These outsourcing providers perform specialized tasks more effectively, and keep the supplier focused on their brand and product lines. They are trusted business partners who are an extension of the supplier’s business and operate on their behalf almost every day. However, electronically integrating these parties into the supplier’s EDI or Label system to perform tasks on their behalf has been challenging, until now.

EDI Services
National Products Fulfilment’s (NPF) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Services are designed to quickly enable your organization to satisfy its customer’s requirements for electronic purchase orders, shipping notices, invoices, inventory status updates, forecasting and more.
Is EDI a core competency of your business? If not, experience the benefits of EDI outsourcing with NPF.

• Rapid Compliance
• All Standards (XML, EDI, Flat File) and Order Management Models Supported
• Predictable Fees
• Hassle Free Setup and Implementation
• No Lengthy Service Contracts

NPF’s EDI Services include several options to meet your needs today and tomorrow.

1. File Integration:
   EDI services eliminate data entry by sending data directly into and out of your accounting, ERP, and/or warehousing system(s). File Integration is ideal for high volume suppliers.
   
   
2. Paper Conversion: For very low-volume businesses, our software converts documents from paper to electronic file formats on your behalf.

E-COMMERCE FOR SMALL And MID-SIZED BUSINESSES

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Services quickly enable your organization to satisfy Major Retailers requirements for electronic Purchase Orders (POs), Functional Acknowledgement (FA), Advance Ship Notices (ASNs), Invoices, Inventory Status Updates, forecasting and more.

For a majority of manufacturers and importers, this forces an internal question;
Does my company need to be an EDI expert?
If you answer is “No”, then to outsource EDI Services is your solution

Outsourcing EDI Services include several options to meet your needs today and tomorrow:

1. Integrated EDI: An EDI service that eliminates data entry by sending data directly into and out of your accounting, ERP, and/or warehousing system(s).
   
   
2. Paper Conversion: For very low-volume businesses we can convert documents from paper to electronic file formats on your behalf.

 MORE THAN ELECTRONIC CONNECTIONS

When most people hear EDI, they immediately think about how to send and receive electronic documents. Connectivity has traditionally been the starting point for EDI conversations.

Requirements for connectivity are clear:

Reliability: The network has to be available all day, everyday, with little to no downtime.

Speed: When data is sent, it must be received in a timely manner.

Security: The data needs to be accessible by only the intended recipient.

Accountability: The ability to provide visibility of the location of all documents and verification of receipt.

Connectivity is important, but it is only the first step. When two companies begin to electronically share information like purchase orders and sales forecasts, what they are really doing is starting to integrate their business systems.

While EDI is a standard, each implementation of EDI is as unique as the business that is using it and we at NPF can do this for you without any worry for your team

EDI IS ABOUT INTEGRATING BUSINESSES

Each Major Retailer in Australia has developed its own set of unique EDI Specifications. These specifications use EDI to layout the data needed, the processes used and the workflow required to do business with that specific retailer.

Depending on the company, there could be multiple EDI Specifications or “Rule Books” to handle:

• Domestic Suppliers vs. International Suppliers
• Multiple Order Fulfillment Models (Ship to DC, Cross-dock, Ship to Store, etc.)
• Traditional Vendors Products vs. Private Label-Sourced Products

Each one of these “Rule Books” represents another integration point between two businesses. This Business to Business Integration (B2Bi) becomes even more complicated because once you’re integrated to one customer; the next customer will have a different set of “Rule Books” and so on and so forth.

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO IMPLEMENT EDI IN-HOUSE?

If you want to properly execute an EDI or B2Bi project in house, you need to
become an expert on each Major retailer you integrate with. You need to know the organization’s staff, the terminologies and the company’s entire supply chain processes. In addition, you must have the technical expertise to understand the retailer’s connectivity requirements, data structures, business processes and workflow specifications. You also need to understand both the testing and operational processes. Once you understand all of that, you must have the technology to support those requirements. This means infrastructure such as hardware, software and network connectivity and also integration tools to do the transformation of data and development of the various maps between the two companies’ systems and processes. Finally, you need someone to do all of this work and run the systems once they are built.

IS EDI OR B2B MY COMPANY’S CORE COMPETENCY?

For those manufacturers or importers who have attempted to build and manage their own EDI or B2B electronic integration systems, they often find them lacking necessary features because of the complexity of adapting their systems to business changes.

