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Rest assured, our managed EDI service will prepare you to handle any changes or updates to EDI requirements in the future, and avoid costly chargebacks and compliance issues.
EDI, or Electronic Data Interchange, is the automated exchange of business documents between organizations. By providing a standard electronic format that replaces paper documents such as invoices and purchase orders, it can streamline the transfer of key data to ensure that vendors are complying to standards set by large-scale retailers, multiple retailers, and more.
Brands that have multiple retailers and trading partners with EDI requirements require an agile EDI integration solution to connect platforms such as their marketplaces, ERPs, eCommerce platform, and more. This helps them eliminate cumbersome manual data entry and stay compliant with their EDI vendors.
For the growing business faced with multiple retailers and trading partner EDI requirements, eHouse has a full-service EDI solution, for both Compliance EDI and Non-Compliance EDI.
Our solution ensures compliance across all EDI partners. Merchants using an ERP or accounting platform that cannot provide compliant data for these purposes can have a robust and scalable solution in hand for the long term.
Our iPaaS integration for EDI covers the following requirements:
Compliance EDI is based on a trading relationship between two partners, like Walmart or Target that use EDI Standards to move data. The key is that each partner has different transaction definitions and different transactions a vendor must comply with. Compliance EDI has compliance charges if incorrectly submitted.
Non-Compliance EDI is transmitted between applications internally within an organization. The transactions are usually less, in terms of numbers and communication is often through internal data movement using sFTP.
Our iPaaS managed service enables EDI integration for front-end data validation and fully supports 3PL facilities for logistics compliance. All communication methods are supported, including AS2, FTPS, SFTP, or VAN. Let us be your expert to ensure trading partner compliance and avoid chargebacks for the long term.
Depending on your business needs and systems, file-based integration can be the right option. Using our standard file layouts and secure FTP communications, you can automate your file transfer processes.
eHouse supports a wide variety of standard file formats including EDI, XML, CSV, and JSON files sent through SFTP. Using our standard file layouts and secure FTP communications, you can automate your file transfer processes.
Flat file integrations are sometimes considered as an option when an existing platform lacks APIs or web services, thus limiting options to what is possible.
For example, if you are using an old ERP system that has been in business long before APIs were the main form of communication used, file transfer integration may be leveraged to ensure EDI compliance. By automating file transfer processes, you can streamline the transfer of key data to ensure that vendors are complying to standards set by large-scale retailers, multiple retailers, and more.
The majority of legacy systems will have an import-export process. And while it wasn’t originally designed for cloud-based applications, the import/export processes can be modeled in a way that allows it to interact with many cloud applications.
The easiest way to imagine a flat-file integration would be two companies exchanging letters via a secure mailbox. When the integration platform has data for a legacy ERP, for example, the integration platform will drop off a ‘letter’ into the agreed-upon mailbox.
At this point, the ERP can take a look into that mailbox, retrieve any of its mail, and process that letter into its system. Anything coming back the other way, works in the exact same way, dropping off a letter for the integration platform to process.
Four common types of file formats our integration supports are EDI documents, XML files, CSV files, and JSON files.
EDI Documents: Complex retail supply chains use EDI to transfer data such as orders, advanced shipment notices, and invoices between themselves and their supply chain partners. Using your legacy EDI infrastructure to integrate your web presence. we power EDI integration with our supported ERP systems to enable trading partner compliance while maintaining cost efficiency. We work with the major EDI standards for the most common eCommerce workflows.
XML Files: These are one of the most common formats of eCommerce support. Our XML file transfer integration allows merchants to easily load XML without needing manual intervention.
CSV: CSV (Character Separated Value) file is a common data communication standard that allows businesses to export or import data in a simple layout. The most commonly used example is a spreadsheet.
JSON: JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format is widely used for sending data between servers and web applications, serving as an alternative to XML.
File formats get transferred through different network protocols. These protocols transmit files most commonly through FTP, FTPS, and SFTP network protocols.
Common network protocols are:
FTP: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a protocol for transmitting files through Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connections. Since FTP does not use encryption, it is generally considered to be an insecure protocol as it relies on clear-text usernames and passwords for authentication.
FTPS: File Transfer Protocol over SSL (FTPS) uses Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) cryptographic protocols to encrypt traffic. FTPS allows encryption of both the control and data channel connections.
SFTP: Secure Shell (SSH) File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) is a network protocol used for the secure transfer of data over the internet. The protocol enables file transfers through the full security and authentication functionality of SSH. In general, it helps to exchange data, including sensitive information between business partners in a variety of industries. Unlike with FTPS, which uses TLS and SSL protocols to encrypt, SFTP only requires file transfer over Secure Shell for all SFTP communications — thus making file transfer via SFTP easy to secure.
To put it simply, Flat File integrations will always be slower than an API integration. As these systems are interacting via a communication method that lives separate of both systems, it does mean there will be a delay in how the information is processed, as it isn’t going directly into the target system.
Having said that, the slower speeds can be mitigated with listening triggers in the SFTP. eHouse supports a wide variety of standard file formats files sent through SFTP. Using our standard file layouts and secure FTP communications, you can automate your file transfer processes.
If your business is facing challenges with unifying your back-office processes, ERP integration might be for you. Learn more about how our ERP solutions can help improve efficiency across your commerce operations.
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