In today’s vibrant and competitive e-commerce market, ensuring optimum Webstore production is nearer and nearer the top of many companies’ “must have” lists. Offering stable online exchange platforms for B2B and B2C transactions is no longer an exotic luxury reserved for the Silicon Valley elite, but an absolute requirement in developing new markets and maintaining trading relationships which are driven more and more by the comfort and speed of Internet commerce.

To preserve and enhance the competitive advantage gained by providing secure online options to your customers, ensuring stable back-office integration of your Webstore is essential if growth is to be achieved. This is where eBridge Support Services enters the picture.

This week we would like to highlight some of the more common issues related to Webstore configuration maintenance which need to be proactively and collaboratively tackled to ensure the highest return on business efficiencies of Webstore integration which lead to customer satisfaction and growth.

One of the more prevalent (and to some, obvious) issues that can interrupt your Webstore integration configuration is misaligned access credentials. The need to maintain synchronicity between periodically changing Webstore credentials and your ePortal account is vital to ensure seamless integration – and the bragging rights that go along with it!  Accordingly, make sure you remember to update your ePortal account settings each time your Webstore requires a password change. This will prevent delayed orders and ensure accuracy in web-facing inventory metrics.

Other issues which can compromise your Webstore connection include server changes or maintenance, and hosting changes or maintenance. These types of environmental changes require active communication between all parties to ensure limited interruption. If you are undergoing scheduled maintenance of any kind which may interrupt your connection, make sure to temporarily de-activate your connection, or contact Support Services and we can do this for you. This will prevent unnecessary errors (which can be disconcerting), as well as prevent radical changes in inventory or other product statuses which can be disorienting for customers.

For anybody interested in the broader strategic leverage offered by Webstore integration solutions, please follow this link to a dynamic video presentation discussing the competitive touch-points: http://www.ebridgeconnections.com/videos/magento-ebridge-game-changing-ways-to-leverage-inventory-management.html?q=magento

We look forward to continuing our discussion next week!

Hi Everyone,

Over the past couple of months we have had many requests for EDI Shipping Labels and ASN’s; the inquires range from Walmart to Home Depot & Bass Pro Shops just to name a few.

This insightful post from our own Mike Catalfamo breaks down how an EDI Shipping Label works: http://www.ebridgeconnections.com/blog/uccean-128-shipping-labels/

Has your EDI trading partner requested Shipping Labels?

Let us know.

Dave Malda.

The powerful eBridge Connections platform allows you to integrate and automate data between your back-office systems and hundreds of EDI partners, eCommerce marketplaces and CRM systems. By using the eBridge Connections API, you can connect the integration solution to any platform using web services.

In this video, we follow an order from Amazon through the eBridge Connections universal integration platform and into an ERP system. FBA and non-FBA programs are both supported, as is Amazon EDI. We can also integrate and automate the settlement reports into your accounting/ERP system.

If you’re wondering about integrating your specific accounting/ERP system, please watch the following video to learn why it doesn’t matter what you are using.

How to setup Accounting Integration – Why EDI, CRM and eCommerce endpoints don’t matter

Do you have questions about integration or our Amazon connector? Leave me a message in the comments below.

Microsoft’s annual ERP & CRM conference, Dynamics Convergence 2012 has just wrapped up in Houston, Texas. As usual, Microsoft launched the conference with a blizzard of new product announcements and feature surprises. Here is what you need to know:

Q4 releases of GP 2013 and NAV 2013 will be enabled to run on Windows Azure
As has long been expected, the next generation of Dynamics ERPs will be enabled to run on Windows Azure, Microsoft’s cloud application platform.  At Convergence, Microsoft announced that Dynamics GP 2013 and Dynamics NAV 2013 will both be released in Q4 2012 and capable of running in Windows Azure. A beta version of GP 203 will be released in May.

Microsoft says that the VAR/partner ecosystem will continue
Despite their new cloud product line, Microsoft executives renewed their commitment to the partner/VAR channel. In his keynote address, Kiril Tatanirov, President of Microsoft Business Solutions said that “our partners remain a very important part of our ecosystem, whether it’s private or public cloud.”

Social is coming to Microsoft Dynamics CRM
A raft of social features for Microsoft Dynamics CRM were announced, including native social media analytics, greater integration with Windows Mobile applications and new options to provide social customer service through Dynamics CRM. This new release, called Dynamics CRM 2012 will begin shipping in Q4.

