Basic EDI Process

The essential steps in the EDI process are for the originating company to pack the information into an EDI message; for the message to be communicated and received by the target company; and for the target company then to absorb the information within the message into its own systems.

The EDI information is contained in a computer file, much as a letter is contained within an envelope, regardless of the information within it. In fact, the letter analogy works very well for explaining the full EDI process. Today EDI "envelopes” (i.e. computer files) are almost always sent via some sort of electronic postal service.

Many third party computer network offer services that allow companies to "post” their EDI envelopes electronically to them, and they then deliver them to mailboxes from which the receiving companies can collect them. GEIS Information Services, for example, runs a service specifically for companies that use the Tradacoms standard. Companies such as IBM, Racal Telecom, and British Telecom (to name just a few) have joined together to offer X400 mailbox services, so that EDI files can be attached to e-mails for distribution to the correct destination mailboxes.

Today, of course, the Internetis an obvious alternative too, providing exactly the right kind of e-mail service to deliver EDI files. Very important considerations, however, are security and guarantee of delivery; aspects that many companies do not yet consider are adequate on the Internet for critical EDI information.

For the purposes of this document, the EDI computer file is the start and end of the facilities provided by the EDI order processing interface. How to communicate these files to their recipients is a separate issue involving third party services and software.