Into logistics 4.0 with EDI

EDI – the digital engine of logistics

Efficient, transparent, and above all, secure supply chains are the linchpin for a successful transition to Logistics 4.0. EDI serves as the digital engine providing the necessary drive to achieve this goal.

At its core, the role of the logistics industry is to deliver the right product, in the right amount, at the right time, to the right place. As if this weren’t challenging enough, recent developments have introduced even more demands. These include reducing transportation costs, navigating the mobility shift with rising energy and fuel prices, driver shortages, and heightened consumer expectations for delivery times in e-commerce. To meet these growing challenges while also keeping pace with growth, the industry needs to remain flexible through automation, digitization, and networking, and be prepared for all – even unforeseen – eventualities. A major success factor, and thus a competitive advantage for the industry, lies primarily in having functioning supply chains.

A tried-and-true tool

Speed, flexibility, and transparency – this essentially summarizes the competitive edge in logistics. And it’s not that hard to achieve, at least not for companies employing Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). A proven technology that, even after nearly 40 years, remains a cornerstone of modern logistics. According to EDITEL’s CEO Gerd Marlovits, the reason for this is very simple: “EDI has reliably ensured efficient, cost-effective, and transparent business processes in the supply chain for many years. And that is exactly what we need more than ever!” To work effectively with EDI as a tool, Mr. Marlovits notes, “the biggest challenges in logistics lie in managing vast amounts of data and coordinating with a myriad of different business partners, each with unique requirements.” To address this, problem-solving skills and process understanding are essential, which EDITEL brings to the table from decades of experience working with numerous well-known logistics companies.

Freshness needs reliable processes

One such company specializing in temperature-controlled food logistics is TKL Group, for which EDI has become indispensable for the quick, error-free, and traceable handling of order and delivery processes. At TKL, all processes – from order receipt, goods receipt, delivery, to invoicing – are fully mapped via EDI and exchanged via EDITEL’s eXite® platform. “Our data exchange is in good hands with EDITEL, our EDI partner. With this system, we can reach all our clients through a single connection, simplifying the process and ensuring reliable handling of the hundreds of thousands of orders we receive each year,” notes TKL’s CEO, Wilhelm Leithner. Additionally, TKL offers its producers scheduling services via EDI. Depending on the client, the entire scheduling is taken over or only the data relevant for scheduling are made available electronically.

New and time-tested

The partnership between EDITEL and food and Frigologo, a food and refrigeration logistics specialist, dates back to 1994. At Frigologo, electronic messages accompany and coordinate the entire material flow. EDI is used, among others, to notify deliveries to the warehouse from different suppliers, confirm their receipt and inform about batch changes. “This allows us to handle nearly 100 orders in just 2 minutes, which is crucial given our 6-hour turnaround time,” says Rolf Stobbe, the IT department manager at Frigologo. Beyond these ongoing processes, EDITEL also undertakes “special projects” for Frigologo, like the new process for co-packaging, implemented last year in partnership with a renowned confectionery manufacturer. According to Mr. Stobbe, this “was so professionally executed by EDITEL that it serves as a best practice example for future projects of this kind.”

Everything in motion

One of EDITEL’s more recent logistics clients is Raben BEXity GmbH, which manages over 10,000 goods transports daily with EDI support. They process a multitude of different data formats and processes daily, including transport orders, consignment notes, or invoicing. “Given our extremely data-intensive and time-sensitive processes, it was clear from the start that we needed an EDI expert with the necessary expertise and human resources,” says Robert Blum, the IT manager at Raben BEXity in Austria responsible for all EDI operations.

As these examples show, EDI in logistics hasn’t only revolutionized the past few decades, but everything continues to move forward. And now, more than ever, the “digital engine EDI” provides the best conditions and the necessary drive to lead the industry into the era of Logistics 4.0.