Expansion to additional EDI partners
The speed at which business expansion to additional EDI partners can be achieved depends on how well internal company’s systems have been set up to handle trading partner requirements. If few or no system changes are required to add a new trading partner, startup can occur quickly. If major system changes are required to add a new partner, startup will take much longer. When surveying trading partner requirements and capabilities in the early stages of the project, the Industrial/Commercial EDI development team needs to examine processing variations.
As much as possible, initial procedures should be established which can subsequently accommodate different business relationships. While the Industrial/Commercial EDI guidelines standardize how companies communicate data, it does not standardize internal operation and applications, nor does it standardize specific business relationships between companies.
Since many companies survey current trading partners as part of their Industrial/Commercial EDI implementation plan, expansion to additional partners flows from this plan. In order to select trading partners purposefully, this initial plan should factor in high volume trading partners which would allow the company to exceed the break-even cost point with the fewest number of partners. It should also select as potential partners companies that have an established track record in EDI to enable a smooth transition.
The UCC InfoCenter is useful in identifying potential trading partners, the EC User Group conferences and seminars sponsored by the Uniform Code Council, Inc. as well as other industry forums also may be used to network potential trading partners.
To learn more about EDI and become a CEDIAP® (Certified EDI Academy Professional), please visit our course schedule page.