Trading Network

Trading Partner Connect EDI/VAN aggregation provides Trading Partner Connect members an alternative to their current method of sending and receiving EDI documents via a modem directly through a VAN. Members of Trading Partner Connect can send and receive all EDI traffic to and from non-Trading Partner Connect members with a more than 20 percent reduction in cost.

Traditional EDI

EDI is the electronic exchange of business documents from one computer system to another. One of the few methods for conducting and managing EDI is through the use of a value-added network, or VAN. VANs typically handle all connectivity and services such as mailboxes for transactions, protocol conversion, implementation assistance, security, and auditing. However, VANs charge for every transaction they process and distributors must use a modem to dial into a VAN, creating a cumbersome batch process.

Essentially, a distributor submits a transaction to a VAN, where it's processed and held with other transactions before being sent to its final destination. It is not a real-time process. Each distributor and manufacturer is responsible for sending and receiving their own data. Finally, in order to be effective, EDI transactions must reach the intended recipient only once. Conducting EDI through VANs sometimes leads to multiple orders, leaving the distributor with more inventory than their anticipated order (see Reference A).

EDI Today

With functionality available in Trading Partner Connect, distributors and their manufacturers/suppliers no longer have to depend on manually up- or downloading information, as batch processing and costly modems are eliminated. Through Trading Partner Connect, all EDI traffic goes through Trading Partner Connect in real time with the network acting as the VAN. In other words, Trading Partner Connect handles the routing of documents, whether the recipient is a Trading Partner Connect member or not. Most importantly, VAN charges are reduced by more than 20 percent.

Trading Partner Connect provides security and messaging software, as well as cost efficiency. On the security side, virtual private networks (VPNs) create an electronic means between trading partners, allowing only the individual sending and receiving the data to see it. This provides guaranteed security over the Internet and, equally as important, one time delivery. As for messaging, every time a transaction is sent, Trading Partner Connect waits until it receives a message from the receiving computer to confirm that a message has arrived. If it does not receive the message, it continues to resend it until it gets through. If a distributor's Internet connection goes down, the network holds the document in a queue and automatically sends the document once the connection is restored. Trading Partner Connect also keeps logs, making it easy to track a message as it moves through the process (see Reference B).

For more information on Activant's enterprise software solutions, please fill out our Web Contact Form.

Back to Top