Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management EDI Automation: How to Build Efficiency and Reduce Issues

The heart of EDI is automation. Sure, the industry standard layout is helpful in aligning the data and its accuracy per transaction but as your company grows and gains more customers and suppliers the demand will increase. To effectively leverage your EDI solution automation is key to efficiently handling the added volume.

Automation is the use of technology to perform tasks with reduced human assistance.

The key take-away from that definition is “with reduced human assistance” as this helps to eliminate human error that can traditionally be seen in any manual task, especially if it’s repetitious.

There are many points of automation in an efficient EDI solution:

• VAN/Mailbox connectivity
• RAW EDI Translation / Routing
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management (D365) Integration

The benefits of automation are seen across the business when EDI is scheduled efficiently. Some of these benefits include:

• Efficiency
  • EDI replaces the need for manual data entry, allowing much more data to be loaded to D365 quicker. This allows your resources to focus on more valued added activities and provides more streamlined processes with a higher level of efficiency.
• Accuracy
  • Taking the manual steps out of the process allows for the reduction of human error. This allows you to maintain better data integrity within your transmission, validation, and integration to and from D365. In the long run this will aid your business in maintaining better customer/supplier ratings allowing them to put their trust into bringing you more business.
• Quicker Processing
  • Automation on key EDI transactions can significantly improve the speed of transactions loading and exporting from D365. This will ultimately enhance your fulfillment cycle providing a more efficient order-to-cash process as well as improving the procure-to-pay process. Keeping up with your customer demand and improving your lead times with supplier materials will ensure you have continued business with your trading partners.

• Cost Reduction
  • Manual tasks require additional resources and materials to complete. Automation will reduce the need for both and reduce the overall administrative costs that come with it. With the enhanced accuracy and efficiency in the process now the cost of errors and mistakes should decrease as well.

Depending on your EDI solution this automation may look different. If you are a hosted solution your EDI Service Provider will likely have tools withing their solution to aid in determining what processes can be automated and to what schedule they should run. If you have your own solution you will want to ensure that your tools have these features too or rely on the OS tools and some scripting to provide you with some solutions to do the same.

Understanding the needs and demands of your trading partners will help you to better understand what your schedule should be per transaction. Not all transactions have the same demands. It is best to understand the transaction, your trading partners intentions with it, and how your business teams intend on leveraging it before you set anything up.

In conclusion, EDI automation can save time, money, and allow your business to grow substantially larger more quickly. It will streamline your supply chain by providing better visibility, reducing cycle times, and optimizing your inventory. Determine what your tools have to offer and select the best means possible to reach your automation goals but keep it simple. Over complication can lead to more breaking points in your process and require more support in the future. So, evaluate your trading partner’s needs, lay it out, and keep it simple!

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