Smaller suppliers, who deliver goods to supermarkets or e-shops, for example, usually do not have an advanced enterprise system ready for full EDI integration. When you, as a customer, demand that they engage in EDI communication, you will probably encounter justified resistance. For such cases, the so-called webEDI is ideal - a simple web application that can be quickly launched, is affordable and requires almost no investment.
We encounter this every day. A local farmer who delivers fresh tomatoes to Rohlík. A small producer of organic cosmetics delivering to Pilulka pharmacies. The more you as a seller pay attention to the sustainability and locality of the products you offer , the more often you cooperate with small suppliers for whom full EDI integration is unnecessarily robust and expensive.
The arguments from these suppliers are usually similar. They are concerned that EDI will add extra work to their business, that it will be unnecessarily expensive and complicated for them, or that it will not be worth it because you are the only trading partner that requires EDI from them.
In these cases, it is ideal if your EDI provider does not push suppliers into full EDI integration, but offers them a lighter web option – webEDI . Its biggest advantages are:
- simple and quick commissioning,
- very low entry and operating costs,
- a clear web interface, where the supplier does not have to buy or install any software , all that is needed is an internet connection,
- support for multiple language versions even for foreign suppliers,
- overview of all documents between business partners,
- automation of receiving and sending documents,
- elimination of errors when working with documents manually,
- data export option
- and digital archiving of documents in accordance with the law.
WebEDI also serves as an ideal platform for smaller suppliers to try out the EDI environment and all its benefits in practice . If the number of documents increases in the future, or if more customers require EDI, they can eventually switch to full EDI integration and, for example, to our ORiON EDI . At that time, they will be much better prepared for this transition and it will be financially worthwhile for them.
"With webEDI, the acquisition costs were not excessive, we were able to practically immediately fulfill the request of our important customer and at the same time speed up and refine work with documents," says Martin Zavadil, director of Fitness Store, describing his experience.
We are happy to help with supplier engagement
After more than 30 years on the market, we know that implementing EDI is just the beginning of the process for every customer. The number of suppliers involved, or the percentage of documents that flow via EDI, affects whether electronic document exchange is truly worthwhile.
That's why we help clients with supplier engagement. Before deploying our ORiON EDI solution, we analyze your suppliers - for example, we find out which of them already have EDI, we determine the priority suppliers that we want to engage first, and we prepare a communication campaign.
We then approach individual suppliers, explain the benefits of EDI to them and gradually involve them. When approaching them , we take into account, among other things, the size of the supplier . For those for whom EDI integration with the corporate system is not worth it, we offer the more affordable webEDI.
After this initial phase, we continue to work with you and involve new suppliers in EDI. This is exactly what we did, for example, in our cooperation with the online pharmacy Pilulka , where we gradually managed to involve 90% of all suppliers and are still involving new suppliers today.
Whether you are a customer looking to implement EDI or just need help with supplier engagement, let us know. Or if you are a supplier who is required by a customer to use EDI, get in touch too. We will discuss your situation and find ways to help you effectively. Simply fill out the short contact form .
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