Page 54 - DCAP306_DCAP511_E-COMMERCE_AND_E-BUSINESS

Unit 4: Electronic Data Interchange to E-Commerce

4.3.2 EDIFACT Message

EDIFACT has an underlying syntax, an ISO 9735 standard, in which the syntax units are described in
detail. The syntax consists of the directories of data elements, composite data elements, segments, and
messages. There are conventions for placing messages in an "envelope" which detects the sender and
receiver and other attributes of a transmission. There is a structure of the control segments like UNH,
UNT, and so on, which is considered standard across all messages.

Prodigy’s EDI System

Caselet
In the year 1957, Prodigy Industries began to manufacture custom-fabricating kitchen cabinets. At
present, it has become the nation’s largest manufacturer of cabinets. Today, Prodigy has over 5000
employees and 20 industrial plants manufacturing three distinctive lines of high-quality kitchen and
bathroom cabinetry.
Purchase orders received at Prodigy are of different formats, some of the orders are placed
electronically and some as a spreadsheet attachment. It is critical to maintain every detail of the
spreadsheet order’s physical integrity as it passes through Prodigy’s manufacturing plant. The
original electronic order even reflects the order in which shipments are loaded into Prodigy’s
delivery fleet. Complex orders are still being manually entered into Prodigy’s Purchase Order
system. Hence, it is very time consuming and requires more human effort.
DMX is one of the leading providers of EDI based solutions. DMX got an opportunity to develop
business with prodigy. DMX explained to Prodigy the various benefits of using an EDI system such
as, reduced time delay, reduced labor cost, reduced uncertainty, and so on. Prodigy liked the idea
and asked DMX to help them in installing an EDI system. DMX prepared electronic document and
translated it into a standard format. Communicated this information to the vendors of prodigy and
came with their approval, DMX set up a system to translate the standard format into a format
vendors wanted. Prodigy found the new system to be convenient and error free.

4.4 Summary

• EDI is an important subset of e-commerce. It is a system which allows structured transmission of
data between businesses, government’s structures and other entities by electronic means.

• For statistical purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau defines e-commerce as the value of goods and
services sold online whether over open networks like Internet, or over proprietary networks
running systems like EDI.

• An EDI message can be easily translated into various formats which are suitable for application
software right from controlling the production in a factory to giving future orders to the retailers.
• The VAN works as a clearing house for electronic transactions. It serves as a private electronic
mail service.
• The EDI standard provides details about a particular document like which piece of information is
mandatory for that document and which piece is optional. It also provides the rules for the
structure of the document.
• With the help of the EDI translation management software EDI data can be translated into a file
format which can be an interface with a company’s in-house systems.
• The EDI transmission utilizes various software and systems to allow transmission. The content of
an EDI transmission can be one electronic document, or it can be more than one electronic
document.
• United Nations/Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport
(Un/EDIFACT) is the International EDI standard.

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