Organizations have several requirements when it comes to the implementation of EDI. Mostly, they want the EDI service to meet a set of objectives that will help the organization reach specific goals. Many of their fundamental objectives boil down to the following:
Efficiency
The primary goal is to do more with less. Organizations are pursuing efficiency gains, even at large capital cost, for longer term revenue. The primary goal is to consolidate, restructure, and downsize along with the introduction of technology to improve processes.
Effectiveness
The key driver here is increasing productivity. Improved training strategies alongside leading technology will result in large gains in productivity from employees at all levels. The training will need to take into account the different levels of computer-literacy and exposure to technology.
Environment
A common environment will lead to consistency and almost no errors. Adopting an information exchange format, which is accepted by most trading partners will avoid costly duplication in data entry, communication, and information exchange. According to the experts: with electronic data interchange services, your documents come in, get translated to a format you can read, and deliver them where you want them.
Sharing
The greatest gains will come from sharing of information within the organization. In the past, one department will not have access to relevant information if it is within the purview of another. For example, customer service agents can now see and provide details of the location of a shipment without contacting the logistics department.