Does your EDI process have too many manual steps? Embarrassing breakdowns? No support during critical fulfillments? Then it is time to get help smoothing your order process.
Merchants and grocers force more data exchange upon vendors without paying for it. They say that competitive pressures from on-line merchants require more complexity, yet they still demand lower prices. The bad news is that this pattern will not diminish this decade; it won’t go away. Suppliers must take steps today to optimize and protect margins before their frustrations get worse.
There are two steps you must take to begin:
- Get help
- Negotiate allowances
Get Help
Getting help means recognizing a problem exists. Too often the problems with back-to-school and holiday orders are that they were not one-time or were limited to a few key customers. This is also not an I.T. or customer service problem because inaccurate or delayed orders disrupt the entire production, warehousing, and invoicing processes. The cumulative friction is difficult to measure yet real with cost reducing margins by about 0.5% of sales.
When you smooth your EDI process:
- Inbound orders flow automatically, clicking on icons goes away.
- Part-number look-ups are maintained in the business application.
- Chargebacks from ASNs won’t have PRO or tracer numbers disappearing.
- Message receipts between the firewall – EDI – and the application tell you immediately of a breakdown.
- Scripts are replaced with EDI or ERP system configurations, necessary scripts are listed and described so you know what they do and where they are.
A first step is a look at what is working well and what must improve. We suggest bringing in an expert to shorten the path to a solution and work hands-off the nettlesome details. On December 12th we will list the questions you can ask the customer service, scheduling, and invoicing managers so you can begin your recovery.
Negotiate Allowances
When the blanket order is being negotiated, be sure that electronic-commerce costs are on the table. You must get sharing of these costs. The first step is knowing your e-commerce costs and how much they will rise next year. The second step is showing customers the changes mostly benefit them.
Let DCS help you smooth your process. With our FREE assessment, the process is simple. We can log-on remotely and review your configuration. Then we submit a clear list of priorities of what can be done, a time estimate and what money can be saved. Budgeting for your project is easier because our estimates are reliable. Read about our experience in the food producer and consumer product industries.
Read about what questions to ask your team.
What problems have you been experiencing in your process? What has helped your negotiation tactic for sharing costs?
Contact Us
Got questions? Need EDI support or development? Facing a challenge or decision and want honest advice from experts? Looking for tailored training? You are in the right place. We take the time to understand what you need and give clear, helpful guidance to get you on the right track. Complete the form and we will be in touch soon to see how we can help. Let’s make EDI work for you!