Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the system-to-system exchange of business documents in a standard electronic format between business partners. Once configured, 3PL Warehouse Manager can efficiently populate orders and receipts into the system using an EDI integration. This article answers a few basic EDI questions that should help you understand how to get started with establishing an EDI connection.

How do I start an EDI integration with Extensiv?

To set up a consultation for an EDI integration, please contact your Customer Success Manager to get started. If you'd prefer to go ahead and move forward without consultation, you are more than welcome to go straight to filling out our EDI survey.

Before completing the EDI Kick-Off Survey, please gather the following information required for the connection:

• Contact information for all parties involved.
   
• What are you and your customer are looking to achieve with this connection? Try and articulate how this integration will work. What systems are involved? (ERP, Shopping Cart, Retailer, etc.)
   
• Which trading documents and format are required for the connection? Will you be using the Extensiv standard formats? Will you be using your customer's? If using your customer's, please have samples and documentation.
   
• Who will be developing to whom? Is Extensiv needed to create a custom integration? Will you be using a third party or will your customer map to Extensiv?
   
• Is this a retailer or non-retailer connection? Are you required to print specific labels, packing slips, etc.?
   
• What is the delivery method of the trading documents? Will you be using SFTP or FTP?
   
• Are there UCC-128 label requirements? If they are required, for which retailers? (Amazon, Walmart, Macy's, etc.)

Once submitted, our Professional Services team will reach out within 2–4 business days regarding the next steps.

Which EDI documents and formats are accepted?

In general, EDI is traditionally accepted in X12 format, which can include CSV, Tab-delimited, or XML. However, current trends are moving towards using an XML-formatted EDI file, as this layout allows for the most flexibility and the least amount of development work.

We highly advise utilizing our XML file format since it is the most robust. XML allows for new tags to be added, as it contains the built-in saved element function for all EDI needs. All other files will require you or your customer to complete a gap analysis to confirm our standards meet all business needs.

Our standard file formats are listed below with the associated EDI transaction numbers. You will need to send these to your customer so they can complete a gap analysis to determine if our formats meet all of their unique business needs. If our formats do not meet their requirements, a custom-developed parser is needed, which our EDI team can help with.

How long does an EDI integration take?

This all depends on the EDI file layouts and which party will be taking care of the development. Prewired connections take 6–8 weeks. If Extensiv is required to create a custom integration, we typically quote 16–18 weeks for end-to-end testing with all parties to begin. Please note that these timelines depend on your responsiveness and the responsiveness of the EDI providers.

Once testing begins, small changes or updates may be required before we will have user acceptance from all parties. If you are using one of our pre-wired third-party partners or your customer will be mapping to the 3PL Warehouse Manager layouts, testing can begin within a couple of business days.

Where can I get more information?

Any questions regarding EDI integrations that aren't here should be sent to our EDI support team at edi@extensiv.com or directly to your Customer Success Manager (CSM).