Want to be the next Virgin? Visit www.QLogitek.com.

I like compliments just as much as the next guy in the line! But when complements come from clients who have superior standards, they are sweeter. Any way, I just wanted to touch upon what Virgin Mobile Canada had to say about QLogitek’s outsourced EDI solution which integrates all their trading partners to their ERP system.

Edin Mesic, Director, Supply Chain at Virgin Mobile Canada. said:

QLogitek has been Virgin Mobile Canada’s partner in EDI integration almost from day one. The expertise that QLogitek brought to table and their knowledge in all aspects of EDI automation has been extremely helpful. In this ever-changing and fast paced wireless industry, quick turnaround of customer related data (such as sales orders, invoices etc) is absolutely crucial and this project has helped us keep our customer service levels up to very high “Virgin” standards. We are extremely pleased with results and looking forward to other possible future projects with QLogitek.

As a marketer I am an admirer of Sir Richard Branson and his Virgin brand, so I am elated to hear that QLogitek can deliver beyond “Virgin” standards! Here is a shout out to other high standard Canadian retailers, ask your self, how can QLogitek help me outsource EDI and be the next Virgin?

To the curious one I suggest you check out this case study on a very successful EDI outsourcing here and the full press release on Virgin’s and QLogitek’s EDI Outsourcing partnership.

History of EDI: SaaS EDI Solution (Part 1)

In the coming few posts I am going to extensively discuss SaaS EDI System or Hosted EDI System or SaaS EDI Software…essentially EDI system that is available using a subscription model.

I have been meaning to blog about few key SaaS supply chain software solutions QLogitek offers, but I haven’t done it due to numerous reasons. Without brooding on that let me dive in.

I think it is appropriate to start by presenting the history of EDI.

Brief Chronological History of EDI

• 1968 – Transportation Data Coordinating Committee(TDCC), a railway consortium began discussing standards for inter-company data exchange
• 1970s – Many proprietary data standards were being used by large prominent corporations such as GM, Kmart (yes Kmart !),Sears etc
• 1973- TDCC developed a standard for reconciling between the various proprietary and industry standards.
• 1975- Consortium of companies in various industries began to assemble standards for their industry, for example the Insurance industry started IBM IV ANS, and Pharma started ORDERNET.
• 1981- ANSI X12 and WINS format evolved from the TDCC effort.
• 1996- EDI standard was defined by National Institute of Standards and Technology.

First, the definition of EDI, “EDI is the computer-to-computer interchange of strictly formatted messages that represent documents other than monetary instruments.”

While talking about EDI it is important to understand that the message, the EDI document, is independent of the mode of transmission. In other words EDI documents can be transmitted over any agreed protocol and network. Today companies are abandoning traditional and expensive Value Added Networks (VANs) and turning to Internet technologies for transmitting EDI documents. This is where a company like QLogitek comes. In the next post I will look at our SaaS EDI Solution known as Hosted EDI System.

Sources: (Bibliography based Scott Berkun’s idea; thanks Jackie)

1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Interchange
2. Chwelos et al (2001),Research Report: Empirical Test of an EDI Adoption Model,Information Systems Research 12(3).
3. Sriram et al (1994), Electronic data interchange: Does its adoption change purchasing policies and procedures?,International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management 3(1). (link subscription required)

History of EDI: SaaS EDI Solution (Part 1)

In the coming few posts I am going to extensively discuss SaaS EDI System or Hosted EDI System or SaaS EDI Software…essentially EDI system that is available using a subscription model.

I have been meaning to blog about few key SaaS supply chain software solutions QLogitek offers, but I haven’t done it due to numerous reasons. Without brooding on that let me dive in.

I think it is appropriate to start by presenting the history of EDI.

Brief Chronological History of EDI

• 1968 – Transportation Data Coordinating Committee(TDCC), a railway consortium began discussing standards for inter-company data exchange
• 1970s – Many proprietary data standards were being used by large prominent corporations such as GM, Kmart (yes Kmart !),Sears etc
• 1973- TDCC developed a standard for reconciling between the various proprietary and industry standards.
• 1975- Consortium of companies in various industries began to assemble standards for their industry, for example the Insurance industry started IBM IV ANS, and Pharma started ORDERNET.
• 1981- ANSI X12 and WINS format evolved from the TDCC effort.
• 1996- EDI standard was defined by National Institute of Standards and Technology.

First, the definition of EDI, “EDI is the computer-to-computer interchange of strictly formatted messages that represent documents other than monetary instruments.”

While talking about EDI it is important to understand that the message, the EDI document, is independent of the mode of transmission. In other words EDI documents can be transmitted over any agreed protocol and network. Today companies are abandoning traditional and expensive Value Added Networks (VANs) and turning to Internet technologies for transmitting EDI documents. This is where a company like QLogitek comes. In the next post I will look at our SaaS EDI Solution known as Hosted EDI System.

Sources: (Bibliography based Scott Berkun’s idea; thanks Jackie)

1. Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_Data_Interchange
2. Chwelos et al (2001),Research Report: Empirical Test of an EDI Adoption Model,Information Systems Research 12(3).
3. Sriram et al (1994), Electronic data interchange: Does its adoption change purchasing policies and procedures?,International Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management 3(1). (link subscription required)