I am collecting Stupid EDI Stories for my magnum opus on electronic
commerce. Or if I never get around to writing it, then at least I can
spread the stories around the office for a few laughs. As an example,
here is a contribution from an EDISIM fan at a trucking company:
The human element still rules. One of our major customers, who
shall remain nameless, is a heavy user of EDI. We receive Load
Tenders (204s) from them and are supposed to accept or reject
hauling the load via a 990. The idea is that they can track
accepted and rejected loads as one measure of performance. But
to avoid an unfavorable rating, their customer service reps
instruct our people to never reject any loads via EDI. Instead,
we call them and the rep withdraws the tenders for any loads we
don't want. Thus we (and our rep there) always come out perfect
on the loads accepted report.
I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find many similar examples of people
circumventing the intentions of EDI. Would you mind sharing your
favorite stories of egregious EDI practices? Though I would appreciate
knowing the companies involved, you can rest assured that I will keep
their real identities secret.
Does anyone really think that XML will solve these sort of problems?
William J. Kammerer
FORESIGHT Corp.
4950 Blazer Memorial Pkwy.
Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305
+1 614 791-1600
Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/
"Commerce for a New World"
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