Right before the Holiday hustle-and-bustle goes into high gear, we all get to gather with our loved ones, eat way too much great food and – like all normal families, I am sure – we are “asked” to make a list of all the things we’re thankful for – and then sit patiently as everyone shares their list, at the dinner table, as the mashed potatoes grow cold.

So, in the spirit of the Holiday, since we are EDI nerds, here is a list of The Top Five Reasons to be Thankful… for EDI integration!

1. It Minimizes Data Entry. Without EDI integration, all purchase orders must be re-keyed into your back-end systems. Whether it’s a sophisticated ERP solution or an internal accounting package, integrating your EDI reduces much of this data-entry saving you time and eliminating costly charge-backs due to human error.
2. Data Validation. Speaking of charge-backs, if you have had to pay them, you can be thankful for Data Validation. Immediate notification of errors or exceptions and the ability to identify issues before they become problems is almost as satisfying as a half-time 3rd helping.
3. Improved Accuracy. Integrating your EDI means fewer “cooks in the kitchen” providing less opportunity for mistakes. Fewer mistakes means less time spent fixing those mistakes! We all want to leave early on Wednesday and join our families for the Holiday festivities. But if you’re stuck in the office researching EDI errors, someone else is going to get the drum-stick. That’s your drum-stick. You work hard all year for that drum-stick. It’s practically family tradition, TYLER!
   EDI integration keeps families together.
4. Better Relationships. Integrating your EDI means forging stronger partnerships with your Buyers. A reliable, integrated EDI solution helps build stable relationships that ensure repeat business. Let us all consider building better and stronger relationships as we gather together this post-election season.
5. Black Friday! The National Retail Federation predicts an increase in Holiday sales of 3.6% over last year. That’s something to be thankful for. And if you are a supplier for a major retailer, for all the reasons above and more, EDI integration just makes your life merrier.

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The decision to move a vendor from “paper to EDI” does not have to be a time-consuming, complex process, especially if costs are kept low and absorbed by the vendor, as is the case in most verticals outside of healthcare.  Unfortunately, many hospitals have been so attuned to paying the vendor for the right to electronically purchase goods that making this directional change seems daunting to most hospital procurement or supply-chain executives.  And while many healthcare organizations are excited about the ability to have electronic invoicing, most do not realize that the true cost of the paper-filled Procure-to-Pay cycle is directly related to the starting document, or the Purchase Order.

By streamlining the EDI System implementation process and minimizing the associated costs, hospitals can now take full advantage of DataTrans Web EDI and achieve close to 100% EDI compliance. An added benefit includes having access to features used by other vertical markets such as Vendor Score-carding, supply-chain Dashboards and other Business Intelligence tools.

Extending supply-chain automation to all of your vendors without having to consider the purchase order amount or the volume of orders received maximizes the investment in EDI systems and radically reduces supply-chain costs.

The Revolution is here and DataTrans leads the Charge!

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The survey asked over 200 professionals from a wide range of industries to weigh in on such issues as supply chain costs, inventory visibility, new enterprise resource planning (ERP) integration, customer responsiveness and more.

Of those surveyed, a full 94% saw a significant improvement in their overall electronic connectivity capabilities while 68% reported that, after implementing cloud-based B2Bi managed services, their trading partners were easier to do business with.

Although it has been around for decades, many of those surveyed felt that B2Bi is still in its infancy – especially globally – as integration solutions are implemented extensively across some industries while sparse in others. It is estimated that over the next three years, electronic connections will increase more than 20%, with 69% of those surveyed saying that they intend to add the number of trading partners with whom they do electronic business.

DataTrans Solutions provides a broad range of quality EDI and B2Bi solutions designed to enable companies to communicate business data electronically. We provide EDI maps pre-configured for the vast majority of corporations who conduct business and require EDI today. This, in combination with our canonical mapping model, allows us to rapidly implement a comprehensive, integrated EDI solution on your behalf.

Find out how DataTrans’ Business-to-Business Integration and Cloud-based Managed Solutions can benefit your organization. Give us a call today at 800.469.0877 or contact us here.

The post New Study: B2B Electronic Integration – 2016 and Beyond appeared first on DataTrans Solutions, Inc..

