Better collaboration among various supply chain partners is the answer to many challenges facing the industry right now. Regardless of the niche you’re in, the need for real-time data exchange has had a spotlight shone on it in recent years.
The challenge there for companies using strictly traditional EDI-based data transfer is that EDI uses batched sending – it’s not an instant response. This issue can be compounded if you’re operating in a network of partners with their own, disparate EDI systems. Information lag can lead to inefficient forecasting, inefficient inventory movement, and unhappy partners.
Adding API to the mix can solve that challenge, making collaboration with existing partners and onboarding new ones much easier. Read on for the details:
EDI vs. API: What’s the Difference?
The functions of EDI and API can have considerable overlap, depending on their use cases in a particular business. Both tools communicate important information like orders, fulfillment, billing, and payment. But the nature in which they exchange their data payloads and the methods they employ to execute the transactions differ.
For example, API is often more “chatty” in nature. What might normally look like a single transaction sent from one party to another might resemble more of a conversation in the API world. An API also exchanges data between different pieces of software in real time, as opposed to EDI, which exchanges business data in batches.
EDI has been adapted to many different standards with variations based on industry, geographic location, and other factors. Because two EDI systems can have major differences depending on their origin, deciding which transaction sets to use with new trading partners can be a tricky process.
Another challenge of the traditional EDI model concerns turnaround data: information sent on a purchase order has to be returned with order acknowledgement, ASN and an invoice. Because of the batched nature of EDI data transfer, this can cause a significant lag when placing and fulfilling orders.
The Solution: EDI and API Working Together
Using API to exchange EDI transactions can offer organizations the best of both worlds.
By bridging the gap between traditional EDI and newer tools like API, modern service providers allow organizations to execute EDI transactions within the more comfortable and real-time environment of API. Giving API access to EDI transactions exchanged between retailers, sellers, warehouses and transportation entities offers better, real-time visibility into these transactions to support faster, more strategic logistics operations.
That’s why Better EDI has this capability built directly into our tool as a standard feature. Better EDI is data format agnostic, so no matter what structured data format you use (APIs like JSON/XML; CSV; Fixed length flat files) – we can handle it.
Learn more about what an API-enabled EDI solution can do for your business – get in touch today.