The term EDI encompasses the entire electronic data interchange process, including the transmission, message flow, document format, and software used to interpret the documents. Standards ĮDI provides a technical basis for automated commercial "conversations" between two entities, either internal or external. The increase of maritime traffic and problems at customs similar to those experienced at Heathrow Airport led to the implementation of DTI systems in individual ports or groups of ports in the 1980s. Implementing the direct trader input (DTI) method, it allowed forwarding agents to enter information directly into the customs processing system, reducing the time for clearance. One such real-time system was the London Airport Cargo EDP Scheme (LACES) at Heathrow Airport, London, UK, in 1971. Among the first integrated systems using EDI were Freight Control Systems. These initial concepts later shaped the first TDCC (Transportation Data Coordinating Committee) standards in the US. The complexity of the 1948 Berlin airlift required the development of concepts and methods to exchange, sometimes over a 300 baud teletype modem, vast quantities of data and information about transported goods. Like many other early information technologies, EDI was inspired by developments in military logistics.
5.3 Costs, trade-offs and implementation.For example, the transmission of binary or textual data is not EDI as defined here unless the data are treated as one or more data elements of an EDI message and are not normally intended for human interpretation as part of online data processing." In short, EDI can be defined as the transfer of structured data, by agreed message standards, from one computer system to another without human intervention. Human intervention in the processing of a received message is typically intended only for error conditions, for quality review, and for special situations. The formatted data representing the documents may be transmitted from originator to recipient via telecommunications or physically transported on electronic storage media." It distinguished mere electronic communication or data exchange, specifying that "in EDI, the usual processing of received messages is by computer only. EDI implies a sequence of messages between two parties, either of whom may serve as originator or recipient. In 1996, the National Institute of Standards and Technology defined electronic data interchange as "the computer-to-computer interchange of a standardised format for data exchange. It also refers specifically to a family of standards. Technical standards for EDI exist to facilitate parties transacting such instruments without having to make special arrangements.ĮDI has existed at least since the early 70s, and there are many EDI standards (including X12, EDIFACT, ODETTE, etc.), some of which address the needs of specific industries or regions. Electronic data interchange ( EDI) is the concept of businesses electronically communicating information that was traditionally communicated on paper, such as purchase orders and invoices.