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Electronic Data Interchange
EC
Kieran MathiesonDecision and Information SciencesSchool of Business Administration
Oakland Universitymathieso@oakland.edu
EC Outline What is EDI? The Business Case for EDI EDI Standards Implementing EDI EDI and the Internet
EC What is EDI? Interprocess (computer application to
computer application) communication of business documents in a standardized electronic form– No rekeying
– Data usually transmitted by networks
– May involve intermediaries
EC What is EDI?
FormatOriginal
Document
FormatOriginal
Document
Firm 1
Firm 2
Network
EC Questions How is the data formatted? What network is used? What are the network specifications?
– Protocol, speed, etc. What if firms participate in many
relationships? Do the firms’ internal systems change? What about security?
EC EDI Necessity: Standards Both sides must use the same formats Standards provide the formatting rules Bunch o’ standards organizations
– ANSI ASC X 12– UN/EDIFACT– UCC– AIAG
They are drawing together
EC EDI Helper: VANs Value added networks mediate EDI
exchanges
Firm
Firm
Firm
Firm
Firm
Firm
Firm
VAN
EC
Association
A Scenario
Firm 1 Firm 2
Bank 1 Bank 2
Firm’s purchasing system generates an order
Order is sent to firm 2Order ack sent to firm 1
Firm’s inventory system checks order - can fill at once
Shipping system generates shipping note
Shipping note sent to firm 1Note ack sent to firm 2
Payment request sent to firm 2’s bank
Ack sent to firm 2
Payment check sent to bank 1
Ack sent to bank 2
Ack sent to bank 1
Firm’s accounts payable system checks request
Confirmation sent to bank 1Ack sent to firm 1
Confirmation sent to bank 2Ack sent to bank 1
Confirmation sent to firm 2Ack sent to bank 2Payment check sent to firm 1
EC The Big Question
Why invest in EDI?
EC The Business Case: Cost
PCWeek, Sept, 1997
EC The Business Case: Cost EDI can reduce
– Time delays• Document transportation
• Manual document processing
– Labor costs• Keying, filing, document matching, …
– Errors– Inventory
• Some inventory held because of processing delays
EC The Business Case: CostProctor & Gamble and H.E. Butt grocery EDI for Grocery Logistics project resulted in the following one-year improvements: Reduction of over 3,000 labor hours - 1,700 in order
processing hours and 1,300 paper administration and data rekeying hours
80% increase in speed of new items delivered to stores, price changes made and promotions implemented
75% decrease in invoice deductions
X 12 General Session MinutesOctober 5, 1998
EC The Business Case: CostThe AIAG estimates that implementing EDI-style interactions via the Internet through four levels of the automotive supply chain would save manufacturers $71 per vehicle.
That's about $1 billion annually industry-wide.
EC The Business Case: Strategy EDI enables new ways of doing
business– JIT– Mass customization
These would be too costly without EDI Could Visa be “Everywhere you want
to be” without EDI?
EC Outline What is EDI? The Business Case for EDI EDI StandardsEDI Standards Implementing EDI EDI and the Internet
EC Standards Two levels
– Communication standards• Network protocols, connection speeds, etc.
• Concerned with getting data from one place to another, not what it means
– Transaction standards• Concerned with what the data means
• “Transaction sets” for many different types of transactions
EC Standards Groups Economy-wide
– Work with many industries– X 12, EDIFACT
Industry-specific– Work with one or a few related industries– UCC, AIAG– Often implement broader standards
• HIAG implements X 12 for healthcare
Proprietary
EC Standards Groups Increasing attention to coordination
between groups– UCC and X 12– X 12 - “alignment” with EDIFACT
Important for international trade Important for cross-industry
relationships
EC Enforceable EDI transactions must have the same
legal force as other transactions– Role for government in EDI
Lack of enforcement is a barrier to doing EDI in some countries
EC Payment Systems EDI for ordering, etc., should be
supported by EFT for payment Bank association agreements, credit
card company payment systems, etc., important to EDI– Agreements between can make payments
as fast as orders
EC Standards Example VICS
– Voluntary Inter-Industry Commerce Standard, used by the general merchandise retail industry
– VICS EDI Retail Users Group formed in 1986 to interpret and expand X12
– Used by over 1,000 companies
http://www.uc-council.org/
EC Sample VICS Transaction Sets163-Transportation Appointment Schedule Information
Used by a transportation carrier and their trading partners to request and accept freight pick-up and delivery appointments.
180-Return Merchandise Authorization and NotificationUsed to return merchandise to the vendor. This transaction set may satisfy request for returns, authorization or disposition of the return, notification of return or notification of consumer return.
204-Motor Carrier Loan TenderUsed to tender a shipment to a carrier and/or forward shipment details to a carrier, consignee or third party. Provides the receiver with detailed Bill of Lading rating and scheduling information pertinent to a shipment.
