Streamlining Success: A Case Study in Effective EDI Project Management
Overview
Challenge: A publicly traded, ~$6B network equipment company needed a more efficient way for their accounts payable and order management teams to receive and acknowledge purchase orders and create the corresponding invoices in their NetSuite ERP system.
Solution: Our G1 consultants leveraged extensive EDI expertise to spearhead the integration, translating the complex project into manageable tasks with clear roles and responsibilities, ensuring clarity and alignment among all project participants. Because time is always of the essence, being able to quickly implement a project management plan and related processes to organize chaos and effectively hold project team members accountable for their roles is critical to ensuring the overall success of the project while meeting the agreed upon timeline.
Results: With G1’s project leadership, the client was able to successfully implement an EDI solution that reduced errors, increased productivity, and helped strengthen their supplier and customer relationships while freeing the AP team to focus for higher-value tasks.
Introduction
Automation solutions are creating unprecedented levels of ease and efficiency across a variety of business operations—but that simplicity is not easily achieved.. Implementing automation solutions requires detailed configuration, close collaboration across multiple global teams, and comprehensive training to prepare staff to adopt new ways of working.
Our experienced project managers understand how to coordinate these efforts and make sure our clients chart a clear path to success, on time and on budget. So when a publicly traded, ~$6B network equipment company needed to implement an electronic data interchange (EDI) solution to automate a key accounts payable (AP) process, we put our expertise to work so they could reduce errors, increase speed, and improve customer and supplier relationships.
Challenge
In 2023 alone, our client processed roughly 1,000 invoices from a single vendor—all by hand. Associates would receive the invoices in PDF format from the vendor, then create item receipts and invoices in NetSuite. This manual process hindered invoice accuracy and slowed the overall fulfillment process, which hurt supplier and customer relationships, respectively.
Given the company’s rapid growth, they needed to create a more efficient system for dealing with these invoices that would also free up the AP team to focus on higher-value tasks. Enter electronic data interchange (EDI), which automates document exchange between organizations. In order to increase speed and accuracy for the AP team, our objectives were threefold:
Enable EDI integration using the AS2 protocol for 850 (purchase orders), 855 (purchase order acknowledgements), and 810 (invoices)
Reduce the number of invoices processed manually by AP teams
Support on-time vendor invoice payments by creating one invoice for every delivery number
One of the biggest challenges that comes with any EDI initiative is properly defining all the requirements while also engaging external vendors and stakeholders to create a joint project plan. Managing this EDI integration would require careful coordination across global teams working on behalf of both the client and the vendor.
At G1, we pride ourselves on being able to work with any team, anywhere in the world. That way, our clients have the flexibility to carry out strategic initiatives onsite or remotely, with equal levels of expert guidance.
The biggest challenge is managing stakeholders across multiple, highly matrixed enterprises to drive the project forward efficiently. G1 brings a wealth of experience leading global B2B integration efforts. We knew how to provide our client with the effective leadership they needed and the model that works best for their budget.”
Zach Benedict, G1 Partner
Solution
The client chose G1 to lead the project given our experience implementing EDI for clients across a range of industries. Plus, our proven track record in successfully completing several other ERP and integration-related projects for our client had established the trust to take on another critical initiative. As a result, they were confident we could handle the complexity of the task at hand and work within their established processes and methodologies.
The project kickoff meeting helps align each project team member on the goals we are planning to achieve. A thorough review of the project plan, including a breakdown of the tasks and due dates, allows for team members to surface any challenges or obstacles that may hinder the project timeline. It’s critical during this phase is to not overwhelm the project team with the amount of effort needed to successfully implement the EDI solution. Finally, our project management success depends on the premium level of communications we provide throughout the duration of the project, especially during System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing, reminding the team daily of the objectives that need to be accomplished. We bring consistency and repeatable daily project processes which helps lead to a gradual progression of completing all deliverables outlined in the project plan.
A technical solution, no matter how well configured, is only as effective as its adoption within the organization, making change management an equally vital component of our approach. To that end, we conducted one-on-one training sessions with our client and vendor teams so they could transition more easily to the automated system. To support this portion of the project, we created training documents that outlined processes and key areas of focus like purchase order line numbers based on receiving documents.
Through these efforts, we coordinated with global teams in multiple time zones, making sure everyone had the information they needed and access to the right team member subject matter experts to avoid unnecessary delays.
We conducted full end-to-end testing through custom G1 testing plans created specifically with each business team in mind. We ensure cross functional teams are aligned through the entire testing process via daily testing working sessions and provide recap emails with detailed action items to enable progress toward timely completion. Various reports are sent throughout the entire testing process to managers and executives for clear alignment and understanding of our progress. We finished by implementing the system and offered continuous support while we established monitoring tools such as system-triggered alerts monitored by the IT support team and reports for business users to monitor the transactions to proactively resolve any discrepancies moving forward.
Results
Using the EDI solution, our client could now process orders more efficiently and accurately. Invoices could now be successfully processed through this new automation 98% of the time without any manual intervention of the AP team. Customized reporting ensures both validation and month-end accruals for the teams, while automatic error notification alerts them to any validation failures that occur throughout the process. The team also receives a consolidated, daily email that helps them monitor all successfully created, pending approval vendor bills. With the support of these features, the team can now turn the bulk of their attention to higher-value matters.
Overall, the implementation helped speed order processing and acknowledgement, reducing manual effort and improving communication along the supply chain. The new system also eliminated virtually all errors associated with the previous manual method, which lowers the risk of vendor disputes.
Most importantly, by streamlining a key supply chain process, the client is now positioned for long-term growth as they build stronger relationships with suppliers and customers.
As your collaborative partner, we help deliver transformative results by aligning objectives, fostering communication, and driving consensus. With a proven track record across diverse industries, our client-centric approach ensures that every project exceeds expectations.