What is EDI?
EDI is the computer-to-computer exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. Businesses enjoy major benefits such as reduced costs, Increased processing speeds, reduced errors and improved relationships with Business partners.
EDI replaces postal mail and emailing documents which means documents can flow straight through and processing can begin immediately. There is no paper or people involved.
The first step is to collect and organise the data, your system will create an electronic file with the necessary information and build the EDI document. This will then be fed into your electronic data feed through a translator software to convert the data into an EDI format. This software can be purchased and you can then maintain and manage this on premises. It will require specialised mapping in order to define how you would like your internal data to be mapped. This software is available to suit just about any computing environment and budget. Finally once your business transactions are translated to the appropriate EDI format they can be transmitted to your business partner.
Next have the capability to use EDI and prefer to use a VAN connection (a private network where electronic business documents are exchanged between partners) although other options are available. Once the supplier has confirmed that they are willing/able to connect with Next for EDI, we will be in contact directly regarding our mapping & connection requirements and discuss any other options. The key details we will need are:
1) EDI Contact & EDI Contact at EDI Provider (If applicable)
2) GLN Number and Qualifier for Test & Production
3) Message type requirements e.g Invoice, Order etc
4) Connection Type
Our EDI team would be willing to discuss EDI with you if you haven't yet onboarded this as a solution for you to take forward
Q&A
- It can be used on large systems handling thousands of transactions daily to PC- based software that only needs to process a few hundred transactions per week.
- Once EDI connections have gone live the supplier, they will need to turn off any PDF invoices if they are an existing supplier
- Please contact meriel_hoban1@next.co.uk if you have any further questions regarding EDI.
EDI Lite - EDI Lite is a new method for Non contract invoices to be uploaded into the system directly. The supplier should have access to their portal as part of their Supplier Onboarding which allows them to see and change any of their Company details securely. They can also add Supplier portal users as required. The new functionality allows them to key and upload their invoice in approximately a minute per invoice using the screen below