EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange, is the art of sending electronic data from one system to another, by using standardized messaging format.

By doing so, there is no need for manual interfering. The whole process is suppose to go smoothly and automatic, without any interaction from us deadly humans.

There are many benefits with EDI

Not only for lazy people that don’t wanna lift a finger, but for us people running around like ants trying to get things done, it can really make a big difference. EDI makes the whole process from ordering your goods to receiving them, a lot faster. It reduces time and costs, it’s accurate and you dont have to rely on papers, everything is digital.

Here are some examples of documents you can process through EDI:

• purchase orders
• invoices
• advance ship notices
• bill of lading
• customs documents
• inventory documents,
• shipping status documents
• payment documents

 

EDI was developed (and is being maintained) by ANSI, the American National Standards Institute.

If you wanna read more about EDI i suggest you take a look at www.edibasics.com.      They also have some pictures explaining the process for a better understanding.