A practical approach to Web-based Internet EDI

In traditional business environments, many inter-company processes (such as buying and billing) are performed using paper documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. Electronic data interchange (EDI) allows companies to exchange these documents in a structured and computer-processable format. This helps to automate and streamline business by eliminating or simplifying clerical tasks, speeding information transfer, reducing data errors, and eliminating business processes. Although EDI has been successfully employed in specific industries (such as retail) and in some large enterprises, it has not been widely adopted. The primary barriers to widespread acceptance of EDI are the costs of implementation and the costs of communication, which is frequently done using value-added networks (VANs). These costs are generally too high for companies that do not conduct large numbers of EDI transactions. We introduce a Web-based Internet EDI model that provides valued-added functions traditionally provided by EDI over VANs. In this model, users conduct business transactions using Java-capable browsers instead of traditional EDI software, eliminating the costs of VANs and EDI-related applications.