Did you know? The grocery sector in the UK saves more than 650-million pounds each year by using EDI. EDI or the electronic data interchange can save the grocery sector an additional 200-million pounds per year by automating the Advance Ship Notice.
EDI brings distinct financial, strategic, and efficiency-related benefits for the entrepreneur.
Here are the three primary benefits of utilizing an EDI ordering system:
- Cost-saving
The reduction in cost is one of the most apparent benefits of EDI. Any business that has implemented the new system reports receiving and processing the invoices in a timely fashion. They can avoid late fees and penalties. The human errors that typically arise during manual invoicing are easy to avoid while using EDI. It can contribute to savings in terms of labor costs, and it can save the expenses of purchasing paper and ink. EDI fosters a green and paperless environment. The electronic invoicing process allows for the elimination of printing, storage, and postage. That alone can save any industry millions of dollars per year.
- Improved accuracy and efficiency
With the adoption of an EDI ordering system, many businesses report an improvement in productivity. It is a three-step journey towards increased profitability. These steps include:
Automation
The decrease in human intervention increases the accuracy of the invoicing process. It eliminates additional rounds of data entry and leaves out the room for human error. The process is highly efficient for the auditing and payment process.
Standardization
Standardization further contributes to the accuracy of the invoicing via EDI. The margin for errors is negligible through the implementation of define criteria for format and content. The uniform EDI chard codes ensure consistency in the face of high volumes of invoices.
Confirmation
The complete automation, as well as standardization of EDI, contribute to an effortless increase of data accuracy for more than one invoice. EDI provides confirmation upon the reception of an invoice. Unlike email, this process involves no uncertainty. It allows reasonable re-submission of the invoice whenever necessary.
- The high speed of transactions
EDI allows high-speed transactions without compromising the accuracy of data. In comparison to other existing invoicing methods, EDI offers the fastest streamlined process of invoice transfer. Paper invoices involve human intervention and create room for human errors. Email submission of invoices is comparatively swifter than manual invoice transfer, but it has an element of uncertainty that comes from the manual entry of the receipt. The EDI invoicing methods make the invoices readily available to all parties involved.
According to research in the EU, EDI reduces the time necessary to process one invoice to 10 minutes or less. The reduction in processing time saves more than 120 Euro per invoice in one year! That is a staggering number considering how many invoices a company generates throughout its average lifespan.
You can realize the benefits of EDI too. The improvement in accuracy, speed, and prices are enough for many leading sectors to adopt EDI as their standard invoicing technology, instead of traditional manual billing and emailing of invoices.