Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is more than just a buzz word in the baking industry, it’s an extremely important tool. If you don’t take the time to learn about and understand it, you may be shooting yourself in the foot. Most contracts with larger customers are going to require EDI, which is why FlexiBake offers so many EDI options.

What is EDI?

Electronic Data Interchange allows businesses to exchange data electronically and automatically. Transfers of purchase orders and invoices form the basis of most EDI transactions in the baking and food manufacturing sectors. This automation saves time and reduces errors for both parties.

Often larger customers, for example supermarket chains and large food service businesses, will insist that their vendors (you) accept EDI orders as a condition of contract. For them this capability is essential as they may be placing and receiving thousands of orders and invoices every month.

The customer’s ordering system will generate and send a Purchase Order (PO) and the vendor will be expected to accept the order electronically. Often, smaller vendors pay an intermediate processing agency to convert the Electronic Data Interchange orders into a readable format and send them by email. They then manually enter these transactions into their ordering software from the email, which negates the speed and accuracy of the process. This is why it is so important to ensure that the ERP software you select for your bakery is able to process EDI transactions

Why do you need EDI?

Large businesses who require Electronic Data Interchange functionality will often avoid working with suppliers who cannot, or will not, accept EDI purchase orders or invoices. The more sophisticated the industry gets, the more pressure there will be on your company to implement EDI processing in order to do business with even smaller companies. When choosing an ERP system, be sure to choose a system that complies with major Electronic Data Interchange formats and offers support for 3rd party EDI processors.

How does EDI work in FlexiBake?

FlexiBake offers the ability to import and export EDI orders easily and in a variety of different formats, including custom formats that you can create as you need them in order to communicate with 3rd party Electronic Data Interchange processors. Our support team is well versed in working with Electronic Data Interchange , so you can be sure that we can get you up and running quickly when you come to implement EDI in your bakery.

Setup a demonstration of FlexiBake today: https://flexibake.com/contact-us/request-demo/