What Is EDI? | What Is Electronic Data Interchange?

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) refers to the standardised communication method companies use to transact electronic documents to one another. Whilst EDI has been around for decades, recently, with the emergence of Fully Managed Service providers, its effectiveness has reached new heights.

Whereas order to invoice lifecycles used to take days and included various steps, such as waiting for documents to be received by post and subsequently processed manually, EDI has dramatically accelerated this sequence, with documents being sent, received and processed automatically. Managed EDI solutions have taken the technology a step further, electronic trading networks are managed by a team of experts on behalf of their clients and used to drive efficiencies throughout the company which has led to the proliferation of EDI solutions across UK businesses, with the Office for National Statistics stating that there was £274 billion worth of EDI transactions in 2016.

Operated through a Fully Managed Service an EDI solution can go beyond just sending messages; it can improve customer supplier relationships, drastically reduce human errors and add tangible value to businesses. TrueCommerce’s Managed Service team enhance our clients operations by taking complete ownership of their EDI activity and manage the implementation, upkeep and ongoing maintenance of their electronic trading network, accounting for the enormous array of trading requirements and standards potentially utilised across each businesses network.