What is EDI and Why Is It Beneficial to Your Business
Social Distancing has become the new way of life and we don’t think it will be going away any time soon. Now more than ever the digital world is becoming more important and EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) might be something that can make your back office more efficient.
What is EDI?
Electronic Data Interchange is the exchange of paper through computers between two businesses. EDI uses a standard format so that the computers (not humans) are able to read and understand what is being sent. But how do you know if your company needs an EDI system and what are the benefits?
Common Industries that use EDI:
Businesses that use EDI usually have a large amount of paper documents that need to be exchanged between multiple companies. Industries such as healthcare, banking, high tech and retail are often great candidates for an EDI system.
Think of ordering a product online for your business. The company that is selling the product will have to create a purchase order and send it to the supplier. The supplier will then have to send an invoice to the buyer for payment. All this can be done through EDI and this will make the process quicker and more efficient.
There are many benefits of EDI
Benefits of EDI
Lowers Costs
By using an EDI system a business is eliminating the cost of paper and printing. That is a huge money saver for a company that needs to store paper documents. And there’s another expense; storage! If you don’t have all that paper, then you don’t need to pay for a place to store it! These expenses along with postage fees are all costs that a business will not have to endure if they use an EDI system.
Improves Speed
There is no quicker way in this day in age to transport information then electronically. Documents can be exchanged through EDI in a matter of seconds rather than standard mail which would take days if not weeks to arrive. Business are also reducing the risk of the document being damaged through snail mail. EDI will also guarantee the document ends up in the right hands and does not get lost.
Improves Accuracy
Because EDI systems produce electronic documents in such good quality, the possibility of errors and documents being illegible are drastically lowered. There is also little to no chance of losing documents when they are being transferred through EDI.
Allows businesses to be more efficient
Having an automated system in your back office for your paper-based tasks can allow for other tasks to be completed. As stated before, when a business is using an EDI system, it allows for data to be transferred in real-time speed. This allows for items such as invoices and purchase orders to be processed quicker which in turn brings money into the business faster.
Still not sure if EDI is something you need for your back office? Reach out to us! Imagenet is one of the nation’s leading back office providers that specializes in paper to EDI. To learn more about if EDI is right for your company and how EDI might be a good resource to accelerate your productivity, get in touch with us and one of our specialist would be happy to answer any of your questions.
