”

Why Do We Need To Translate EDI

As you already know, EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the standard to exchange business data between business partners in a very proprietary EDI format. Your business partner would send data such as a P/O (EDI 850), an Inventory Inquiry/Advice (EDI 846), or any other EDI transaction, based on his own terminology of business parameters. It is then up to the “receiving party” to take the sender’s EDI data and information, translate it into a well-understood format, which the receiver’s system will be able to use and process. With EDI2XML, we translate the EDI format of incoming documents to a much simpler, more structured XML format so humans, namely the IT developers, and systems can easily work with.

Translate EDI “On-premises”

Normally, translating incoming EDI documents “on-premises” requires a lot of parameters before launching such a project. As a starting point, a good level of expertise in EDI, EDI communication, and systems integration is required. Integrators should also have a fairly advanced knowledge and expertise in how the company’s software system (ERP, CRM, etc.) works and how to integrate and push data into that system.

While the ability to integrate with the most commonly used ERP and CRM systems does not create any major challenge for experienced IT developers, the main problem is having a high level of proficiency in EDI implementation.

Another major task for the “on-premises” translation is, in most cases, the need for the company to invest on hardware, software licenses, and services (internet, dedicated IP, VAN) to be able to exchange EDI documents with their business partner.

Useful Reading: What are the advantages of using EDI2XML?

Translate EDI “As a Service”

With the emergence of cloud-based IT services and the affordable plans offered by service providers, the ability to translate EDI “as a service” in the “cloud” and deliver the end result to the ultimate destination, has become a more productive approach.

Typically, an EDI service provider offering EDI translation “as a service” will:

– Act as an intermediary layer between the EDI sender and EDI receiver

– Receives the EDI incoming document (i.e. 850, 860, 864,…) on behalf of the “ultimate receiver”

– Extract the data received in EDI format and translate it into a standard format (i.e. XML)

– Transmit the XML data to its ultimate destination for Integration OR integrate directly into the software system of the ultimate receiver.

To send EDI documents out, the EDI service provider will be acting also as an intermediary hub between business partners and do the following:

– Receive data in XML format to be sent to the business partner from the sender through FTP or sFTP

– Translate data received and convert from XML to EDI format

– Transmit that EDI data to the destination

Dive into the world of EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) with our insightful video explanation. Explore the video

 

Advantages of EDI Translation “As a Service”

With the EDI translation in the cloud offered as a service, companies have a lot of great advantages:

– Quick implementation cycle

– Secured and proven platform to exchange EDI with partners

– No initial investment on hardware or software licenses

– Get up-and-running quickly: your projects are on-time and on-budget

– Use the wealth of expertise your EDI service provider has in EDI

– Let your team of IT professionals focus on integrating XML files into your system rather than learning EDI

– Predictable and static recurring monthly fee for the service

– Possibility to move to “on premises” mode any time

– Ability to integrate to your system directly without your internal IT resources

 

Discover how you can streamline and simplify your EDI projects with EDI2XML Fully Managed Services

The Best EDI Solution

Most companies usually lean towards the “on-premises” option when they have “internal policies” and security measures in place or are a large enterprise with their own team of IT experts.

The “as a service” option is much more advantageous for small to mid-sized enterprises, where they may have a lower number of exchanged EDI transactions.

As the “as a service” option’s low initial investment and quick deployment are attractive features, every situation is different and should be dealt with on a case-by-case basis with one of our EDI experts prior to making a final decision.

 

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The Advantages of EDI integration projects

Why use an EDI integration project?

In today’s business world, lots of decision makers are still wondering whether to plunge into EDI integration projects or to hire a couple of new employees to manually enter data received and processed by a third party EDI service bureau.

Which option is much more beneficial for their company and returns the most on their investment?

