329: Future-Proof Your EDI Infrastructure, with Orderful

Today I’m joined by Orderful, a collaborative and forward-thinking software brand that are building the future of EDI. With a pre-connected network, they’re aiming to move the needle from months to trade down to minutes. Orderful is a complete cloud EDI platform for manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and technology companies. With an API that enables companies to connect once and trade EDI data with their supply chain, Orderful customers are able to consolidate their EDI software integration complexity and quickly enable trading partners as self-service to reduce costs. Today Erik Kiser, CEO and founder of Orderful, joins me to chat all about the company; the challenges involved with traditional EDI solutions; bringing supply chains together; achieving visibility and addressing risk; and the future of EDI.   IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:   [05.59] A reminder of who Orderful are, and how they help their customers. “We’re a modern EDI platform focused on making EDI onboarding fast, affordable, and easy.” [07.14] An overview of EDI, its place in the industry alongside API, and why it’s ‘the plumbing of today’s supply chain.’ “It’s become the standard of trade… so we turned this whole legacy experience into a modern software experience for modern developers and modern teams.” [10.08] The importance of good data in onboarding, and how Orderful helps to solve some of supply chain’s typical data challenges. “We’ve been able to make it very simple for a company to start trading with a new partner, because we go right into validation and data. Most providers will only validate the structure of a file, but Orderful… can not only check the structure, but we also validate the data that’s in that transaction, so they can solve problems in real time.” [14.31] What visibility means to Orderful, why it’s so important, and how visibility services like notifications can help companies solve challenges in real time. [18.27] How Orderful empowers customers to confidently manage risk, and creates a smoother experience for teams across businesses. [20.51] The ideal client for Orderful. “We’re winning with 3PLs, 4PLs and SaaS platforms!” [22.15] A case study showing how Orderful helped a major client to reduce its onboarding time and proccesses for new carriers from 90 steps and 12 weeks down to 30 steps in nine days, and how Orderful sits apart from its competition [26.17] The future for Orderful.   RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:   Head over to Orderful’s website now to find out more and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Orderful and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, or you can connect with Erik on LinkedIn. If enjoyed this episode and want to hear more from Orderful, check out episode 281, where Erik talks all about why it’s so important to help the small guys get to market; why existing EDI software infrastructures can’t keep up; and Orderful’s mission to create a world where data trading is not a barrier. Or, you can read their blog A New Cloud EDI Platform: 5 Ways to Simplify EDI, or even watch Erik on a special live episode of Thoughts and Coffee, where Erik and Sarah dive into more issues around EDI and trending industry news. This episode was filmed at Manifest 2023. If you enjoyed it, and want to explore some of the other great content filmed at the event, why not check out episodes: 327: Turn Your Shipping Process Into a Competitive Advantage, with Enveyo 325: Build Thriving Supply Chain Communities, with Envase Technologies 322: Innovative Asset Tracking Made Easy, with Blackberry Radar Check out our other podcasts HERE.