Onboarding suppliers to EDI: why offer a free web portal?

Rolling out electronic data interchange (EDI) across your supply chain is a smart move. It reduces admin, cuts down errors and gives you better visibility across every order, invoice and delivery. But there’s one challenge that can get in the way: getting your suppliers onboard. Not every supplier is EDI-ready, especially smaller ones that don’t have the systems or budgets for full integration. That’s where a free web portal can be a game changer.

What is a web portal?

A supplier EDI web portal is a web-based service that allows your suppliers to participate in EDI processes without needing their own EDI system or software. It acts as a lightweight, easy-to-use entry point for suppliers who aren’t ready (or able) to integrate EDI into their own systems.

Through the portal, suppliers can log in from any web browser to:

• receive purchase orders (POs) from your business and view them in a human-readable format
• send back order responses or confirmations (e.g. accepting, rejecting or modifying orders)
• send advance shipping notices (ASNs), letting you know what’s being delivered and when
• create and send invoices
• view message history and document status, so they know what’s been received or processed.

For suppliers, it’s like having a basic EDI system, without the technical setup or system integration. They simply receive a login and start transacting. They just need a web browser and they’re ready to go.

Why offer it for free?

Due to the simplicity of the web portal solution, it is often a cheaper form of EDI compliance for your suppliers. What makes us a little different from others is we offer our web portal solution, Colladium, for our customers’ suppliers to use at no cost to them.

It’s just another way to ensure success by removing a cost barrier for your suppliers. They can sign up and start sending and receiving EDI messages in minutes. Once your suppliers start using a web form portal, it can be a stepping stone for them to move to an automated integrated solution giving them a greater range of benefits from EDI compliance.

Getting started with MessageXchange

We try and make the process of getting started easier.

1. Let us know what you want to achieve and we’ll suggest the best solution for you
2. Start our partnership
3. Connect to MessageXchange and test connectivity and messaging
4. Go live and start onboarding your suppliers!