Take Charge of Your Vendor Sales Orders with EDI

Many manufacturing ERP software users understand the benefit of using electronic data interchange (EDI) to facilitate communication with their customers. EnterpriseIQ‘s EDI/eCommerce module provides functionality to receive orders and acknowledgments and send shipping notices and invoices, plus many other transactions needed in regular day to day operations. This process provides your customers the ability to maintain the open orders they have with your company and allows you to notify them of shipments and required payments in an easy manner. Within EnterpriseIQ, this functionality can be automated in the eServer module, resulting in a hands off setup.

But what about EDI communication with your vendors? Did you know that EnterpriseIQ also contains functionality to send out EDI in the same way your customers do? EnterpriseIQ has the ability to create outbound EDI orders or shipping schedules based on the requirements created by the update schedule procedure when populated to a purchase order. We call it, of all things, vendor EDI!

The vendor EDI functionality is no different from what your customers provide you. You will provide your vendors with specifications based on your requirements. The outbound file will contain data found in the purchase orders you have in your system. These files will be sent to your vendor and will have mapping available to bring the data into their system, just as you would into yours. Just like when you receive EDI from your customers, this provides them the opportunity to minimize manual data entry and increase the accuracy of their order data. This will result in a large cost savings on both sides.

If your vendor does not have the ability to receive actual EDI, the eServer module has the option to send out the purchase order in an email. The process of generating the EDI is a little different, but the end result is automatically generated purchasing requirements for your company.

EnterpriseIQ also has the ability to receive ASNs and invoices. You will be providing the specifications for these transactions to your vendor and just as you create mapping matching your customers’ specifications, your vendor will provide you files containing all the data you require for correct processing. The inbound data will not immediately update your system, but will be held in pre-post tables where the accounting or receiving department can review the inbound data. A simple press of a button will update the system without additional data entry by your employees. Of course, once these processes have been tested and proven out, eServer can automate the process of handling the inbound vendor EDI transactions automatically.

The power of EDI in the marketplace is very apparent when working with large wholesalers and automotive manufacturers.  With a little research and an understanding of your vendor’s capabilities, the EnterpriseIQ suite of eCommerce tools can provide a complete B2B interface for handling transactions with your vendors.