Discount giant Target Corp (TGT.N) is cracking down on their suppliers as part of a multi-billion dollar overhaul to speed up its supply chain and better compete with rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

The sixth-largest U.S. retailer by sales is tightening deadlines for deliveries to its warehouses, hiking fines for late deliveries, and may institute penalties of up to $10,000 for inaccuracies in product information. A tighter grip on its deliveries is seen as crucial to keeping shelves stocked, maximizing sales and controlling costs.

Target’s supply chain became more complex several years ago when it expanded its offering of perishable goods such as meat, fresh produce and dairy products. Further complications came when the retailer started catering to online shoppers by shipping orders directly from warehouses and also allowing them to pick up online orders in stores.

The new rules and penalties, detailed in a letter sent to suppliers, started to go into effect at the beginning of May 2016 and will be rolled out over the course of the summer. In summary:

• Domestic suppliers must give a single-day arrival date for shipments to Target’s warehouses.
• There is no longer a “grace period” to ship a few days after the promised date without penalties.
• Target will hike fines on late shipments up to 5 percent of the order cost.
• Escalating fees of $5,000-$10,000″ could be charged for suppliers who fail to provide complete and accurate product information.
• Target has stated that they will be flexible with suppliers during an adjustment period.

If your organization would like help to meet Target’s new rules and deadlines, please contact DataTrans Solutions today at 800.469.0877 or email us at sales@datatrans-inc.com.

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What’s more, in an extremely tight and competitive market, DataTrans is the only company on the list specializing in providing a full range of customized EDI and Analytic Solutions for the Health Information Exchange (HIE) market. Needless to say, it is truly an honor.

To bring it all together, an expert panel comprised of CEOs, CIOs, VCs, analysts, and the HTO Editorial Board poured over a vast number of HIE vendors looking for those that have consistently shown themselves committed to fulfilling the need for cost-effective and flexible solutions that truly add value to the HIE landscape.

With a primary focus on security, feasibility, adaptability and sustainability, it is hoped that this list will help simplify and assist CIOs in identifying the right HIE solutions for their enterprise.

Please contact us for more information about how your company can benefit from our award-winning solutions.

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• Why should you pay anything for your suppliers to do business electronically with you?
• Why should you do any business with suppliers who don’t communicate with you electronically?

Unlike other industries, healthcare has been told that isn’t the way EDI works. The buyer pays for EDI for a few of the top-dollar-spending vendors, (usually fewer than 200) and more than 90 percent of suppliers still operate by some sort of automated fax or worse yet … paper invoices. The cost in EDI fees and pricing errors are enormous. Not only is the system inefficient and labor intensive, but the flaw of only connecting to your high-dollar-volume vendors is that it costs the same to process a $5 invoice as it does a $50,000 invoice. The cost of the invoice is irrelevant, yet for years this description of the healthcare purchasing and receiving process has been common.

To make it worse, there’s a limited number of companies in healthcare that provide EDI, and they work both sides of the fence, charging both the buyer and the seller for the privilege of using their EDI services. By looking outside of healthcare for best practices, we can find proven technology with 20 years of experience that brings healthcare up to date with other industries.

A best-practices checklist for EDI includes:

• Fees should be paid for by the vendors rather than the buyers.
• Fees should be affordable and driven by the actual cost of providing the service as opposed to an arbitrary percentage of the cost of the invoice.
• The process should include a web-based portal that is easy and practical for vendors of any size to use.
• There should be a 360-degree electronic process that allows for an automated method to track the complete process of purchase order, purchase order acknowledgement, invoice creation/matching and straight through processing to the accounts payable system.
• A robust dashboard of analytics should be available to efficiently run your business.

It is time for us in healthcare to reach out to solutions from other industries where the above-described process has been standard for decades.

Kevin L. Shrake (kevinshrake@mdresources.net) is a 35-year veteran of healthcare, a board-certified fellow in the American College of Healthcare Executives and a former hospital CEO. He currently serves as the executive vice president/chief operating officer of MDR, based in Fresno, California

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The single most impactful variable will be your overall monthly transactions, both the volume of transactions sent and received and the size of each of those transactions.  How many Purchase Orders are you handling through your web-based service currently and how big are each of those Purchase Orders?  If you are handling fifty Purchase Orders per month each with a single SKU, you will probably be able to handle and maintain fulfillment with a web-based solution indefinitely.  However, if you are receiving even ten to twenty Purchase Orders per month each with fifty or more SKU’s on them than integration may quickly become a necessity.  As the manually entry into your accounting system, ERP or IMS may quickly become laborious and the likelihood of human error, mis-keyed information or accidental omission of data become a daunting reality that costs time, money and negatively effects client relationships.  In this case, the ROI that is received from implementing an integrated supply chain is viable and the cost-benefit analysis is straight forward, integration is not a choice it is a necessity.

