EDI is the abbreviation of Electronic Data Interchange, which is a way of using computers for business processing. Before the popularization of Internet-based e-commerce, it was a major e-commerce model.
EDI uses an internationally recognized standard format to form a structured transaction processing message data format using information from trade, transportation, insurance, banking, customs and other industries through computer communication networks. Enable data exchange and processing between relevant departments, companies and enterprises, and complete all business processes centered on trade. EDI includes data exchange between buyers and sellers, internal data exchange within the enterprise, etc.
[Edit] Characteristics of EDI
(1) EDI is used between different organizations. The messages transmitted by EDI between enterprises are part of the information exchange between enterprises.
(2) The information transmitted by EDI is general business information, such as invoices, orders, etc., rather than general notifications;
(3) The information transmitted by EDI Messages are formatted and comply with international standards, which is the basic prerequisite for computers to automatically process messages;
(4) The data communication network used by EDI is generally a value-added network or a private network;
(5) Data transmission is directly transmitted and exchanged by the computer systems of the sending and receiving parties, without manual intervention;
(6) The difference between EDI and fax or email is: Faxes and emails require manual reading and judgment processing before they can enter the computer system. Manually entering data into the computer system repeatedly is a waste of human resources and prone to errors, but EDI does not require manual repeated input of relevant data into the system.
[edit] Elements that constitute an EDI system
The three elements that constitute an EDI system are: EDI software and hardware, communication network, and data standardization.
To implement EDI, a department or enterprise must first have a computer data processing system; secondly, in order to easily convert the internal data of the enterprise into the EDI standard format, the EDI standard must be adopted; in addition, the communication environment The quality of EDI is also one of the important factors related to the success or failure of EDI.
The EDI standard is the most critical part of the entire EDI. Since EDI implements data transmission and information exchange in the form of an agreed message format, it is crucial to formulate a unified EDI standard at one time. EDI standards are mainly divided into the following aspects: basic standards, code standards, message standards, standard standards, management standards, application standards, communication standards, security and confidentiality standards, etc.
[edit]EDI standard system
EDI is by far the most mature and widely used e-commerce application system. Its fundamental feature lies in the internationalization of standards, and standardization is a key link in realizing EDI. The early EDI standards were only agreed by the trading parties themselves. As the scope of use expanded, industry standards and national standards emerged, and finally a unified international standard was formed. The emergence of international standards has greatly promoted the development of EDI. With the introduction of various international standards for EDI and the maturity of the open EDI conceptual model, the application fields of EDI are not limited to the field of international trade, but also have been widely used in various fields such as administrative management, medical care, construction, and environmental protection. . It can be seen that the various standards of EDI are important technical supports that enable the widespread application of EDI technology. The standardization work of EDI is an indispensable basic work in the development process of EDI.
The EDI standard system is a scientific and organic whole composed of internally related standards within the scope of EDI application fields. It consists of several subsystems, and there are mutual constraints and mutual restrictions between the subsystems. functions, interdependence and mutual complementarity. Based on the international standard system and the actual application of EDI in my country and the development situation in the future period, our country has formulated an EDI standard system, with the "General Specification for EDI System Standardization" as the overall technical document.
As a key scientific and technological project of my country's "Eighth Five-Year Plan", this specification is the technical guide for my country's EDI standardization work during this period, playing a leading and dominant role.
According to this specification, the EDI standard system is divided into seven parts: foundation, document, message, code, communication, security, and management application. The general situation is as follows:
[edit]EDI The basic standard system
Mainly consists of two parts: the UN/EDIFACT basic standard and the open EDI basic standard. It is the core standard system of EDI. Among them, EDIFACT has 7 basic standards, including EDI terminology, EDIFACT application-level grammar rules, grammar rule implementation guidelines, message design guidelines and rules, trade data element catalog, composite data element catalog, segment catalog, and code table, which are adopted equally in my country These 7 standards have been adopted; the open EDI basic standards are the most important and basic conditions for realizing open EDI, including business, legal, communication, security standards and general standards for information technology. ISO/IEC JTC1 SC30 launched the "Open EDI The "Open EDI Concept Model" and the "Open EDI Reference Model" provide an overall framework for coordinating and formulating existing and future open EDI standards and become a guide for future open EDI standardization work. The subsequent launch of a large number of functional service standards and business operation standards will become international standards guiding EDI applications in various fields.
[Edit] EDI document standard system
EDI message standards originate from related businesses, and the business process is reflected in documents. The main goal of document standardization is to unify the data elements and paper formats in documents, and the content is quite extensive. Its standard system includes document standards for management, trade, transportation, customs, banking, insurance, taxation, postal services, etc.
[edit]EDI message standard system
EDI message standard is the structured reflection of each specific application data. All data is transmitted or received in the form of messages. Come in. EDI message standards are mainly reflected in the United Nations Standard Message (UNSM). When it was formally formed in 1987, there were only a dozen messages. As of February 1999, the UN/EDIFACT D.99A version has been Includes 247 messages, including 178 United Nations standard messages (UNSM), 50 draft messages (Message in Development, MiD for short) and 19 invalid messages, involving customs, banking, insurance, transportation, law, Taxation, statistics, tourism, retail, medical care, manufacturing and many other fields.
[Edit] EDI code standard system
In the data transmitted by EDI, except for the company name, address, person name and some free text content, almost most of the data is in the form of code To make it easier for exchange parties to understand the content of the received information, the transmitted data is fixed in code form. Code standards are an indispensable part of the EDI implementation process. The EDI code standard system includes code standards for management, trade, transportation, customs, banking, insurance, inspection, etc.
[edit]EDI communication standard system
Computer network communication is a necessary condition for the realization of EDI, and EDI communication standard is the basis for the smooth transmission of data sent or received by EDI. ensure. The EDI communication standard system includes ITU's X.25, . Although this set of standards is called MOTIS by ISO and MHS by ITU, its technical content is compatible, and they have a closer relationship with EDI.
[Edit] EDI Security Standard System
Since the data transmitted via EDI will involve business secrets, amounts, order quantities, etc., in order to prevent data tampering and loss, it must be passed through a A series of safety and confidentiality standards are guaranteed. The EDI security standard system includes EDI security specifications, electronic signature specifications, message authentication specifications, key management specifications, X. 435 Security Services,X. 509 identification framework system, etc. In order to formulate EDIFACT security standards, the United Nations established the UN/EDIFACT Security Joint Working Group in 1991 to formulate relevant standards.
[edit]EDI management standard system
The EDI management standard system mainly involves review guidelines and rules for EDI standard maintenance, including standard technical review guidelines, standard messages and catalog files Preparation rules, directory maintenance rules, message maintenance rules, technical review form format, directory and code preparation principles, EDIFACT standard version number and release number preparation principles, etc.
[edit]EDI application standard system
EDI application standard system mainly refers to the character set standards and other related standards used in the application process, including: Seven-digit encoding for information exchange Character set and its expansion method; Chinese character encoding character set for information exchange; universal multi-octet encoding character set; Chinese character encoding character set for information exchange auxiliary set 2, set 4, etc.
The framework structure of the EDI standard system is not static. It will be continuously updated and enriched with the development of EDI technology and the continuous improvement of EDI international standards.