GamutEDI - EDI Implementation Guide

EDI Implementation Guide

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the oldest and most widely used from of Business to Business e-Commerce. For organizations across the supply-chain, EDI enables trading partners to exchange documents like purchase orders and delivery dockets from computer to computer without the cost and errors associated with manual data entry.

Many trading partners now mandate EDI as a condition of doing business and will not purchase goods from suppliers that do not have EDI-capable systems. Often the supplier is not only required to be able to receive and send EDI messages, but also to undertake "scan and pack" stock picking, and to print barcoded logistics labels that comply with the partner's requirements.

Although a number of standards have been developed to simplify the process of mapping data between partners' computer systems, most retailers implement their own version of the standard message and label formats so it is necessary to configure your EDI systems to meet the requirements of each EDI customer.

This document outlines the important steps that you must follow to participate in EDI.

Obtain Membership of GS1 Australia

Before you can participate in the EDI system, you must first be registered with GS1 Australia. Your membership with GS1 Australia will provide you with:

A Global Location Number (GLN) which, in Australia, is a 13 digit unique number identifying your organization, and
Unique GTIN barcode number that can be applied to your products.

Australian GTINs are 13 digit numbers beginning with 9, that uniquely identify each product to all parties across the local supply chain. Please note that you must obtain your own Australian GTIN numbers for each retail-level item that you sell to your EDI trading partners, even if the product already has a barcode number issued in another country or to another supplier such as your manufacturer. GS1 Australia is the only body authorised to issue Australian GTIN barcode numbers and will charge you an annual fee based on the number of barcodes requested. GamutEDI can assist you through the process of expiditing your GS1 membership application and obtaining the appropriate number of GTIN barcodes. For more information, contact us.

Subscribe to GamutEDI On-Demand or the GamutEDI Appliance

After you have obtained your membership with GS1 Australia, you should subscribe to GamutEDI On-Demand hosted service or obtain and install the GamutEDI Appliance.

You can subscribe to the GamutEDI On-Demand service online by clicking here or by selecting Subscribe from the main menu on any page of this website. The whole process of subscribing to GamutEDI On-Demand takes just a few minutes and no payment is required. Once you have subscribed you can start defining your inventory data and barcodes immediately. We will register your GLN with our VAN to enable electronic messaging with your trading partners, and create your trading partner identity information on our servers. A printable User Guide to the GamutEDI On-Demand application is available here.

Purchase Hardware for your Warehouse

Trading with EDI means more than sending and receiving electronic messages. It usually also requires you to meet picking and packing processes mandated by your trading partners. To meet your obligations to the trading partner, you will normally need to have certain hardware to facilitate "scan-packing" and the production of barcoded logistics labels.

Whereas pricing tickets can be pre-printed and may even be incorporated into your product packaging, every logistics (SSCC) label is unique and must normally be generated as part of the picking process to ensure that data on the label aligns with information contained in the electronic despatch advice. You will therefore need to have the ability to print compliant logistics labels, and to achieve best results we recommend that you purchase a dedicated label printer.

For entry-level desktop label printers we recommend the Zebra GK series, which are available in USB/Parallel or networked models. Alternatively you might consider purchasing wearable printers which connect wirtelessly to your network and enable your pickers to obtain the SSCC labels without having to walk back to a printing station. The higher cost of wearable printers is quickly recovered in time saved by your warehouse staff. Click here to obtain a quote on your chosen printer type.

You should also purchase one or more barcode scanners to meet the expected picking volume. Retailers mandate the use of scan packing to ensure accuracy. The GamutEDI software enhances your picking accruacy by keeping track of how many of each item you have scanned for a given store and alerting you to errors such as wrong item or over-ship.

We supply a range of barcode scanners from low-cost units which can be plugged-in to a USB port on your PC or notebook, to integrated handheld computers that connect wirelessly to your network. Click here to obtain a quote for your chosen scanner type.

Undertake Trading Partner Accreditation

The GamutEDI platform can be used to trade with multiple partners. Usually when you have won a contract with a new partner they will require you to go through an accreditation process which proves that you understand their requirements and have systems capable of interacting with them. You will be required to satisfy the trading partner accreditation regardless of how much experience you have with EDI or how many other partners you already deal with.

Important! Do not leave the accreditation process to the last minute. There are many parties involved and you may find the EDI department of your trading partner does not treat your accreditation with the same urgency that you do.

Typically accreditation will involve you

receiving and processing a test purchase order message
sending a functional acknowledgment message in reply
going through the motions of packing the test-order (but not actually despatching goods)
printing logistics (SSCC) labels for the order and faxing or emailing these to your customer's EDI team
generating a valid electronic despatch advice message for the test order and sending this to your trading partner's test system.

In our experience things often go wrong during the accreditation process, such as a message not being sent or received through the trading partner's test system. Also, trading partners sometimes send invalid data intentionally to test your ability to respond to such situations or to trigger the generation of a purchase order acknowledgment message, identifying an order change response. While the GamutEDI systems are capable of dealing with these situations they can add delays to the accreditation process, so you may need to wait up to several weeks before accreditation is finalized. Please do not hesitate to contact our EDI Support Team at any time should you have concerns about your accreditation.

Start Accessing your GamutEDI Account on a Regular Basis

Most retailers provide detailed instructions concerning their EDI and B2B requirements. Normally, after you have been trading through EDI on a regular basis, your partner will no longer supply advance notice of purchase orders. Given the tight delivery windows that are often imposed, it is a good idea to log-in to your account on the GamutEDI On-Demand service on a daily basis to check whether you have any new orders to process and to send any messages created as a result of picking operations

If you begin trading with another EDI customer simply contact us to set-up the new EDI partner identity and commence their accreditation process.