You can read the official press release from Microsoft here and the keynote speeches here.
Will you consider running Dynamics ERP on Windows Azure? Let us know what you think in the comments!

Hi Everyone,

As we continue to share integration information via our Blog, I thought I would highlight one of our most popular posts from the past : http://www.ebridgeconnections.com/blog/how-does-edi-work/

Let us know if you have questions regarding your EDI?  Leave comments below and we will respond.

Thanks,
Dave Malda.

Hi Everyone,

Recently, we have had numerous prospects ask about AS2 with regards to EDI communication with their trading partner(s).  This prompted me to go looking back through our Blog Archives – I was able to find this informative post by Nazma in Help Desk:

http://www.ebridgeconnections.com/blog/what-is-as2-edi/

Do you have questions, or comments regarding AS2 Communication – feel free to leave a comment below.

Best regards,

Dave Malda.

Good Morning Everyone,

This morning, as I browse back through our Blog and some posts from 2010, 2011 – I noticed a great article series written by our Mike Catalfamo on eCommerce Integration and the best practice process for integrating Sales Orders, Customer info, Inventory Quantities, and Shipping details (tracking #’s etc) to your accounting package.  Here are the 4 parts of this series again:

1. An Introduction to eCommerce and Accounting Package Integration
2. Creating eCommerce Sales Orders
3. Managing eCommerce Inventory
4. Updating Sales Orders and Thoughts on Shipping Info (Tracking #’s etc)

Enjoy the read – Mike and I would both love to hear your feedback on the proposed best practice approaches.

Best,
Dave Malda.

How does EDI work? What is the process? Why do people use it? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

Recently, someone posted these questions on Quora and thought I would post my response here as well.

EDI (electronic data interchange) is a standard data structure that allows companies with differing hardware and software systems to exchange information in a common  format.  EDI is used to communicate a variety of information and is typically used in a supply chain.  It is widely adopted in retail, healthcare, automotive and even by the U.S. Department of Defense.

In my experience, no one does EDI because they want to, they do EDI because a partner in a business relationship mandates it, however it does help save time and money when it comes to communicating business information documents.  Major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Target and Home Depot most commonly use EDI to communicate the following information: Orders to their suppliers (850), Invoices from their suppliers (810), Shipment notices from their suppliers (856). There are also a number of other documents that are used but these three are almost always required in a retail relationship.

There are many different EDI solutions in the marketplace so the process and tools you set up and use can differ but the high level processing steps are the same.

The process flow for you receiving an EDI document is the following:

1. Buyer exports a business document from their back-office system (let’s use a purchase order as the example)
2. The purchase order is converted from the back-office format into EDI using some type of data transformation/mapping software or tool
3. The EDI purchase order data is run through validation software that ensures it is structurally sound according to EDI the standards
4. The EDI data is transmitted to a VAN, or Value-Added-Network (see below) using some communication method (FTP, HTTP, HTTPS) that may be built into the validation software or may be another application
5. The VAN determines how to route the data and either hands it off to a different VAN used by the recipient or it is delivered to the VAN mailbox if the sender and receiver are using the same VAN service.  The data has now crossed the line and is the responsibility of the recipient and their VAN service.
6. The data remains in the recipients VAN mailbox until the recipient’s systems check for and processes the document.

What happens next depends on how you, the recipient have chosen to process your EDI.

6a. Web-Based Solution: If you are not exchanging large volumes of data, you may opt for a web-based EDI solution where you can log in to a web site and see a human-readable version of the EDI data. You log in to a web site to view your EDI data and manually process it as if you had received it via fax or email.  In other words, you need to re-key the data into your back-office system.

6b. Integrated Solution: To truly benefit from EDI, you need to integrate your EDI with your back-office systems which would allow the creation of orders directly into your accounting/ERP system.

If you are doing full integration, you can reverse the steps above starting with #4.  You would download the EDI data from the VAN, run it through your EDI validation software, convert the data from EDI to your back-office format and import it into your system.

