What is EDI?

The way we do business today is vastly different from all the methods that have been used since the beginning of time. Of course, that is because computers are at the core of most industries today, and the computer—at least, as we know it—has really only been a part of human civilization for the past fifty years or so.  

And at the core of all computer based functions used in today’s global economy, electronic data interchange is among the most important.  To put it simply, electronic data exchange is a system which aims to standardize the varied electronic formats by which businesses interact with each other.  

Why Electronic Data Interchange is Important

Known as also as EDI, data interchange is important because it helps to improve efficiency. EDI also capitalizes on the trend of moving towards fully digital systems with automated exchanges.  It is the function of Meade Willis edi services to reduce costs, improve document processing speeds, and reduce the risk for errors and redundancies. Ultimately this should improve the relationships between all business entities involved.

Computer Networks

When you employ EDI standards, you will quickly find that traditional post mail is quite archaic.  Indeed, you no longer need to send any mail through the post, nor will a fax machine be necessary:  even though a fax is, technically, digital, it is still not as proficient as using EDI.  More importantly, though, EDI is more reliable than physical post, which will always be vulnerable to human error.

Business Documents

In every EDI process you will have various business documents.  These get traded back and forth across all levels of your business and the more movement, the more likely an error will occur.  Basically, then EDI minimizes this risk.

Standard Formats

All EDI documents are processed by computers, obviously, which is a very good thing because computers can calculate so much faster than a human, or even a team of humans.  More than this, though, computer calculations run a significantly lower risk for redundancies and errors.  The reason for this?  Standard format.  

Standard format is a simple term that refers to a singular way to present all the varied information involved in an EDI process in a way that will be consistently understood between all computers integrated with the processing.  Now, you need to understand there are several standard formats, so EDI works to determine the best and most appropriate standard format to connect which every systems will be involved with the job.