Supplier connection

Supplier connection via EDI 

EDI stands for Electronic Data Interchange and is a collective term for platform-independent electronic transfer processes in which the application systems of the sender and recipient are directly involved.

Companies and industries usually agree on EDI standards. EDI uses synchronous data exchange processes: the partner system replies to a request during the current session. This means: The purchasing manager has his ERP system investigate in the supplier's ERP system whether a certain article is available in what quantity and at what price. The answer is given directly, the two systems communicate with each other. The requesting company receives the answer according to the pull principle, i.e. it is sorted into a queue if another customer asks for this article at the same time.

The communication between the two ERP systems of the supplier and the customer company takes place fully automatically, human intervention is in principle not necessary. The employees of both companies merely define in advance their respective conditions (prices, quantities, delivery times) under which they will buy or sell. The conditions are stored in the ERP systems.

An auction can also be carried out with the corresponding software on the supplier side. If another customer bids more for a scarce item, they'll win the bid first. EDI communication is based on the push principle, so a request must always be sent to the supplier system first.

OCI orders

OCI orders are possible with inorder if a supplier offers an OCI interface. The buyer uses the supplier's online shop and places the products in his shopping cart, which in this case is represented by the inorder shopping list. inorder carries out the complete order management including the approval workflow for OCI orders.

OCI is well suited for irregular orders for configurable products such as work clothes, advertising material or stamps. Catalog and price updates can be carried out in bulk. Purchasing automatically receives a message in the event of price deviations from suppliers. The OCI standard (Open Catalog Interface) serves as a standardized, open catalog data interface for the exchange of catalog data records. The buyer is forwarded to the external shop system (of the supplier) via OCI. 

This OCI punchout procedure shortens the ordering process extremelybecause address, shipping or payment data do not have to be specified separately. The supplier's shop system and the inorder procurement management software communicate directly with each other. A background search is possible in some OCI shops. Your own procurement management system (inorder) can search the supplier's catalog without the usual OCI jump.