As the Retail supply chain expands, it also stretches between an increasing number of companies. Therefore more companies are now outsourcing more and more of their business to accommodate these changing business processes. Things such as HR and Payroll are frequently outsourced to a third-party, as well as specific supply-chain functions within like warehousing, logistics and manufacturing.

AVOID REINVENTING THE WHEEL

While many manufacturers and importers believe this B2B and EDI integration is
critical, very few view the ability to do this as a core competency.

Even if a manufacturer or importer does believe that this is a core-competency, there is another problem with traditional B2B and EDI solutions.

Say “Manufacturer A” sells to two different retailers. To successfully integrate to both retailers, “Manufacturer A” has to learn each retailer’s “Rule Books”, hire and maintain a staff, buy the infrastructure to support those business processes, and build the systems and maps to integrate to those retailers.

If “Manufacturer B” also sells to those same two retailers, he will have to do exactly the same thing as “Manufacturer A”. Realistically, if the staff of each
organisation switched jobs, they would be able to immediately support the other’s systems because they would be identical.

So not only is B2B and EDI not a manufacturer’s or importer’s core competency, it is also a time consuming effort to simply re-create the redundant technology as every supplier who sells to the same retail customers.

Most small to mid-sized manufacturers and importers look to other integration technology options, primarily outsourcing.

National Products Fulfilment (NPF) takes the work out of EDI by partnering closely with the industry’s leading retailers, and software providers to stay completely in sync and up-to-date with any changes to
their business and technical trading requirements.

CURRENT SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS =COSTLY, CUMBERSOME, COMPLEX

Enterprise software is well-designed for intra-company applications. It requires onsite staff to install, upgrade, maintain and manage the daily performance of the application. Companies invest significant resources into these systems and spend months implementing and customizing them to suit their business needs.

OUTSOURCING = AFFORDABLE, ACCESSIBLE, ACCURATE

Managing EDI services by a 3rd party company specializing in that technology. No onsite staff, software or hardware is required for business people to access
and use the application.

Every interested company can connect to their business to Major Retailers electronically.

As companies outsource portions of their supply chain, they often empower trusted third-parties to electronically receive or send EDI documents, and create and/or print Labels onsite, the entire supply chain benefits by:

• Greater visibility to the retailer for their multi-tier supply chain
• More accurate information in the ASNs
• Eliminates the “check is in the mail” problems of couriering labels to factories
• Fewer charge backs or shipping errors
• Ensures GS1-128 labels are correct and affixed to shipments

THE EASY SOLUTION

A new service option is expediting the process of getting retail goods to consumers. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) delivered as an internal software as a service to customers is helping to coordinate the transfer of goods from vendors to retailers.

The supply chain process involves multiple steps taken on the part of both vendors and retailers to ensure products are successfully ordered, shipped, received, and invoiced. A typical supply chain function involves the following: a retail purchasing manager generates a purchase order and faxes it to a vendor, who then keys the order into their system to generate shipping notices and an invoice, which is then mailed back to the retailer to be processed in the accounts payable system.

This chain of actions can take several days and leaves a large margin of error. With different people working on different processing systems at separate locations, the chance for human error at any or all steps of the process is high.
Fortunately using National Products Fulfilment EDI software application makes itpossible for all partners in a supply chain to use one simple system to submit orders, process requests, coordinate shipping and arrange billing. EDI facilitates communication between different systems on the retailer side and those on the vendor side to ensure orders are processed quickly and correctly. Having access to an EDI system also gives both retailers and vendors more visibility into the supply chain process as a whole to help combat any problems that may arise.

The software used by National Products Fulfilment for EDI users helps to make the supply chain process more efficient and less costly. It allows organizations to outsource business functions, thus eliminating the need for licensing, hardware, and in-house installation associated with implementing new software.

Businesses in all industries are starting to see the benefit of adopting an EDI system.

With NPF’s EDI solution, companies have expedited their purchasing and shipping process. The outsourced EDI technology model has made modernizing and upgrading technology simple and cost effective. This also ensures shipping accuracy by using an Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) available with NPF’s EDI services.

The quick, accurate and cost-effective supply chain process created by the use of EDI applications will most likely benefit consumers as well as retailers and suppliers in the form of more readily-available and competitively priced merchandise.