3M EDI Implementation Requirements
3M EDI Implementation enables process change and helps achieve business goals, significant benefits can be realized. 3M EDI Implementation enhances all parts of the business process, and the impact can be far reaching:
- Reduced Cycle Time – As time-based competition has become the norm, the ability to conduct business faster has become imperative. With EDI, data can be sent and received 24 hours a day.
- Increased Accuracy and Efficiency – More than 70 percent of manual data entry tasks originate from computer-generated documents. When trading partners develop compatible electronic documents, data is never copied, rekeyed, or manually filed–freeing employees for value-added activities. When used as a strategy to improve business processes, EDI can eliminate tedious work and reduce the risk of human error.
- Optimized Inventory – EDI can provide faster and more accurate information about inventory status. Replenishment can be driven by consumption. Future needs or changing needs can be quickly assessed and responded to without manual intervention or review, thus leading to improved inventory management.
- Improved Business Relationships – Implementation involves the entire organization–sales, marketing, manufacturing, logistics, information systems, finance, and customer service. It typically brings the people within these functions into contact with their counterparts in other organizations. EDI expands channels of communication and leads to better working relationships between the partners.
3M encourages the exchange of EDI transactions with many customers. In general, implementation begins with the basic transactions of purchase order, invoice, and remittance advice. Other transaction sets are implemented based on mutual agreement between customers and 3M. General ecommendations for customer EDI implementations are:
- Data must be compliant with the ANSI X12 standard. 3M also supports all major industry subsets (e.g., VICS, UCS, I/C) and EDIFACT.
- EDI data is exchanged via a value added network (VAN) in most cases. The VANs that 3M connects with directly are: CommerceNet, GEIS, Transettlements, Harbinger, and Advantis/Sears. Interconnects are used for other VANs.
- The current or prior version of the ANSI X12 standard should be used.
- Testing of all EDI documents is required before going into production. This is coordinated with the customer by the 3M EC Trading Partner Implementation Group.
- The following transactions are used by 3M:
- Invoice – 810
- Remittance Advice – 820
- Purchase Order – 850
- Purchase Order
- Acknowledgment – 855
- Ship Notice/Manifest – 856.