Your shipping processes and requirements will also directly affect your decision to adopt integration as well.  If you are constantly shipping to one or two trading partners, each with a single delivery destination such as a distribution center, than again you may very well be content with staying with your web-based EDI solution.  But what is your trading partner has hundreds of locations, each requiring its own 856 ASN and Invoice?  Or you have multiple trading partners, all of whom may have multiple ship-to locations or distribution centers?  In these cases, integration again will return far more value to your organization than the minimal cost required to make the transition from web-based manual fulfillment to an integrated supply chain.  Many retail operations are migrating from the singular distribution ship to model to handling shipping and invoicing by the singular retail location model.  Inevitably, this means that you will be a Purchase Order, ASN and Invoice required per store or at a minimum you will be receiving a Master PO and will still be required to generate an ASN and Invoice for each location.  Either way, this is additional time and steps that are being added to your fulfillment processes, carrying with them additional costs, time and personnel requirements, and a well spring of opportunity for human error.  Again, integration will quickly become necessary to ensure proper fulfillment, save resources and improve your client relationships.

Corporate outlook, governance and culture will also play a role on when you adopt integration.  There will always be your early adopters, companies that immediately implement the newest cutting edge solutions to stay ahead of the competition with a sole corporate outlook and philosophy of efficiency above all things.  Additionally, there will always be the late responders, those companies who choose to wait until they are at the apex of technical limitations, who try to maximize the investment and longevity of their current solutions and will maintain these solutions until it becomes fiscally impossible to continue on with their current protocols and solutions.   Most companies fall in the middle of these two extremes; these companies want to be competitive and function with the upmost efficiencies but are also cost sensitive to the bottom-line.  Regardless of where your organization falls upon this scale, the adoption and implementation of integration will ultimately come up along the way as your organization grows and your supply chain scales to a point that you decide it is no longer feasible to continue with manual EDI fulfillment process.

All of these unique variables will eventually guide your hand and your decision to integrate, whether it be the hours spent manually handling your orders, the human errors that continuously hinder your maximum potential, or the overall impact upon your bottom-line.  The easiest rule of thumb for when it is time to begin entertaining the implementation of an integrated supply chain is when you have at least half of an employee’s time dedicated to manual fulfillment or you have begun considering bringing in temps to handle the data entry, it is time to consider an integrated solution.  When you begin calculating the total cost of the salaries of those individuals and more importantly the opportunity cost of having that employee handling mundane data entry instead of focusing on other activities that could be scaling your organization, driving more business or focusing upon customer service and internal tasks that solidify your processes, you can quickly see how the minor investment into an integrated solution would truly revolutionize your organization’s supply chain.

When you believe your organization is approach this technological omega point of productivity or if you are wondering if you may already be there, give us a call.  We would be honored to discuss your needs, project scope, fulfillment processes and current costs to help you choose the best direction for your organization.

At DataTrans Solutions we offer the industry’s leading infrastructure, tools, and resources that allow us to leverage our capabilities to provide you with the most complete EDI and E-commerce solutions you require and at an affordable price point our competition simply cannot match for an equivalent level of service.  We have assisted thousands of companies with enhancing and ascending their business to the next level of e-commerce and would like the opportunity to do the same for you.

We have several EDI solutions available for companies of all sizes, in every industry, and varying needs.  Let’s arrange a date and time to discuss your specific needs and concerns and together we shall find the EDI solution that is right for your company.  Please give DataTrans Solutions a call at 1 (800) 469-0877 when you are ready to chat.

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The Public Key: is used to encrypt and verify digital signatures

The Private Key: is used to decrypt, digitally sign and is always kept private and protected.