At a quick glance, hiring data entry clerks might seem appealing for the following reasons:
1) The EDI understanding is still a complex topic to understand by non-technical people;
2) The considerable initial capital investment on integration projects: professional services, EDI consultants, professional services…
3) The ongoing EDI service bureau transactional fees, connectivity fees..
4) The time and effort needed to integrate EDI with their ERP, or Business management software solution, that will be billed by IT consultants, EDI specialists and consultants.

While the above reasons are completely valid, companies stop short from researching about the evolution of the EDI world.

With EDI2XML and its “Software as a Service” model, companies are able to cut over 75% of their EDI integration projects costs and gain efficiency and accuracy within a short amount of time. Just by implementing and using EDI2XML translators, the IT consultant of an SMB, will be able to focus on building the integration between XML data files and the business management software solution in place, since XML is widely used and understood nowadays. EDI2XML is able to generate a readable XML of the EDI file, easily understood by humans and systems. As long as the IT consultant has access to the ERP database structure, he will be able to read the EDI formatted file in XML, and push to the tables, after applying all kinds of business validation. The same applies for outgoing EDI documents. As long as the IT consultant is able to generate an output XML file based on a pre-defined schema, XML2EDI engine will process that file and convert into an EDI file format.

EDI communication protocols are becoming very straightforward today; less complexity and more security. Major retailers and corporations are using AS2 or FTPs secured in order to communicate EDI documents back and forth between business partners. Even better, if a company is not able to handle EDI projects due to lack of budget or expertise, EDI2XML technology is used and empowering erpwizard which is a fully integrated business management software solution offered “as a service” (SAAS) either “on customer premises” or in “the cloud“. Not only is it a fully integrated ERP software solution, but it offers a complete EDI solution.

We have over 15 years in EDI integration in the retail, manufacturing, distribution and healthcare industries. We’ve been very active in Montreal, Canada, where our EDI consultants are experienced at the business level just as much as they are at the technical level.

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

Free EDI Demo

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How Much Does an EDI License Subscription Cost?

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

EDI2XML’s Subscription Cost

EDI2XML licensing is affordable since we take the time to listen to our customers’ EDI requirements and price it accordingly. We’ve also ensured that our monthly subscription plans fall within the budgets of companies of all sizes (from small to large). We offer two types of services:

EDI Web Service

Fully Managed EDI Services

EDI Web Service

EDI2XML Web Service is an HTTP EDI Web Service (REST API) that runs over the internet on EDI2XML’s own platform that takes HTTP requests to translate EDI messages into XML, and XML messages (based on EDI2XML’s proprietary format) into EDI.

You can get started quickly and easily with EDI2XML Web Service. It takes less than an hour to place a first call to the Web Service and sees the response.

EDI2XML Web Service Costs

The EDI2XML charges for using EDI HTTP/Web service calls are based on a very simple pricing system. The prize consists of [2] elements:
  1. The monthly mailbox fee is a “fixed” fee for Web Service Mailbox usage on the EDI2XML platform.
  2. During a calendar month, a “variable” fee is assessed based on the volume of data processed through EDI and XML translations.

Request EDI2XML Web Service Price List

Fully Managed EDI Services

With this SaaS option, all conversions of EDI files are done on our end, leaving you with no installation of software or hardware on your premises.

We offer EDI2XML Managed Services, a fully managed EDI service that includes translation and communication services to businesses of all sizes, in a variety of industries. We drop off and pick up all EDI documents to and from your trading partner’s server and send you email alerts when this is done.

Pricing for these options consist of a one-time affordable setup fee (only determined after a consultation call) as well as a monthly subscription fee, based on volume consumption in a given month (inbound and outgoing EDI transactions).

Don’t worry if your business has EDI documents that aren’t in the list of documents; we can always work with new documents.

We invite you to:

– Download the evaluation sheet and fill in the appropriate information

– Once the Excel evaluation sheet is filled in, please feel free to email it to sales@namtek.ca

– Download our EDI2XML Service Pricing Package to see the monthly plans we offer.

