Integrating EDI into your SAP S/4HANA solution

Wes Thayer — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:00:10 +0000

AT A GLANCE

Uncover benefits of SAP S/4HANA EDI integration.
Learn how automation reduces errors and speeds up processing.
Examine improved partner communication and compliance.
Master SPS as an enterprise-ready EDI integration provider.

When you’re an enterprise company, you need a strategy to manage the complexity of your business. Your team needs to be as effective as possible to keep up with all incoming demands, but you don’t want to exhaust current resources or focus on the wrong items.

As you build your cloud-first strategy or prepare for your SAP S/4HANA cloud migration, it’s important to consider when you want to build and manage solutions yourself and when you want to partner with a team of experts.

Don’t be afraid to let the experts take over

Think about your existing tax strategy. While you could have someone on your team become an expert in tax code for every state and build out those customizations within your ERP system, you probably don’t do that, right? It would take a massive amount of time, effort and money, so it makes sense to outsource those duties to tax professionals who can handle the process for you.

The same can be said for EDI. There are thousands of retailers with unique specifications and requirements, and these can change or be updated at any time. Instead of dedicating resources to manage EDI updates and intricacies, it makes sense to follow your tax compliance strategy and bring in a partner who specializes in managing and optimizing your document exchange processes.

Integrating EDI with your SAP S/4HANA migration

Once you choose a solution that integrates seamlessly with your recent SAP S4/HANA migration, you’ll see how easy the whole process can be. With SPS Commerce’s full-service, cloud-based Fulfillment (EDI) solution, your team will have SAP EDI experts on hand to guide you through setup, maintenance and optimization.

Integration is truly seamless; native interfaces within SAP provide your team with real-time data exchange that gives you visibility and insight into all sales channels in one place. When you choose SPS to handle your EDI, you’ll have full visibility into order transaction status for monitoring and reporting.

When we say full-service, we mean it.

Our team manages time-consuming EDI tasks on your behalf, including EDI updates, EDI testing, trading partner communication and more. You don’t have to worry about translating EDI or other technologies that you need to connect with your wholesale and manufacturing trading partners. It’s one connection, then we take care of the rest.

Retail order fulfillment requirements changed? SPS takes ownership of all trading partner requirements and changes. Each year, the SPS team manages 9,000 changes from retailers, which means you don’t have to think twice about updates.

Plus, we provide active monitoring of documents that you exchange with your trading partners. This means we’ll catch errors before they occur, which helps us continuously optimize your solution.

When you partner with SPS for your EDI needs, we communicate with your trading partners for you. Eliminate the back-and-forth communication required to manage connectivity, requirements, support and more. All you need to do is sit back and let us take care of the details.

Let us help you boost efficiency

No matter where you’re at with your SAP S/4HANA data migration, SPS can help you get started with full-service EDI so your business can reap the benefits quickly. Our integration for SAP automates existing processes using your unique business rules, leaving you more time to focus on managing more strategic IT priorities.

Reach out today to meet with an SAP S/4HANA specialist from SPS Commerce and hear how we can help you optimize your EDI.

Key considerations for an SAP cloud migration

Wes Thayer — Thu, 18 Apr 2024 13:00:18 +0000

You’ve just selected SAP S/4HANA as your new ERP system–now what?

SAP cloud migration is always a daunting task, especially when you’re dealing with a collection of EDI integrations to manage with various trading partners.

What if we told you that there’s an easier way to scale your SAP cloud migration and take advantage of new levels of business growth?

The good and the bad

There are plenty of EDI solutions out there for SAP users, which is both good and bad news. The good news first: your business needs a way to accurately transmit data electronically, and a cloud-based EDI solution will give you the opportunity to streamline and simplify your trading partner connections. The bad news? Some of these solutions fall short of what you need, leading to endless professional service fees or unnecessary IT burdens. However, with the right EDI solution, you can avoid these problems completely (and solve some others while you’re at it).

The risks of managed EDI

Let’s talk about some of the issues that can arise with other SAP EDI solutions:

Dedicated IT maintenance: Some SAP EDI solutions can’t be maintained by just anyone. When meeting a new EDI requirement or adding a new trading partner means changing your EDI configuration or implementing custom codes, you’ll need an internal EDI expert, which requires extra fees.

Poor performance chargebacks: Suppliers are constantly working under the pressures of shipping timeliness and accuracy. When shipping requirements change without your knowledge and you don’t meet deadlines, retailers and distributors tend to charge you, which can have a serious impact on your margins. Scorecards matter!

Risking buyer relationships: If your pricing, inventory or item data is inaccurate, your buyers will be affected and less likely to do business with you in the future. Relying on manual data entry? Expect to continue seeing hiked up error rates.

These issues sound like a hassle to deal with, right? Luckily, with the right, full-service EDI solution, you don’t have to worry about any of them.

A full-service solution for SAP cloud migration

Full-service EDI is exactly that: completely managed EDI by a trusted partner. Here’s a glimpse into what a full-service solution looks like: Leave mapping struggles behind: SPS provides a single connection that ensures ongoing EDI compliance with all trading partners. It’s super easy to meet new and evolving requirements without a heavy lift from your team.

Manage the nuances of each trading partner: A full-service provider will take care of all the small details that each trading partner requires, including data formats or connectivity. This allows you to focus on what matters most for your business’ future.
Boost efficiency and scalability: With a full-service EDI provider that integrates directly into your SAP ERP, you can automate processes using business rules unique to your organization. Send and receive information the right way, the first time.
Minimize risks and costly errors: With SPS, you’ll catch errors before they reach your ERP system. Wave goodbye to the tedium of searching through your system to find the mistake and correct it; it’s already been taken care of.
Eliminate manual data entry: SPS automatically transfers data in and out of your SAP S/4HANA system, saving you valuable time in the day-to-day.
Increase visibility across your business: Gain valuable insight into every EDI transaction. Track trends and get accurate information at any moment.
Leverage predictable pricing: SPS has created a predictable pricing model, so you won’t be surprised by an invoice or suddenly go over budget. Plus, our dedicated team of support members means you won’t have to worry about scrambling to find more resources if an unexpected error occurs.

Let’s put it this way: you likely outsource your tax services right? It’s just easier to allow experts to handle the complexities. So, why not let us handle your fully-integrated EDI solution for you?

Choose SPS Fulfillment EDI for your SAP S/4HANA ERP

Whether you’re just starting a migration or getting close to the end, it’s time to consider your EDI options so you can maximize the benefits of your SAP system. Our full-service, pre-built solution for SAP users can help you reach seamless automation, effortlessly. SPS Fulfillment EDI is the premium choice for SAP ERP integration, guiding business growth and boosting efficiency.

Get in touch with us if you’re ready to speak to a dedicated SAP specialist about your business.

Wes Thayer, Author at SPS Commerce