You could be using a great EDI solution, but your IT team could be spending 50% of their time remediating critical documents. It could be possible that there are errors in your EDI exchange that your solution cannot point out and needs constant monitoring, which is as time-consuming as manually exchanging business documents using email and fax. The goal of technology is to make things easier but that might not always be the case.
EDI is not the only piece of the puzzle to digitizing your supply chain document exchange. There could be other challenges blocking your path, such as data in too many unconnected systems, too many EDI partners to manage, and the inability to bypass the limitations of the ERP using your current solutions.
At STAEDEAN, we are an independent software provider and have been building easy-to-use, configurable solutions for Microsoft ERPs for over 17+ years. We have over 2200 customers in over 45 countries and have built solutions that help customers with their challenges across industries ranging from data governance to analytics and BI.
Since we have built solutions for application integration and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) – Data Integration Solution and EDI Studio respectively, we have often worked with customers looking to streamline their operations and digitize their supply chain.
In this blog, we will focus on:
Implementing one or more digital technologies to support a specific process is not the end of a supply chain. That is only half the battle won. We share some important elements that enable the success of a supply chain.
A digital supply chain is reimagining how you can automate business communication with your suppliers, 3PLs, and trading partner community and share important data in a fast and reliable way with minimal human intervention as possible.
If you are spending more time than necessary, trying to validate errors, or copying data manually between systems, then it is time to re-evaluate your current business setup.
The ideal digital supply chain is an automated business document exchange process that eliminates paper and speeds up document processing and payments, thereby improving customer and partner relationships.
A digital supply chain has no gaps. So, you could use a combination of multiple technologies to accomplish this goal, including EDI, webshops, marketplaces, APIs, and an integration engine. This ensures all operational and logistical processes are streamlined using an appropriate solution, and that your systems and applications are interconnected.
But technology aside, there is also a human side to a digital supply chain that requires a commitment to change and effective management of that change. It needs a change of mindset and clear communications that needs to be cascaded across the organization.
Building a digital supply chain requires time, commitment, and a plan. So, let’s first look at the challenges before we share strategies to achieve a digital supply chain.
Our biggest piece of advice to most of our prospects is to identify your biggest challenge when you set out to work on your strategy and prioritize a plan to knock out that challenge.
While it is great to have clear goals to work toward, there might be things outside your control, so keep an open mind. For example, you might have a goal to achieve Phase 1 of your digital supply chain in 3 months, but it might take a little longer than planned.
To do this, you will have to first identify the capabilities of each department that will be involved, and the changes and effort required from them. Once you know this, you can work on a plan that is more likely to be successful.
As part of your plan, it is crucial to understand your company’s capacity to implement a project, especially if it is a big undertaking, as it will need organizational-buy in and commitment to succeed. This will help you set realistic timelines for smaller milestones and work toward those.
Evaluate solutions that fit your business requirements and have a higher chance of being successful based on your plan. Additionally, there could be scenarios specific to your industry that you would need to consider while evaluating and buying solutions. Based on that, you can define the required setup once you have shortlisted a solution.
Consider a phased implementation, especially if it is an ERP implementation or deploying a new solution with a large customer base. In our experience, most customers focus on data migration and data cleansing when transitioning to D365 F&SCM. In Phase 2, the focus could be EDI and automation. In Phase 3 you could look at trading partner connections, processes to ensure EDI compliance, and EDI message testing.
Prior to integration and implementing EDI, it is important to understand and identify what data is stored in which system or application and the people that access it. It might also help to evaluate whether you need to consider a data governance solution that could help improve data entry, data quality, and master data management in D365.
Getting your partners onboard is important, especially if you are a supplier, and so is understanding the commercial side of your business. The partners that manipulate these changes are instrumental in your success.
When we talk to prospects and customers just starting out with EDI or even switching EDI solutions, we ask them to analyze their current setup and processes so that they can evaluate a solution based on a number of factors.
We hope this blog will serve as a starting point for your journey to digitizing your supply chain. We have to stress on a few key points to remember. Do not forget to set realistic timelines, evaluate a partner and a solution that is the right fit for your goals and plan, and do not hesitate to break up your project into phases if you expect it to be a complex one. If you follow these best practices and our strategies, we guarantee you will have a higher chance of achieving your goals.
And, if you use Dynamics 365 F&SCM and think our EDI Studio solution fits your business requirements, then feel free to schedule a demo to watch EDI Studio in action.
If you want to read more about EDI Studio and the solution's features and benefits, download our factsheet from the link below.