At SourceDay, we are constantly working to enhance the experience of PO management. Because of this, we often get asked how SourceDay, a supplier portal 4.0, and EDI solutions compare. It’s a worthwhile question. Especially since many companies use Electronic Data Interchange to transfer electronic data files between systems without human involvement.
SourceDay VS. EDI
In terms of supply chain management, EDI is expensive and difficult for suppliers to adopt. EDI requires a significant amount of IT resources to set-up, manage, and support. Additionally, changes to data types, fields, or formats can easily create an error and break EDI transmissions. Because of this, EDI usually gets implemented with top tier or top spend suppliers.
SourceDay, on the other hand, is completely free for suppliers to adopt. Our platform allows for transparent collaboration between buyers and suppliers on PO quantity, price, and delivery dates without any transaction fees. It’s simple to implement, learn, and use. As SourceDay is a cloud-based system, IT resources aren’t necessary. And, if support needs occur we have a dedicated team to walk you through any issues.
How Do SourceDay and EDI Work Together?
SourceDay and EDI work in tangent together. If used alone, EDI is a delivery system for confirmation of purchase orders and invoices. Purchase orders sent via EDI are difficult to expedite, pushout, update, or cancel. Therefore, procurement teams often find themselves reverting back to emails and spreadsheet reports to manage EDI orders. This creates more work. However, when SourceDay and EDI work together, all of these issues can be fixed.
A collaborative experience isn’t available through EDI. However, SourceDay facilitates collaboration between suppliers concerning EDI. Through SourceDay’s platform, users are able to communicate with the supplier on one or multiple EDI orders. Their communication is then captured in an audit log. The audit log allows anyone needing updates or access to pending orders to have full visibility.
SourceDay, EDI, and Procurement Teams
Pairing SourceDay with EDI allows procurement teams to eliminate the need for countless emails and confusing spreadsheets. Additionally, using SourceDay combined with EDI allows procurement teams to score all of their suppliers’ performance. Your suppliers can see their scorecards in SourceDay, regardless if they’re transacting business via EDI formats or in SourceDay itself. Additionally, SourceDay allows for customers to bring all their suppliers into a single platform, EDI or not.
In short, using the combination of EDI and SourceDay can provide the convenience of transmitting orders and invoices electronically between systems. It also provides a method to easily, manage, track, and collaborate with your supply chain on all purchase orders, making your EDI experience that much more simple.
SourceDay as an EDI Solution
While EDI is a valuable resource, it can leave you with a huge amount of data and no easy way to manage it. With SourceDay, all the EDI data is available on our platform. Buyers and suppliers can communicate through a single dashboard rather than disparate spreadsheets and emails. Plus, procurement teams can score their suppliers’ performance. Above all, SourceDay brings organization and transparency to EDI data.
SourceDay is committed to making your data more accessible and saving you time.