The Certificate: much like a driver’s license, is used for identification purposes, identifying the issuer of the certificate, show expiry and give a unique number assigned to the certificate called a serial number.  Every certificate will have its own unique serial number

This is an informative albeit simplistic explanation of the AS2 cert/public/private key relationship and how the AS2 is used to send and receive EDI.  When an AS2 certificate is created two keys are generated which are linked together by an algorithm, one is a Private Key and one is a Public Key.  The Private Key is stored in a repository, for this example in ECS, while the cert along with the attached Public Key is sent to the receiver normally via email but it may be uploaded depending on the receiver’s protocols and standards.  The keys are then used to access the data contained within the AS2 envelope.  The following is an example of a typical AS2 exchange between DataTrans and Wal-Mart:

AS2 Example – Typical AS2 Process between DataTrans and Wal-Mart

• EDI payload is encrypted using the Wal-Mart cert/public key (on DataTrans AS2 server)
• EDI payload is signed using the DataTrans (Sender) private key (on DataTrans AS2 server)
• AS2 connection is made to the Wal-Mart AS2 server wal-mart.com:5080 (on DataTrans AS2 server)
• Payload contains a request to return an MDN, either sync or async (on DataTrans AS2 server)
• AS2 IDs/Names are used to identify the AS2 relationship (on Wal-Mart AS2 server)
• EDI payload is decrypted using the Wal-Mart private key (on Wal-Mart AS2 server)
• EDI payload has its digital signature verified using the DataTrans cert/public key (on Wal-Mart AS2 server)
• MDN is returned with a “processed” or “Decryption failure” or “Authentication, unable to verify signature…” status (on Wal-Mart AS2 server)

To effectively utilize AS2 for EDI the receiving parties’ server must be set to openly listen for messages being sent, much like an answering machine, if a call comes in and the answer machine does not answer the call and the message will not be received, which is why a reliable infrastructure is a vital component to AS2 EDI.  Assuming the server has a reliable up-time and is properly set to listen for and accept the message than utilizing AS2 to send EDI is highly effective.

To ensure proper server settings and reliability most organizations will turn to an EDI network provider, such as DataTrans Solutions, to address and handle their AS2 EDI needs.   There are numerous benefits to utilizing DataTrans for your organization’s AS2 EDI needs, such as:

• The ability to comply with AS2 mandates without the usual barriers to entry and adoption, for example: AS2 software; the internal infrastructure costs of hardware; security protocols such as firewalls; and the ongoing personnel expense of qualified, expert developers
• Handling the exchange of AS2 setup information
• Completing all required AS2 testing for your organization and your partners
• Knowing all documents are exchanged in real-time
• Benefit from DataTrans’ industry leading reliability, infrastructure, skills, security and expertise

I would like to mention and thank Kenrick Roberts for his contributions to this blog and the AS2 information herein.  We look forward to hearing from you and introducing your organization to the cost savings and logistical benefits of the next generation of AS2 EDI.  If you have any questions please feel free to reach us at any time.

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• helps keep healthcare affordable.
• improves the accuracy of information exchanged between healthcare participants, improving the quality of healthcare delivery and its supporting process.
• makes enhanced information available to all healthcare participants as appropriate. This access ensures accurate, fast, reliable, secure and detailed information on patients and healthcare partner plans.

From the business perspective, if you are not taking advantage of all available electronic transactions, you are not maximizing your savings and organizational efficiency. Using EDI you can:

Send and receive information faster.  Providers typically experience quicker turnaround times. A payor can receive your claim the same day you send it. In addition, an eligibility inquiry can be received and responded to in seconds, faster than you could pick up the phone and dial.

Identify submission errors immediately and avoid processing delays.  This process decreases the number of reasons a claim may be rejected once received by the payer. This same level of automated data verification cannot be performed on paper claims.

Lower your receivables.  Integrating EDI into your office workflow and software systems may make a positive impact on your bottom line. Automating electronic transactions such as eligibility will enable you to have current coinsurance, deductible and benefit information readily available while the patient is present, and prior to filing the claim. All EDI transactions may help increase your cash flow due to the expediency and accuracy of information exchanged.

Cut administrative expenses.  Whether time you want to save from phoning, faxing, printing, sorting and stuffing envelopes, or its purchases you wish to avoid (paper forms, supplies and postage) EDI can increase productivity and lower costs.

