Is EDI a pain point for your 3PL company? Turn it into your competitive edge instead

Discover how efficient EDI management saves 3PL companies time and resources, and strengthens customer relationships by avoiding costly bottlenecks and errors.

Gone are the days when the 3PL business was just about picking, packing, kitting, and shipping. Digitization and e-commerce have changed all that. For today’s 3PL, keeping customers happy and growing the business isn’t just a matter of fulfilling orders on time and avoiding chargebacks for customers. It also requires meeting increasingly complex and dynamic data and documentation needs, which makes EDI an essential business function.

For 3PL companies relying on internal systems or legacy partners for EDI, the drain on time and resources can be costly. Your customer relationships may also be at risk because if your EDI processes fail or create bottlenecks, your customers pay the price. 

To thrive and grow in the 3PL business, you have to meet customer expectations for EDI without upending (or bankrupting) your entire operation. And it can be done. 

In fact, you can turn EDI into a selling point for your 3PL business and reduce costs at the same time. But first, you need to think like a customer.

Step into a customer’s shoes: how does your EDI look?

Imagine sitting down with a major CPG supplier looking for a new 3PL partner in North America. You know you can meet all their logistics needs, but how would you stack up against your competitors when it comes to EDI? Would you be able to answer ‘yes’ to all their EDI requirements? For example:

• “Can you cover all my order sources, now and in the future?”
  Whether a potential customer works with global retailers or smaller distributors or both, they need to know you can migrate their existing mapping seamlessly and plug in to new partners quickly. That includes marketplaces and shopping carts with inventory management needs, too. If connecting to their trading partners or adding new partners is going to take months of integration work, they’re going to look elsewhere. But if you can quickly and confidently cover any new order source for your customers, you can contribute to their growth. That’s a big point in your favor.

• “Can you connect to my back-office, my way?”
  Just like retailers, each supplier has their own unique EDI specifications and requirements. Some will want you to connect with their back-office systems via API or Excel files. Others will need custom integrations with their proprietary systems. No two will be alike.
  If you can handle any customer integration scenario without batting an eye, you’ll win and keep more business.

• “If we change to a new ERP,  can you cope?”
  Integration with your customer systems may not be one-and-done. When they make strategic upgrades, you’ll need to adapt. In fact those system changes can be a pivotal moment for CPG suppliers — a time when they may reexamine their own EDI systems and potentially their 3PL partners. If you can handle big platform changes seamlessly, customers will stick with you.

• “Can you handle our big sales peaks?”
  Seasonal surges in orders are a fact of life in CPG.  Your staff and warehouses must  be able to handle fluctuating capacity, and the same goes for your EDI processes — for both outbound shipments and inbound receipts of stock. Periods of high volume will show any cracks in your EDI capabilities. On the other hand, if your EDI strategy is scalable and resilient, you provide value to customers when it matters most.

• “If there’s a glitch, are you on top of it?”
  When there’s a problem with your EDI systems or you run into data errors or connectivity issues that impact your customers, how quickly can you get problems resolved? If your team is pulled in too many directions or you can’t get your vendor to pick up the phone, you put customer shipments at risk.
  
  However, if you have experts at the ready 7×24, small problems don’t become big issues for your customers.

Clearly, every 3PL wants to be able to say yes to these tough questions, win new business, and build strong relationships. But you’re not an IT company, and your expertise is not in EDI. That’s why outsourcing makes so much sense for 3PLs who want to excel at EDI without being in the EDI business.

Just like retailers, each supplier has their own unique EDI specifications and requirements. Some will want you to connect with their back-office systems via API or Excel files. Others will need custom integrations with their proprietary systems.

Outsource to the right partner, and you can always say yes

Meeting the EDI expectations of customers and potential customers isn’t just about compliance. You need an expert team that can focus 100% on EDI,  handle any integration, connect with any retailer, scale instantly to any volume, and solve any problem quickly and accountably.  

By partnering with Crisp for EDI, your IT teams can focus on core business needs. Your 3PL environment will be more functional, and your users will have easy access to expert support. We process millions of transactions per month for our customers, and we always pick up the phone when you call. What’s more, we’ll reduce your EDI costs. With Crisp, there are no trading partner setup fees, no mapping fees, no transaction fees, no VAN fees and no long-term contracts. You pay a 100% predictable, flat monthly fee for all your EDI activity. (Your CFO will be 100%  on board with that.) 

By partnering with Crisp for EDI, your IT teams can focus on core business needs. Your 3PL environment will be more functional, and your users will have easy access to expert support.

Make your next pitch with Crisp by your side

EDI is important to your customers, and it’s important to us, too. When you outsource your EDI compliance to Crisp, we’re with you every step of the way. Our customers have highly skilled technical sales resources at their disposal to assist them in growing their businesses.

So next time you sit down with a potential customer, we can be right there by your side.Visit with a Crisp EDI specialist to learn more about how our EDI solutions can boost profitability at your 3PL business. Get more information and book a call here.