Demystifying EDI: a practical guide to electronic data interchange implementation, transactions, and systems

Russell A. Stultz9781556227080, 1-55622-708-6

Most of today’s mid-size to large business enterprises and governmental agencies use electronic data interchange, or EDI, to interact with one another. EDI is a highly structured data communications system that is used to exchange commercial documents including purchase orders, invoices, electronic catalogs, and bid documents. Demystifying EDI is for two distinct audiences: those without a deep technical knowledge who want to know more about EDI and how it works, and those who may have some background in EDI implementation, transactions, and systems who wish to know more about EDI software for Windows-based desktop and network-connected PCs. The book is organized into three parts: Part 1 presents an overview for those who are unfamiliar with EDI. It shows readers how EDI works; examines EDI system requirements, features, and benefits; and provides information on EDI system evaluation. Part 2 provides hands-on experience with a working EDI system by stepping through the setup, configuration, and operation of Trading Partner Desktop, a full-featured Windows-based EDI application contained on the companion CD. The appendixes in Part 3 contain detailed examples of transaction set guidelines and a glossary of EDI terms.

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Table of contents :
Contents……Page 4
Acknowledgments……Page 10
Part 1: Introduction to EDI……Page 12
Introduction……Page 14
Organization……Page 15
The CD-ROM……Page 16
Getting Started……Page 17
Manual Trading……Page 18
The EDI Transaction……Page 21
Stepping Up to EDI……Page 22
Review Questions……Page 24
A Brief History……Page 26
Aligning the ANSI ASC X12 and UN/EDIFACT Standards……Page 28
ANSI X12……Page 30
EDIFACT……Page 31
Digging Deeper……Page 34
Legal Issues……Page 38
Trading Partner Agreements……Page 39
Review Questions……Page 40
Analyzing Your Business……Page 42
Current Systems……Page 43
EDI Benefits……Page 46
EDI Use by Others……Page 47
Conversion Costs……Page 48
Interface Issues……Page 49
Inflexible and Flexible Systems……Page 51
What’s Next……Page 52
Review Questions……Page 53
Data Communications……Page 54
The Value-Added Network……Page 56
Electronic Mailboxes……Page 57
Internet FTP……Page 58
Point-to-Point……Page 60
Launching an Exchange……Page 61
Security Issues……Page 62
In-House EDI System Security……Page 63
EDI Mail Security Mechanisms……Page 65
What’s Next……Page 69
Review Questions……Page 70
Part 2: Using EDI Software (Trading Partner Desktop)……Page 72
What You Need……Page 74
Review Questions……Page 75
Installation……Page 78
Running Setup……Page 79
Installing Adobe Acrobat Reader……Page 83
Some System Settings……Page 85
Things to Do……Page 88
Review Questions……Page 92
Configuring Communications……Page 94
Adding a Trading Partner……Page 100
What’s Next……Page 105
Review Questions……Page 106
Using Your Checklist……Page 108
Configuring a Trading Partner and Adding Transaction Sets……Page 111
Looking Back……Page 115
What’s Next……Page 116
Review Questions……Page 117
Examining the Specifications……Page 118
Detail……Page 120
Looking More Closely……Page 121
Hands-On Mapping Activity……Page 125
Creating a Cross Reference (XRF) File……Page 134
Examining the XRF Files……Page 136
Review Questions……Page 137
Introduction……Page 140
File Processing Overview……Page 141
File Examples……Page 145
Taking a Closer Look……Page 154
Parsing the Reformatted File……Page 155
Producing the Import File……Page 156
Program Complexity……Page 157
Review Questions……Page 158
Task Lists and the Scheduler……Page 160
Using the Tasklist Editor……Page 161
Launching External Programs……Page 164
The Scheduler……Page 166
What’s Next……Page 168
Review Questions……Page 169
Moving Ahead……Page 170
Review Questions……Page 171
Part 3: Appendixes……Page 172
Appendix A Transaction Set Guidelines……Page 174
Appendix B Glossary of EDI Terms……Page 308
Index……Page 314