Walmart EDI
As a vendor, there are only a few days as pleased as the day you becoming a Walmart provider. That's because, with their scope, they can get the kind of market presence that a provider can only dream of. There are, however, a few downsides to coping with Walmart. One of these is Walmart EDI; in particular, the insistence of the retail giant that its providers use a particular EDI set up to exchange data with them.
This is what is known as Walmart EDI and may be a source of frustration for fresh providers. Part of the frustration stems from the reality that, in order to be compatible with Wal Mart EDI, you will need to pass a sequence of exams to guarantee the retail giant that your organization has the required software and needs to guarantee a smooth EDI exchange. Luckily, there are methods for a smaller operation to become Walmart EDI compliant that do not require a good deal of cost or technical knowledge.
Becoming Walmart EDI compliant The quickest and easiest way to become Walmart EDI compliant is to use their web-based scheme to exchange transactions with the retail giant to ensure compliance. Because you're using their system, this is the fastest and most inexpensive way for many companies to become Walmart EDI compliant. However, one of the problems that many providers will quickly face is that they start to understand the advantages of EDI and start to explore using EDI with other clients. Once this occurs, using Walmart's own system is no longer a feasible alternative as it only operates with Walmart.
By using EDI software, either in-house or hosted, you will be able to continue to function with your bigger clients and retain compliance with the Wal Mart EDI. As you start exploring the possibility of using in-house software, you should be conscious that there are a number of ways to create EDI software. Specifically, EDI software packages can be very basic— only providing assistance for the full X12 standard— or very advanced— offering pre-configured kits that enable you to rapidly and easily become Walmart EDI compliant. For the vast majority of company owners, the latter is much preferable to the former.
Expanding your Walmart EDI Usage The first phase of becoming a Walmart EDI compliant is to ensure that you meet the requirements of the retail giant. But what of your own? More exactly, is there a way to retain compliance with Walmart EDI, but to become more effective in the process? The solution is, of course; and the way to do this is to allow your EDI system to be fully integrated into your back-end ERP system. By fully integrating any orders received by Walmart EDI, they will be processed, converted and automatically routed to your ERP system as sales orders. Once you are ready to ship the goods, the reverse will happen and your ERP shipment slips and invoices will be translated and sent as Walmart EDI advanced ship notifications and invoices.
Choosing your Walmart EDI Package This type of integration can be accomplished with a amount of Walmart EDI compatible software applications, but you really should make sure that the bundle you choose can provide this option in the long run withminimal re-architectureof your Walmart EDI setup. In reality, there are a number of Walmart EDI alternatives available that will require you to fully re-engineer your EDI activities to accomplish inclusion. This sort of strategy, which is often less costly at first, can become very costly in the long run, as it not only involves a big quantity of inner rework, but can also put your Walmart EDI compliance at risk.