As a software development company, Concert IDC is ready to tackle all kinds of projects, from cool apps to custom websites.

But we’re also a managed services provider. Because of our special expertise in document transfer, we’ve created an Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) system of our own.

It’s called the Armor Connect Engine (ACE), and we’re excited about its many possibilities. Our technology is highly secure, very scalable and incredibly reliable, like any EDI system should be.

Unlike other systems, however, ACE gives you much more price transparency. It’s so easy to get an estimate using our online calculator. You can literally get a cost in a minute or two, and see exactly how much you could save each year.

But what is EDI, and why should you care? Simply put, EDI is an exchange of business documents between computers in a standard format.

What kinds of formats? The ACE platform supports all of the major file types – CSV, XML, JSON, X12 (EDI/HL7) – as well as any custom files that your organization may require.

Businesses use EDI to share all kinds of documents, like purchase orders, invoices, shipping notices, loan applications and more. Usually, the documents are exchanged between two business partners as part of their supply chain or B-to-B networks.

At a time when many businesses are trying to become more cost-efficient and resourceful, EDI delivers a lot of benefits that make sense.

For starters, you can save cold, hard cash. Think about all the costs related to paper, printing and storage, not to mention postage. With EDI, all of those expenses are replaced by a simple, electronic transaction at a fraction of the cost.

Speed is another big benefit. It can take days or weeks for the postal service to deliver your documents, but EDI transactions take place in the blink of an eye. Invoices are delivered faster, loan applications get processed sooner and payments are made in a flash. In fact, the time between one business making an order and another receiving a payment can be reduced by as much as 20% using EDI. That can lead to smoother cash flow and happier people on both sides of the transaction.

With EDI, errors are reduced, too. Because documents are shared in structured, predetermined formats, they have to be properly organized. No more illegible handwriting, typing mistakes and other common screw-ups that can waste time and create headaches.

When you automate the exchange of data between computers in a supply chain, that information can also be tracked in real time. Delivery times are shortened and companies can keep less inventory on hand. It’s also easy to generate useful reports based on your monthly EDI transactions.

EDI can even become a major part of your sustainability program, allowing you to replace wasteful paper processes with electronic files.

If you’re a smaller company, using ACE can put you on a level playing field with larger firms and allow you to integrate easily with their systems. If you’re a bigger firm with many transactions each month, you could save a significant amount of money with ACE.

As you can see, EDI offers so many benefits for your organization – including many that are especially relevant in today’s business environment.

Do you have questions? Please contact us and we’ll be glad to answer them!