VAN Stand For in EDI
A Value Added Network is the network protocol that allows businesses to communicate through EDI (Electronic Data Interchange). Using an EDI VAN service eliminates the need for direct connections between trading partners as it transfers the documents and information via a third party. This third party, also known as an edi van provider, handles the transferring of documents and provides many additional services for a business to communicate with their trading partners. These services include translation from a non-EDI format to an EDI format, transmission over a secure encrypted connection and managing multiple EDI protocols at once.
Although a company could set up direct point-to-point connections with each of their trading partners, this is impractical and costly if the number of trading partners is high. In addition, there are multiple different file transfer protocols that need to be used for each of these connections and a VAN is necessary to make all the connections talk to one another.
An EDI VAN service provider offers a range of EDI services to its customers including implementation, deployment, maintenance and updates, error resolution and so on. This allows companies to focus on their core business and reduces the time spent on EDI management. Choosing the right VAN service provider is important as each has a different feature set and price structure. Determining which EDI features are required will help narrow down the options.
Using an EDI VAN can reduce communication costs between trading partners and improve B2B processes. In addition, it can increase visibility into supply chain operations and ensure compliance with all regulatory agencies.
What Does VAN Stand For in EDI?
In the past, many organizations were locked into a vendor VAN agreement, often for over 40 years. With technology advancements in EDI and the availability of cost effective, reliable and robust EDI solutions, many companies are starting to move away from the need for a VAN and its associated fees.
As a result, many VANs are struggling to survive and are charging their customers high fees for use of their service. These fees can include a combination of monthly enrollment and connection charges as well as per kilo-characters throughput pricing. Some VANs are also imposing a limited number of trading partner connections and/or limiting the volume of data a customer can exchange with each trader.
EDI VANs are also being replaced by more modern, cloud-based EDI platforms such as TrueCommerce. These new EDI solutions offer better control, improved solution selection and implementation, end-to-end connectivity and lower operating costs. They are also highly scalable and work across all industries making them the perfect choice for any size of business. To learn more about how a cloud-based EDI platform can improve your business, contact us today for a free demo. We’ll show you how TrueCommerce can simplify your EDI process and help reduce your operating costs. We’ll also give you a list of top EDI service providers that can support your business’s unique needs and objectives.