Companies with a structured and sophisticated logistics strategy can do all kinds of incredible things-improve operational efficiency, increase visibility into their supply chain, and most of all, strengthen customer relationships throughout their ecosystem.

In order to accomplish that, however, companies need to first have the proper technology in place. EDI remains the standard for electronic transactions between businesses, and that is no exception in the logistics industry.

Both retailers and suppliers need more visibility to the status of the order in their supply chain. With the latest advances in electronic reporting, more power than ever is being placed into the hands of more trading partners. Trading partners communicate order information through EDI reporting, or other electronic methods, often through EDI by Design.

When an error or delay occurs, trading partners often don’t have the data needed to troubleshoot an issue and get the order back on track, and while our EDI by Design support teams are there to help at any time, many users want direct access to information through EDI reporting about their dataflow so they can answer questions or resolve issues firsthand. EDI retailers and suppliers to answer the following questions:

• Was an order sent and received?
• Has the order quantity and date been confirmed?
• Have any documents failed today?
• Was the shipment late?
• Is chargeback valid?
• Can I see the EDI transactions in a readable format?
• Can I access the delivery details for the documents I sent or received?
• How was the document sent?

Visibility is Key to Successful Trading Partner Communication