PRISM-WebEDI · Web EDI and supplier portal

Bring every trading partner into electronic trading, from a browser

Most organizations trade EDI with their largest partners and still handle the rest by email, phone, fax and paper. PRISM-WebEDI gives those partners a secure, customizable web portal for purchase orders, acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices, with business rules, labels and shipping documents, while ECOM handles the EDI formats and connections behind it.

Partner without EDI

Supplier or customer in a web browser

  • Pick and pack slips
  • UCC labels
  • Bills of lading

PRISM-WebEDI portal

  • 850Purchase order in
  • 855Acknowledgment out
  • 856ASN out
  • 810Invoice out
  • Customizable forms
  • Business rules
  • Document linking
  • Dashboards
  • Email alerts

Your organization

EDI through the PRISM platform, integrated with your back-end systems

Conceptual flow. Exact documents depend on each trading partner's requirements.

What is web EDI?

Web EDI is a browser-based way to exchange EDI documents. The provider runs the translation, communication and trading partner connections. Users see incoming documents, such as purchase orders, as readable forms and create outgoing documents, such as ship notices and invoices, by completing forms. The provider converts those forms into the EDI format the trading partner requires, so partners without EDI systems can still trade electronically.

Why it matters

Business benefits

01

Every partner can trade electronically

Partners without an EDI system can receive orders and send ship notices and invoices electronically, so manual email and paper processes do not have to remain for the smallest partners.

02

Fewer errors on both sides

Responses are created from the original order, related fields are filled in automatically and business rules are enforced before sending, which reduces keying errors and corrections.

03

Faster onboarding of non-technical partners

Partner registration and information gathering are automated, so new partners start trading sooner without integration projects.

Who it's for

Who uses PRISM-WebEDI

Buyers enabling suppliers

A buying organization that wants every supplier, including the smallest, to send acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices electronically rather than by email or paper.

Sellers with non-EDI customers

A seller that wants orders from customers without EDI to arrive electronically and reach its back-end systems, instead of being typed in from email.

Suppliers new to EDI

A growing brand or manufacturer wins a retail or distributor account that requires EDI and needs to comply within the customer's onboarding window.

How it works

How PRISM-WebEDI works, step by step

  1. 01

    The partner registers

    Partner registration and information gathering are automated, and each partner's document requirements are set up on customizable forms.

  2. 02

    Documents arrive in the portal

    Purchase orders and other inbound documents appear as readable documents, with email alerts that can be set up for every order.

  3. 03

    Responses are created from the order

    Acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices are created from the original order, with related fields populated and documents linked in sequence.

  4. 04

    Rules are enforced before sending

    Business rules check required data and the order of documents, so out-of-sequence or incomplete documents are caught before they are sent.

  5. 05

    PRISM sends compliant EDI

    Documents are converted to the EDI format the partner requires and delivered through the PRISM platform, with monitoring and reporting of each transaction.

Capabilities

What PRISM-WebEDI does

  • Supplier-side and customer-side workflows

    Exchange documents with non-EDI suppliers, or take orders from non-EDI customers, through the same secure portal.

  • Core business documents

    Purchase orders, acknowledgments, advance ship notices and invoices, created and exchanged in the browser.

  • Partner registration and onboarding

    Automated registration and information gathering for new partners, without manual collection of partner details.

  • Customizable forms and business rules

    Forms tailored to your requirements, with document sequencing, linking for order updates and field population.

  • Shipping documents and labels

    Pick, pack and shipping slips, UCC barcode shipping labels and bills of lading printed from the portal.

  • Dashboards, monitoring and reporting

    A transaction dashboard with status by document type, plus monitoring, reporting and tracking of transactions.

  • Email notifications

    Email alerts that can be set up for every order.

  • Security controls

    Password protection policies, unattended timeouts and logout features.

Systems integration

What PRISM-WebEDI connects

Partners work in the browser; your organization receives standard transactions.

SystemWhat flowsWhat to plan for
Your back-end systemsOrders, acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices from the portal.Integrated through the PRISM platform, on the supplier side and the customer side.
Trading partners without EDIDocuments created and received in a secure web portal.Partner registration, forms and business rules configured per partner.
ShippingPick, pack and shipping slips, UCC labels and bills of lading.Printed from the portal for partners that ship.

Inputs, outputs and integration

What PRISM-WebEDI works with

Exact document types and requirements depend on each trading partner and are confirmed during setup.

What PRISM-WebEDI works with
How partners use it Web browser; no EDI software to install
Documents Purchase orders, acknowledgments, advance ship notices and invoices, among others
Workflows Supplier side (buyers enabling suppliers) and customer side (sellers taking orders from non-EDI customers)
Standards Converted to the EDI standard each partner requires, such as X12
Shipping Pick, pack and shipping slips; UCC barcode shipping labels; bills of lading
Monitoring Transaction dashboard, monitoring, reporting and email alerts
Partner connection Handled through the PRISM platform

Supplier side

For buyers, a way to bring every supplier onto electronic documents

Large buyers often trade EDI with their main suppliers but still receive confirmations, ship notices and invoices from smaller suppliers by email or spreadsheet. PRISM-WebEDI closes that gap without asking small suppliers to buy EDI systems.

