Making EDI work in a multinational company

The path of development of EDI in a large electrical and electronic goods manufacturing and marketing organisation with worldwide activities is charted. The advantages of using EDI for internal and intra-company transactions were foreseen and have been successfully exploited for over fifteen years. It was a very natural development to extend the use of EDI to suppliers, customers and other organisations external to the company: this has been heavily exploited to obtain `competitive edge´ in marketplaces which have become very tough and shows signs of becoming much more competitive as margins are shaved ever thinner. For example the exploitation of microchip technology in almost every domestic appliance has meant that consumer electronics organisations have had dramatically to reduce selling expenses: the intelligent use of EDI in this business sector is perceived as a useful weapon in this economic war