Thinking about switching EDI provider?

There are many reasons companies want to switch their EDI provider, but by far the biggest one is cost savings. Read more: Why beauty brands leave per-character VAN EDI for a straightforward fee.

When transatlantic beauty brand Space NK changed over to Transalis eDI™ with just one trading partner in the US, they instantly saved £60,000 per annum.

EDI provider with a better charging model

Like many other companies, Space NK’s trading partner had been served by an incumbent EDI provider who had a legacy pricing model that included costs per message character, transmission charges and a service model that had only limited capacity to send different message types.

The upshot was that Space NK were effectively being penalised for success by having to accept the charges simply because it was the model mandated by their partner’s EDI provider. They were also restricted by legacy technology not delivering the real benefits of multi-message EDI.

Chris Wakeham, Space NK’s Global IT Director, quickly recognised the inefficiency and cost this was creating. Try as he did, he could not influence the trading partner’s EDI provider to evolve its legacy model.

“I remember having conversations with them to reduce the character cost by 10% but to no avail,” says Chris. “They also told us we were too embedded to move to another provider because it would be too complicated to switch. They tried to tie us in, thinking they had us over a barrel. I really wanted to get away from what was a chokehold and find a provider who could actually offer us value.”

A different EDI provider, a different way

Chris and his team discussed the situation with Transalis. Together, they agreed a far better solution would be to move to a platform on which a templated protocol could operate.

“Transalis offered a different way of doing business,” says Chris. “It was exactly where I wanted to be.”

As well as the substantial cost saving, switching to Transalis eDI™ had immediate benefits in terms of process management and optimisation, Chris adds.

“By translating messages into a format my team could readily work with, Transalis made it easy to import the data into our ERP. That’s true ‘added value’.

As soon as the integration with our internal systems was done, we were able to move ahead very quickly but with dramatically reduced hands-on technical involvement. We got used to seeing the reassuring message ‘Your XML order is ready’.

At the same time, the openness of our relationship with Transalis meant they were happy to share their technical expertise with us so we could also build more knowledge within the in-house team.

It took only one week to onboard the first partner with Transalis as EDI provider. We brought the rest in very quickly as soon as that was achieved.”

Realising efficiencies

Space NK was able to roll out the use of EDI across many other areas of the business, helping to realise efficiencies and improve ROI.

“As soon as the new solution went live, it cemented EDI within the business,” explains Chris. “We immediately saw the operational benefits. Because EDI was now more agile and less expensive, we could move it further into our processes. Transalis removed the barriers to EDI.”

An EDI provider offering frictionless integration

EDI implementation is simple and easy with Transalis whether you are starting from scratch or seeking a seamless, pain-free migration from your existing EDI provider.

Whatever your current provider tells you, EDI is not entrenched within your business. Instead, Transalis will:

• set up your instant web portal
• onboard your trading network
• integrate with your existing systems (if required)
• manage all required message types
• remove the need for hardware
• look after all software upgrades and updates, so you don’t have to

And if you’ve been mandated to use EDI for the first time by one of your trading partners, don’t worry, with Transalis eDI™ it’s a simple online process to get you up and running immediately. Solutions to fit your needs Transalis offers a series of product bundles designed to meet the differing needs of companies for solutions that assist frictionless business.

Solutions to fit your needs

Transalis offers a series of product bundles designed to meet the differing needs of companies for solutions that assist frictionless business.

Why so many organisations delay switching

Despite widespread dissatisfaction with current providers, most organisations hesitate to make the move, even though research shows 99% are planning to review their EDI solution. Some stay with an incumbent provider despite poor service levels, poor account management and outdated costing models. Others are new to EDI altogether and are still carrying the overhead costs and errors that come with manually processing data. In both cases, perceived barriers such as compatibility, project management, internal understanding, capacity and bandwidth tend to be smaller in practice than expected.

Integration and ongoing support

Transalis eDI™ integrations connect directly with your ERP, WMS, OMS and back office accounting systems, giving complete real-time data visibility across your organisation. Every customer is assigned an account manager who keeps you informed at every stage, with additional options including management training days, network roll out support and help with partner onboarding.