Spend less time on the phone. Many of the calls received by a payor can be answered by performing one of the following EDI transactions:

• Eligibility (270/271)
• Claim Status (276/277)
• Notifications (278N)

The information returned comes from the same system used by representatives that answer your calls. You can gain administrative cost savings by reducing the amount of time spent on the phone.

Go Green and reduce paper, mail time, and postal costs.  Payors receive electronic transactions in real-time. This eliminates both mail time and the cost of postage and envelopes. EDI is also good for the environment because it reduces the volume of paper you receive from payors. Receiving electronic confirmation of claim submissions, electronic remittance advice (ERA/835), electronic funds transfer (EFT) and other EDI transactions can save time and trees.

Estimate Your Cost Savings from Increased Efficiency. A study by Milliman, Inc. calculated the cost of manual and electronic transactions.  You can use the estimated savings per transaction from the table below to calculate your potential savings.

Estimated Per-Transaction Costs and Savings Opportunity by Transaction Type

Sources: CAQH, Index; Millman Inc.; United Healthcare

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B2B commerce of the 20^th century was once laden with endless stacks of paper stemming from purchase orders and invoices to shipping documents, the endless cycle of filling out forms, scanning documents and manual data entry was an accepted but arduous part of commerce.  Enter EDI, a solution to the logistical needs of businesses everywhere, which allowed businesses to reduce the copious amount of work that was a byproduct of traditional business exchange models.  EDI greatly enhanced business efficiency, transferring documents between business partners instantaneously while reducing the labor hours involved with order fulfillment, input costs such as paper, as well as the need to fax.  E-Commerce was born and systematically changed B2B commerce in the 20^th century.    According to the Research and Advisory firm Frost & Sullivan, B2B e-Commerce will hit $12 trillion worldwide by 2020 and they consider this to be the preeminent industry in innovation and market attractiveness (Vidyasekar 2014).

The 21^st century and the impact of mobile technology, specifically Smartphones and tablets, has ushered in the next evolution of EDI, m-Commerce.   The internet has provided an entirely new way for consumers to browse, to shop and to educate themselves on products and with consumers now having mobile, on-demand access to the internet via their Smartphones the dawn of m-Commerce is upon us.   The ability of customers to instantaneously access global inventories, compare prices, read blogs and product reviews seamlessly from their couch or while window shopping is changing the dynamic of brick and mortar stores into showrooms.  Fulfillment center advancements are needed to provide dynamic inventory allocations and real-time updates.

M-Commerce is causing drastic logistical changes and business model shifts, and standard retail customers are not the only ones demanding these changes.  B2B businesses are feeling this pressure as well.  As vendors seek to constantly keep up with consumer’s buying and purchasing habits via model adaptations and logistical streamlining, businesses are relentlessly searching out suppliers who can keep up.   The world of e-Commerce is continuously evolving and adapting and the next generation of EDI must be a dynamic solution.

In an effort to further reduce expenses, minimize server space, increase inventory and software accessibility while simultaneously modernizing processes, many companies are turning to cloud-based software solutions.  Although highly contentious, the role and impact of the cloud is and will continue to be far reaching.   The internet has reshaped the world of the 21^st century and the companies who have adapted their business models to flourish in this environment are thriving and leveraging their competitive positions, further creating barriers to entry and eliminating threats of competition.  Today’s market place is too dynamic and unforgiving to accept late responders.  Staying competitive must be at the forefront of one’s business model.

The challenge for e-Commerce going forward is finding an EDI solution that can bridge the gap between the e-Commerce systems of the 20^th century with that of today’s cloud-based business requirements and m-Commerce’s empowerment of the consumer.  DataTrans Solutions has numerous products that offer resolution to these needs.

If you would like to discuss your organization’s current position and explore the impacts that adapting to e-Commerce, m-Commerce and cloud-based computing will have, please feel free to call me at 1(800) 469-0877.  We will discuss your business’s unique needs and how transitioning your internal systems can help keep you ahead of the competition.

Travis Baldwin

Works Cited

Vidyasekar, Archana Devi. The Global B2B E-commerce Market Will Reach $6.7 Trillion by 2020.  Frost & Sullivan. Dec 31, 2014.  Retrieved on Jan 2, 2015

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