Within 24 hours someone will be contacting you for a free consultation to discuss your EDI requirements in more depth.
Get A Free EDI Consultation

Read: Fully managed EDI service VS HTTP Web Service: Which is Better for Your Business ?
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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 ?

Free EDI Demo

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What is EDI?

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This post was updated to reflect current trends and information. 

A Technical Introduction to EDI

Before I start explaining anything about EDI2XML, I would like to start by giving a more technical introduction to EDI, its usage, and its history. EDI is an acronym for Electronic Data Interchange. It has been around for a long time and has been used by retailers and private corporations in several verticals (health, retail, insurance…). When people in the business community talk about exchanging “EDI transactions“, they refer to a combination of the following:
  • Structured EDI file format including version, revision, standard…
  • Protocol of communication, medium and security (FTP, sFTP, AS2, VAN…)
  • Business partners (vendors, retailers…)

Simply speaking, EDI is the process of “electronically” exchanging documents between business partners in a pre-defined format. The information is transmitted in a secured manner. Normally, files with EDI format are structured and follow “EDI standards”.

EDI Standards

There are several widely used EDI standards, including:

  1. ANSI ASC X12: This is the predominant standard used in North America for various industries, such as retail, healthcare, transportation, and finance. It defines specific transaction sets like purchase orders (850), invoices (810), and shipping notices (856).
  2. UN/EDIFACT: This is an international EDI standard developed by the United Nations. It is widely used outside of North America and is popular in sectors like transportation, logistics, and customs. UN/EDIFACT includes a comprehensive set of message types covering various business processes.
  3. GS1 EDI: This standard is developed by GS1, a global organization focused on supply chain standards. It is used primarily in the retail and consumer goods industries. GS1 EDI incorporates the GS1 barcoding standards and provides specific message types for processes like product catalog synchronization, purchase orders, and invoices.
  4. HIPAA EDI: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) introduced specific EDI standards for healthcare-related transactions. These standards ensure the secure and standardized exchange of sensitive patient data between healthcare providers, insurers, and other entities.
  5. TRADACOMS: Developed in the United Kingdom, TRADACOMS is an EDI standard commonly used in the retail industry. It includes message types for processes like order management, stock control, and invoicing.

These are just a few examples of the many EDI standards available. Each standard has its own message formats, data elements, and communication protocols. Organizations typically choose the appropriate standard based on their industry, geographic location, and trading partner requirements.

Read: What is a VAN ?

EDI X12

EDI has been evolving with different versions, revisions and sub-revisions. For example, in the X12 standard EDI format, I started my EDI career with the EDI version 3010. Today, we are working with much higher EDI versions such as 4010, 5010, 5020… It is important to note that within each one of the above versions, different revisions might exist.

EDI Transactions and Documents

Read: How does EDI2XML work ?

EDI documents are “number coded”; for example, a Purchase Order sent by a retailer to a vendor using EDI format is coded under the number “850”. The same applies for other documents such as 810 (for invoice), 856 (for Advance shipping notice), 820 (for Payment Advice), and 860 (for Retailer triggered Purchase Order Change). The list goes on and it is not limited to the above. For a more extensive list of EDI documents that EDI2XML supports,  visit our EDI Document Library.

Each EDI document sent to a party has to be responded to by the other party by sending back a Functional Acknowledgment (FA 997). The 997 designates that the “structure” of the EDI file was certainly received, without looking at the “content” of the EDI formatted file. Both business partners understand the “content” of the information and they are able to translate into business terms. This is where EDI2XML comes into play to convert and translate the content and make it ready for integration.

To learn more about EDI, read our new blog “What is EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)?” 

RELATED POSTS:

What is EDIFACT? | UN / EDIFACT standard overview

Electronic Data Interchange: Key Information You Need to Know

ANSI ASC X12 Standards Overview

What Are the Differences Between ANSI X12 and UN/EDIFACT
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