If you are looking for an EDI [Electronic Data Interchange] solution for Magento, you must have already implemented Magento, one of the most robust eCommerce platforms. You are enjoying growth and are now looking to automate some of your manual processes around product updates, inventory management, order processing.
At this point you really don’t want to learn yet another technology that has been around since the 70s. The best way to implement an EDI solution effectively is to find an EDI partner who has been doing EDI integration successfully for years.
Your ideal solution is to find a partner that will have a product that integrates directly with Magento. Then you can configure this product to integrate with your suppliers, customers, logistic providers via EDI. Your typical transactions are inventory (846), purchase order (850), advance shipment notice (856), and invoice (810). For other procurement related EDI documents click here.
You may or may not have some type of Order Management (OMS) and/or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. However this should not be a requirement as your integration platform should provide you the complete EDI solution regardless of your back-office systems.
Now the next challenge is how to select the best EDI solution. There are many robust solutions out there. Reading our Thinking About an EDI Solution blog will help shed some light on these. Here are some questions to keep in mind when making your evaluation:
– Does the product already integrate with Magento?
– Can it work with our with an ERP/OMS system?
– Does it support standard EDI documents?
– Does is provide a subscription model with a complete vendor onboarding and maintenance support?
– Does it provide proactive monitoring tool such as notifications about orders that have shipped for over 3 days?
To ensure you have a successful EDI solution with complete integration with Magento, make sure you select the right partner and perform your due diligence.
