Retail industry drives demand for EDI

IN THE movement of freight any company in the supply chain will have to be electronically-connected if it expects to have a successful future. That’s the general consensus in the industry, and this demand is already evident in the international retail industry, according to FTW sources. Anyone wanting to sell goods to the largest retailer in the world, Wal-Mart, will have to prove their ability to communicate effectively via electronic data interchange (EDI) – or not sell to them at all. Wal-Mart has already moved to radio frequency identity (RFID) tags. This, according to our commentators, makes it technically feasible for a shopper to load up a trolley and by merely walking through a short tunnel, have all the goods in the trolley recognised by their RFID signature and automatically rung up. It means that there is no need for unpacking/repacking the goods from the trolley to the cashier’s table and back again. “The shopper merely swipes his credit card, enters a pin number and walks out of the shop. This will mean that all new credit cards (not just debit cards, as at present) are going to require a pin.” At the same time as the goods in the trolley are being rung up, inventories are being updated. “And,” said another source, “when set minimum levels of the commodities are reached, EDI messages automatically go off to the likes of the suppliers and transporters – and the shop’s shelves are replenished timeously. “It is easy to see the efficiencies that EDI can bring to processes.”