EDI is an important tool in enabling supply chain integration, but the success you achieve in this is entirely dependent on the quality of the cooperation with your trading partners and the willingness in the chain to embrace the system.
Onboarding trading partners for EDI communications has always been a challenge for many companies. Certainly when there is the ambition to hook up hundreds or even thousands of new suppliers, for example as part of a new production project.
Companies that strive for chain integration therefore need a fast way to get new trading partners on board when desired. This process has as much to do with people as it does with systems. It starts with convincing trading partners of the usefulness of more effective cooperation using EDI.
In our PACCAR case story, Tim Molhoek, Demand Planning Manager at PACCAR Parts, explains:
“Our argument for convincing suppliers of a collaboration using EDI is that we work together towards greater demand predictability and thus serve the end customer better and at the same time save costs. The persuasion process often starts with buyers and account managers. The business must first see its value. Gradually, technical people are brought in.”
Help with onboarding
OMS has more than 30 years of experience in EDI, but many of our people are also experts by experience within a certain industry. In the quote below you can read how this special combination of knowledge and experience has helped PACCAR move forward:
“What we are reaping the benefits of is that Frans (EDI coordinator OMS International) has extensive experience in logistics. He knows processes and is familiar with the terminology. He also has a lot of technical knowledge on the EDI side. He knows where to look for solutions when there are issues. Frans has knowledge of the technical part, such as programming and processing transactions. But he also knows the logistics processes that take place in practice. He has experience and feeling with that. That just makes him a really good combination for us.”
Tim Molhoek, Demand Planning Manager, PACCAR Parts
Supply chain collaboration key to timely change
“By 2024, after the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 30% of manufacturers will have changed their business models, compared to just 10% before the crisis.”
Gartner – Predicts 2020: Resilience in Industry 4.0 for Advanced Manufacturing Builds on Data and Collaboration Models.
The corona crisis is not the only reason that companies are changing at a rapid pace. In this white paper we already wrote that various developments associated with the digital revolution are forcing established companies to transform.
Three important processes in this are:
- Production
Individualization is increasing and ultimately leads more than ever to the need to have something unique. Personalizing products is more important than ever today. This development has an immense impact on the production process. - Delivery
For companies such as retailers, it is no longer possible to keep every product model in stock. There is much more variety in products, which makes keeping a complete stock too expensive or even impossible. Meanwhile, the customer expects the product to be delivered quickly. - Information provision
Consumer expectations for information are perhaps the highest. In the event of a lack of stock, the provision of information to the end customer is crucial. The consumer no longer accepts that information about the delivery is not forthcoming.
All these developments emphasize that companies, like yours, must constantly innovate to remain competitive. You can see this as a threat, but rather see it as an opportunity! Change offers plenty of opportunities for companies that transform in a timely manner. Companies that embrace new technologies to better serve customers. A spearhead here is supply chain collaboration.
Connecting new trading partners quickly and efficiently is the key to making rapid progress in this area. Is this a challenge your company faces? talk without obligation with Arthur Dekker, Sales & Marketing Manager at OMS, on 06-82288313 of arthur.dekker@omsinternational.com
