EDI standardizes the exchange of standard business documents between SHI and our customers. The documents are translated into a globally standardized business language such as ANSI X12 or UN/EDIFACT to allow communication between computers across the world. SHI supports the most current ANSI X12 CITA as well as older versions of these transaction sets. Traditional EDI document transactions are completed using a VAN, an outside server that communicates between the customer and SHI. With this method, the customer submits information to the VAN and SHI "picks-up" the information at scheduled intervals. SHI transmits information to the customer via the same exchange process.

Quick to begin production, SHI can implement EDI with your organization in 3-4 weeks. The implementation can be for one department, one location, or set up individually for several entities within the enterprise. Currently, SHI sends and receives close to 20,000 EDI transactions every month, approximately 600 per day. These business transmittals include purchase orders, invoices, catalogs, and functional acknowledgements.

Internet EDI
SHI can further help increase transaction security and reduce procurement costs by implementing a more direct and advanced form of EDI. Internet EDI, or I-EDI, is a computer to computer exchange of business data that eliminates the need for a VAN lease, it is open and accessible wherever the Internet reaches. Through Templar (an I-EDI software by Harbinger Corp.), SHI can trade electronic documents with your organization via secure email using encryption. I-EDI documents are more secure; each customer has a unique key with which they can unlock their data. Also, traditional EDI costs approximately $2.50 per exchange whereas I-EDI has been associated with a per-order processing cost of less than $1.00.

Our EDI Partner list is extensive and today it represents upwards of 40% of the daily transactions processed by SHI. Some of our current trading partners include: