Daily EDI Operations Monitoring
A EDI Success Story
Customer EDI Challenge
A DCS customer provides live flower and garden plants to home centers. Based in California, with nurseries in several North America different climatic zones, they ship to their customers in three very high volume seasons – spring, fall, and holidays. They are required to use EDI extensively with both their customers and LTL shippers. They use Sterling’s Gentran Integration Suite™ (GIS), SAP, and Cleo’s VersaLex™ AS2 to provide maximum functionality and to handle the large traffic. They called DCS to monitor the process and provide weekly performance reports to management during the seasonal spikes in volume.
DCS Solution
DCS uses the existing GIS and VersaLex remote management console to check processes twice daily. Additionally, the automated error message system alerts DCS to selected errors immediately. The most complicated transaction was the outbound Shipment Notice (ASN, 856) due to multiple stops at several stores. Another complication – a faulty firewall configuration complicated the communication set up, but offers very good security.
Result
The EDI process automation is now running smoothly and the speed, accuracy, and efficiency of the data flow are greatly increased. The faster response to EDI transactions provides a wider fulfillment window, quicker payment, less data entry error, and more flexibility in meeting increasing customer demands. DCS expertise kept the EDI operating cost down and keeps efficiency at its highest.
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the computer-to-computer exchange of routine business documents such as Purchase Orders, Shipment Notices, Invoices, and Remittance Advices without human intervention. Data moves from your customer’s computer system – through the Internet securely – to your computer system.