EC VICS Transaction Example Invoicing (transaction set 810)
ST8100001BIG19981004594000940019980815005001234500REFDP10REFPDF948325N1BY92001…This simple transaction has 19 parts in total
Trans set ID
Trans set control number
Invoice date
Invoice number
PO date
PO number
Why is this so complex?- Because business is complex- The transactions mirror that complexity
EC Transaction Set Sequences Need to know how
transaction sets are used together to complete a business operation
From ActionLINE, the AIAG magazine, Jan/Feb 1999, p. 23
EC Outline What is EDI? The Business Case for EDI EDI Standards Implementing EDIImplementing EDI EDI and the Internet
EC Implementing EDI Main issues:
1. Business relationships
2. Internal transaction systems
3. Translation to standards
4. Secure networks
EC 1. Business Relationships If you receive an order and fulfill it,
will you get paid? If you place an order, will it be shipped
on time? Create agreements before EDI
– Two-party contracts– Intermediary
• E.g., VISA’s merchant accounts
EC 2. Internal Transaction Systems Are your internal transaction processing
systems ready for EDI?– Batch vs. real-time systems
Are your people ready for EDI?– Accountants– Auditors– Shippers– Receivers
Automatic ordering gives some people the heebie jeebies
EC 3. Translation to Standards Translate your internal formats to
standards– Packages readily available– ERP systems often include these features,
or make them available– VANs can help
Joining a standards organization?– Need to get, e.g., a merchant id– Could let VAN handle the details
EC 3. Translation to Standards Translation software from GEIS:
– EDI Application Integrator• UNIX based
• User specifies mappings from internal formats
– EDI*TRANSIT DOS • Similar product for DOS
– Intercept Plus AS/400• Similar product for AS/400
• Over 30,000 installations world-wide
EC 4. Secure Networks Two issues
– Authentication– Encryption
Much EDI happens on private networks– Easier to secure
Internal fraud often more of a threat than message interception– Humans don’t review transactions
EC Outline What is EDI? The Business Case for EDI EDI Standards Implementing EDI EDI and the InternetEDI and the Internet
EC EDI and the Internet Why the interest in the Internet?
– Low cost• Connections to the Internet are cheap
• Bandwidth available on demand
• Internet links used for many purposes
– Pervasive• The Internet is everywhere
• Can create broader markets, with firms of all sizes able to interact
EC But... Security
– Internet traffic can be intercepted Reliability
– No service level guarantees (yet)
EC EDI and the Internet: Scenarios
What is the Internet going to do to EDI?
1. No effect
2. VANs integrate the Internet into their offerings
3. New standards designed for the Internet
EC Scenario 1: No Effect Large trading partners will continue to
use private networks for EDI– Easier to secure– Cost effective with sufficient transaction
volume Private networks still exist, and more
are being developed– ANX
EC Scenario 2: VANs Integrate Why do firms use VANs?
…the report did not find cost to be a significant motivating factor for EDI users to move to the Internet…. Assistance in converting trading partners to EDI, accountability in case of lost transactions, and logging audit trails were cited by users as some of the most sought-after value-added services provided by VANs.
EDI Insider, on a 1996 survey by Input, a consulting firm
EC Scenario 2: VANs Integrate The Internet sends bytes around...
… but VANs provide many other services VANs might use the Internet to offer
cheaper connectivity to small customers Problems
– Security - certificates, tunneling protocols– Reliability - good connections, lower
service level expectations Is this happening?
EC Scenario 2: VANs IntegrateGEIS president and CEO Harvey Seegers confirmed the company is looking into new Web app services aimed at attracting a new kind of EDI customer.
During the past two years, the company’s TradeWeb Internet-EDI transaction service, along with the Trading Process Network for posting EDI-based bid forms on the Web, have attracted 4,000 new corporate customers, a 10 percent increase. Moreover, all of the new customers represent firms that never would have subscribed to the VAN model, Seegers said. In contrast, TradeWeb costs a flat $50 per month.
Internet Week, March 30, 1998
EC Scenario 3: New Standards Several developing Internet-oriented EDI
standards– OBI (Open Buying over the Internet)
• Underwritten by American Express
– The Value-Chain Initiative• From Microsoft
– XML/EDI• From the XML/EDI Group• “Grass-roots organization”• Members include AT&T, Perot
Systems, Motorola, Sprint and NIH
EC XML/EDI “The Power of Five”
– EDI– XML - allows custom tags– Templates - process logic specs
• How to process transactions
– Agents• Execute the templates
– Repository• Definitions of elements
EC XML HTML controls formatting
– What pages look like XML is about data
– What data means– Use HTML-like tag sets to describe
transactions, products, people, ...– Use public “standard” tags, or create your
own
EC XML Example<weather-report><date>March 25, 1998</date> <time>08:00</time><area>
<city>Seattle</city><state>WA</state><region>West Coast</region><country>USA</country>
</area><measurements>
<skies>partly cloudy</skies><temperature>46</temperature>...
</measurements>...
</weather-report>
EC Interpreting XML Document Type Definitions
– Accompany XML documents– Describe rules for particular XML tags– Used to parse XML
XML Schema– Generalized DTDs– Claimed to be better for automatic
processing– More details on how data fits together
ECXML Schema Example
<student studentID="13429"><name>Jane Smith</name><GPA>3.8</GPA>
</student>
<Schema ...><AttributeType name='studentID'
dt:type='string' required='yes'/><ElementType name='name' content='textOnly'><ElementType name='GPA' content='textOnly'
dt:type='float'/><ElementType name='student' content='mixed'>
<attribute type='studentID'/><element type='name'/><element type='GPA'/>
</ElementType>
<ElementType name='class' content='eltOnly'> <element type='student'/>
</ElementType></Schema>
EC Meaning Still need agreement on what data
elements mean– What is a GPA?– What is its range and type? – Does it include grades from courses that
were retaken? Courses taken 20 years ago? Transfer courses?
– XML does not address this Need agreed definitions of elements
– Standard DTDs or XML Schema
EC CommerceNet 500-member ecommerce consortium Proposes the XML-based Common
Business Language (CBL)– Describes product- and service-catalog
software, metadata about business rules and systems, and software for forms and messages
Much of the CBL is drawn from existing EDI dictionaries
CommerceNet wants industry groups to use CBL as a basis for specific DTDs
EC Standard DTDs
From Commerce.Net
EC Where Is This Going? XML-based industry standards are key
– Need equivalent of X12 standards with strong semantic content
They are developing Who knows what the future will hold?
EC Outline What is EDI? The Business Case for EDI EDI Standards Implementing EDI EDI and the Internet
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