GS1 EDI Implementation Process Basics
GS1 EDI standards cover many supply chain business processes from ordering up to supplying. For each of these processes, different set of messages are needed. Before a company starts any GS1 EDI implementation, the management need to answer the following questions:
- Which business processes will be supported by GS1 electronic data interchange?
- What data need to be exchanged in these processes?
- Which business partners will send or receive these data?
Your company should make sure that there is a commitment for EDI implementation
The company management needs to have a basic understanding of the principles and benefits of electronic data interchange. They have to be aware that the GS1 EDI implementation can help to improve trading partners service and their satisfaction, enhance the efficiency of the supply chain, cut costs and optimise inventories.
Company EDI staff should contact with the local GS1 Member Organisation. Most of them have dedicated experts for specific technical areas, also for GS1 EDI. The contact point for the user companies seeking support in implementation of standards is always the local GS1 Member Organisation.
The GS1 electronic data interchange standards are developed based on real user requirements and reviewed by the user companies, so they cover all or most information that needs to be exchanged with trading partners. However, if there are any gaps between the user requirements and the data covered by the messages provided, the standards need to be updated accordingly.
It is very important to take note that the business terms used by your company and GS1 may be different, while semantically the content of data elements is identical. Therefore, the comparison should be made between data definitions, rather then just business terms. The GS1 data definitions can be found in the Global Data Dictionary (GDD) documentation of messages.