EDI - The electronic connection to your merchandise information system
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is an agreement controlling the electronic transmission of business processes in which formalized/structured data are exchanged between business partners.
With formalized data, the order and format in which certain information appear are defined exactly.
EDI has the advantage that considerable savings can be achieved as a result of the automation and simplification of certain procedures.
Significance of 'EDI' for PHOENIX CONTACT
The number of customers who were connected by EDI grew from year to year. From the mid 1990s, the Internet matured and was so widely spread that it was even possible to conduct business cases online. It appeared that the emergence of eBusiness was set to replace EDI as a means of transmission in the long term. Today we know that EDI is an integral part of eBusiness. In addition to various customer connections, almost the entire order processing within the Phoenix Contact group is carried out via EDI.
Phoenix Contact aims to provide every customer with the order transaction channel that is most suitable. This gives you the choice between ordering by fax/mail/telephone, via the online shop or by EDI.
Operational and strategic advantages
- Order data is only recorded once
- Administrative costs for collecting, distributing and archiving paper-based documents are reduced to a minimum
- Information exchange between companies is accelerated (in particular with international relations)
- Internal processes are accelerated as a result of direct data transfer without entering data manually
- 24-hour availability and no problems with time zones
- No more errors due to manual data input
- Greater security for planning and materials handling
- Improved material tracking
- Locational disadvantages are compensated