Watts Water Technologies
Innovative Water Solutions
E-Commerce
Creating, Moving and Processing Business Documents Electronically
Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is the automated electronic transfer of standardized business documents between trading partner computers that have traditionally moved by mail or fax. When EDI is effectively integrated into existing computerized business systems, business documents are created by computers using industry standard formats for common business document types. The EDI documents are then passed over fast and secure networks such as the Internet or proprietary Value Added Networks (VAN) to a trading partner’s computer where they are received, validated and processed electronically.
EDI allows trading partners, suppliers and customers, to prepare and send a broad spectrum of common business documents computer-to-computer that historically required costly and error prone human interaction. These standard documents include, but are not limited to: Purchase Orders, PO Acknowledgement, Advance Shipping Notice (summary and detail), Invoice, etc. Exchanging data in this way reduces transaction costs, improves productivity, accelerates throughput and improves the accuracy of the documents.
What are the benefits of EDI?
- Reduced Costs. Industry experience has proven that when document creation and receipt processing is properly integrated into electronic business systems, the administrative and labor costs of producing and processing an EDI transaction is conservatively 75% less than the cost of creating and processing a manual transaction.
- Increased Productivity. Employees previously involved in preparing and processing incoming business transactions are now free to engage in other value added tasks. Human intervention is only required to deal with the small percentage of transactions that are flagged with errors.
- Accelerated Throughput. The time required producing, sending, receiving and processing the majority of business transactions are reduced from days to seconds.
- Improved Accuracy. EDI eliminates keystroke errors resulting in more accurate information being transmitted. In addition, unlike human processors, once the information is recorded correctly in the electronic master file, it will be reapplied consistently without variation or error, each time a new transaction is prepared.
What are the Watts Water EDI Offerings?
We currently accommodate the majority of customer EDI requirements with a combination of the following EDI document types:
- Purchase Order – EDI 850
- Purchase Order Acknowledgement – EDI 855
- Invoice – EDI 810
- Advanced Ship Notice (summary and detail) – EDI 856
We also understand that some customers may be more advanced in their adoption of EDI and therefore may have unique requirements that are not addressed by any combination of the above document types. We will work with customers to accommodate reasonable requests outside the customary offerings.
How do I get started with EDI?
If you are well versed in EDI and use it with other trading partners, simply contact us using the contact form provided below. If you do not currently have in-house EDI experience or expertise and are interested in engaging in EDI with us, we can recommend a trusted service provider that offers the level of assistance or support you need to realize the benefits of EDI. Service offerings range from consulting and mentoring you in developing maps and processes to actually doing the mapping, configuration, testing and production support for you. You select the number and mix of service components that are right for you.
How do I Initiate EDI with Watts Water
To take advantage of the Watts Water’s EDI program, please complete and submit the electronic form below. You will then be contacted by a representative that will discuss our EDI program with you and evaluate if it is a good fit for your business.
For more information on Electronic Data Interchange, please fill out the form below.