Value-Added-Network (VAN): This is a service you can picture as an electronic post office that looks at the sender and recipient and routs EDI data to the proper ‘mailbox’.  You pay the VAN based on the volume of data you do, usually calculated by the kilo-character.  Note that some companies like Wal-Mart and Bed, Bath & Beyond do not use a VAN connection but a direct connection called AS2.  This prevents data transmission charges incurred by the VAN.

Advantages of EDI: faster supply chain due to increased speed of communication of key business documents ,  increased accuracy (especially if integrated), cost savings associated with reduced re-keying errors, fewer people needed to physically handle the documents.

Disadvantages of EDI: reputation for being complex and expensive to set up, VAN fees are variable and can be expensive, business processes may need to change (such as how accounting communicates with your EDI business partner).

Listen to Anthony Pralet, Project Manager from eBridge explain in simple terms how Electronic Data Integration works and the various stages within EDI Integration.

If you have any questions about EDI, please feel free to leave them in the comments section below.

If your EDI trading partner has asked you to transmit ASN documents, it is likely that the UCC/EAN-128 barcode label is also required. The label, usually attached to each carton or the entire pallet, allows the shipping receiver to quickly determine the contents of the carton/pallet in conjunction with the ASN paperwork.  This is done by scanning the SSCC-18 bar code at the bottom of the label.

While it seems reasonable to the trading partner that these labels are used since they speed up shipment verification at the receiving dock, they can be a pain for the supplier to generate, particularly since they contain bar codes that need to match the corresponding ASN document.

The labels are typically 4″x6″ in portrait mode and usually need to be printed on thermal paper.  Let’s look at specifications for two different trading partners, Lowe’s and The Sports Authority.

As you can see, both labels contain the same basic information, the exact layout will vary by trading partner. Additionally, some trading partners are more strict than others about tolerances regarding font size, spacing, paper type, barcode density and so on.

The SSCC-18 (serial shipping container code) bar code is an 18-digit number that is usually found at the bottom of the label. The first 2 digits is the application identifier that identifies the barcode as a SSCC-18, the next digit indicates the container type (0=carton, 1=pallet), the next 7 digits is padded with leading-zeros and identifies the shipper (your company) and never changes, the next 9 digits are always unique per label (at least within a 12-month period) and identify the specific carton/pallet and the last number is a check-digit that is calculated automatically by the barcode software.

In order to ensure that there are no mistakes in creating the barcode and corresponding ASN, it is usually best that one system handles both functions.

The eBridge ASN module allows you to easily create and pack your shipment electronically which also generates the label or alternatively, a file that can be used with your existing label software if you already have the label templates created. The eBridge module will take care of this easily and accurately every time. Carton/pallet numbers are automatically incremented so there is no risk of duplication and all of the other data on the label can be pulled from your accounting system, stored in the eBridge database during the order posting process or entered directly into the ASN module itself.

Trading partners that always require the ASN and corresponding labels include:

• Bed, Bath & Beyond
• Lowes
• Walmart
• Target
• JC Penney

eBridge has almost 20 years’ experience integrating EDI, so let us help take the pain out of your ASN and barcoding requirements. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section.

Salesforce pioneered the Software-as-a-Service industry and is the leading CRM solution, which is why I am excited to announce exciting news regarding the eBridge integration connector for Salesforce.

We have enhanced the integration connection to allow greater flexibility, including:

• Access to any objects related to an “Opportunity”, including those that are one or more steps removed. For example, for Opportunity –> Account –> Case, the Case object is not linked directly to the Opportunity but we will be able to ‘tow’ it along when we pull the Opportunity.
• Access custom objects related to the Opportunity.  Salesforce is almost always customized to accommodate specific business processes or workflows and that means adding objects that are not native to the default Salesforce environment.  Now eBridge can access custom objects so we can accommodate your specific business usage of Salesforce!
• Access an unlimited number of user-created fields (maximum was previously 20) on the Opportunity and any of the objects that come down with the Opportunity.  This means we can support an unlimited number of custom fields on the Contacts object, for example, since Contacts is linked to the Opportunity.  Of course all of this true for custom objects as well.

Here is a diagram highlighting the Opportunity object in green and all the related standard objects we can access, in orange.  Don’t forget, if you create a custom object that is linked to any of these, we can access that as well!  Click the image to enlarge.

We are always looking for your feedback on how you would like to integrate Salesforce with your back-office systems so please leave your comments below or on The Core, the eBridge community forum.