  • The same documents from every supplier

    Smaller suppliers send the acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices your systems expect, instead of emails and PDFs that someone must process.

  • Onboarding without integration projects

    Registration and information gathering are automated, and suppliers start trading in a browser once their forms are configured.

  • Fewer exceptions to chase

    Business rules check required data and document sequence before a supplier sends a document, so fewer incomplete documents reach your team.

Customer side

For sellers, orders from non-EDI customers that reach your systems

The same portal works in the other direction. Customers without EDI enter orders through the portal, and the transactions are integrated with your back-end systems.

  • Digital sales orders

    Customers place orders in a web portal instead of sending email or faxes, so orders arrive as structured transactions.

  • Integrated with back-end systems

    Orders entered in the portal are integrated with your order management or ERP systems, not re-keyed.

Part of the PRISM platform

Four ways to connect, one platform

PRISM-WebEDI is one of several complementary ways PRISM connects trading partners. Each partner uses the method it can support.

PRISM-EDI integration platform
  • PRISM-EDI for partners with EDI systems

    When a partner's volumes justify it, the same relationship can move to system-to-system EDI on PRISM-EDI.

  • PRISM-SmartConvert for partners who send documents

    Partners who will only send PDFs or emails can be automated through document conversion instead of a portal.

Why ECOM

Web EDI with an EDI team behind it

  • Partner setup by EDI specialists

    Trading partner setup is done by ECOM's EDI specialists, and ECOM's trading partner guides document the EDI requirements of many large retailers.

  • A real upgrade path

    Because ECOM also runs integrated EDI and managed EDI services, moving beyond web EDI does not mean changing provider or starting again.

Implementation

What rolling out PRISM-WebEDI involves

A web EDI rollout succeeds when partners find it easy on the first day.

  • Agree the documents and rules per partner

    Which documents each partner exchanges, which fields are required and which business rules apply.

  • Configure forms and labels

    Forms are tailored to your requirements, and label and bill of lading formats are set up for the partners that ship.

  • Register and onboard partners in waves

    Partner registration and information gathering are automated, so partners can be invited in groups.

  • Monitor adoption

    The transaction dashboard shows which partners are trading electronically and which documents are still pending.

Use cases

Where teams use it

Retail and big-box suppliers

Consumer goods brands exchange orders, ship notices and invoices with retail customers that require EDI, and print UCC labels.

Buyers with a long tail of suppliers

Manufacturers, retailers and distributors bring small suppliers onto electronic confirmations, ship notices and invoices.

Sellers with non-EDI customers

Distributors and manufacturers take orders from smaller customers through a portal integrated with their systems.

Technology, expertise and operations

Choose how PRISM-WebEDI is run

PRISM is ECOM's own integration technology. The company that builds it also implements, operates and supports enterprise integration platforms, so you can choose how much of the work you keep.

  1. Run it with your team

    Use PRISM-WebEDI on the PRISM platform with your own staff, supported by ECOM.

    Platform delivery options
  2. Share the work

    ECOM integration specialists extend your team for mapping, onboarding, monitoring and changes.

    EDI Team as a Service
  3. Hand it over

    ECOM operates the integration end to end as a fully managed service, within an agreed scope.

    Fully managed EDI

Running IBM Sterling or another integration platform today? ECOM's enterprise integration specialists can help you keep, modernize or migrate it. IBM Sterling services · Migration and modernization

Available delivery options depend on the product and your requirements and are confirmed during scoping. Compare delivery models.

Frequently asked questions

Do partners need EDI software to use PRISM-WebEDI?

No. PRISM-WebEDI runs in a browser. ECOM runs the translation and the connection to trading partners, so partners need internet access and a user account.

Which documents can be exchanged?

Typical documents are purchase orders, acknowledgments, advance ship notices and invoices. The exact set depends on each trading partner's requirements, which ECOM confirms during setup.

Can PRISM-WebEDI print shipping labels?

Yes. It prints pick, pack and shipping slips, UCC barcode shipping labels and bills of lading.

What is the difference between PRISM-WebEDI and PRISM-EDI?

PRISM-EDI is system-to-system EDI automation for partners with EDI systems. PRISM-WebEDI is browser-based transaction management for partners without them. Many organizations use both.

Is web EDI suitable for high volumes?

Web EDI works best for low to moderate volumes. As a partner's volumes grow, system-to-system EDI usually becomes more efficient.

How long does it take to start trading with a new partner?

It depends on the partner's onboarding and testing process. ECOM reviews the requirements with you and gives you a realistic timeline before you commit.

ECOM products

Integration, visibility, automation and business applications

PRISM is ECOM's own integration and automation platform. PRISM-EDI is the core; the other products extend it to visibility, partner and document automation, APIs and commerce channels. ECOM's business applications, PRISM-ERP and Inventory on Cloud, run core operations alongside it.

Bring your non-EDI partners into electronic trading

Tell us which suppliers or customers still trade by email, phone or paper and the documents involved. We will show how PRISM-WebEDI would handle them.