EDI Standards

What is EDI?
Short for Electronic Data Interchange, the transfer of data between different companies using networks, such as the Internet. As more and more companies get connected to the Internet, EDI is becoming increasingly important as an easy mechanism for companies to buy, sell, and trade information. ANSI has approved a set of EDI standards known as the X12 standards.1

Standards
According to a link from the Virginia Commonwelath University:

EDI, Electronic Data Interchange, is what drives 'B2B eBusiness'. Much of the 'C2B' eBusiness is very visible & involves customers using suppliers' web pages to enter their orders and get other customer services. EDI is involved in the 'back office' exchange of business documents such as Purchase Orders, Acknowledgements, Shipping Notices & Manifests, and Invoices. It is used to support both JIT (Just In
Time) and MRP (Materials Requirement Planning) approaches to purchasing. EDI standards are maintained by groups that take input from industry and promulgate standards.

Today, there are two major standards: ANSI X12 is maintained by an organization nearby, in Northern VA, Data Interchange Standards Association.
DISA is the 'Secretariat' that maintains and publishes this set of standards using meetings and methods of ANSI, American National Standards Institute. EDIFACT is another standard for exchange of business documents, more European in flavor.
Here's a website about UN/EDIFACT.

There are other 'players' important in EDI. Inovis is a large service bureau used by
manufacturers, distributors, and buyers for fashion & other 'department store' type goods. These trading partners hold one another to the Voluntary Inter-Industry Commerce Standards (VICS) and this is their EDI bible.

Here is an example of their emerging standards for Bills of Lading.
Book Distributors & Sellers use a standard called BISAC which is a subset of X12 devised by The Book Industry Study Group. Industrial customers and suppliers use yet another. Banks and Financial Institutions use subsets that move the Tender about the orders. I've learned recently that Health Insurance providers are moving toward an X.12 standard.

X.12 standards permeate all these electronic trading partnerships and keep it from being a Tower of Babel circumstance. Any Vertical enterprise application will be
of more value if the particular standards of EDI for its core activities are accommodated easily by its enterprise engines.

Standards are folded into other standards. Here's how the Uniform Code Council's UPC barcodes get into X12 documents about goods headed to a Department Store...
Inovis maintains a central catalog used for EDI trading partners. They have been in the business since long before the Windows desktop and their services have been
accessed for years by users of ascii terminals entering orders in unix, mainframe, or
proprietary minicomputer environments. For their buyer-customers they provide a
central database of exactly what is available from their vendor-customers and what the barcoded UPC will be when it arrives at the loading dock.

UCC, The Uniform Code Council, provides the service of registering the UPC, universal Product Code, barcodes that are practically universal for products headed our way. Manufacturers & distributors manage their range of UPC codes and this forms one of the data elements in the ANSI standard QRS catalog. EDI purchasing documents refer to these same #s so nobody is confused. UCC also defines the format of the UCC-128 barcode label that is the 'carton level identifier' affixed to each carton shipped by UPS, FedEx, or other common carrier when trucking is involved in the distribution. The ID of the UCC-128 barcode becomes one of the data elements in the shipping manifest that is sent via EDI.

When the carton arrives at the loading dock the distribution system already knows its contents and their destination. When there's air freight or ocean shipping involved there are other standards that apply and other organizations involved in the design and details of these documents and labels.

The ANSI Standard X.12 is quite complete and defines 10s of 1000s of separate codes used in 1000's of data elements used in 100s of data segments to form dozens of transaction sets for practically any transaction, acknowledgement, confirmation, enquiry, or update required in commerce.

Industry groups get together to pick and choose the particular standards needed to reflect their commerce. The Department of Defense, for example, chose these a few years back as they added EDI to their order processing legacy:

• 840 Request For Quotation
• 997 Functional Acknowledgment
• 843 Response To Request For Quotation
• 832 Price/Sales Catalog
• 850 Purchase Order
• 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment
• 824 Application Advice
• 860 Purchase Order Change
• 836 Contract Award Summary
• 865 Purchase Order Change Acknowledgment
• 838 Trading Partner Profile
• 869 Order Status Inquiry
• 864 Text Message
• 870 Order Status Report
  

Vendors wanting to woo the DOD had best make sure that their flavor of EDI package can support the whole range or they'll be nixed by some Sergeant who isn't getting a snappy 997 & 870 for his 869. It's interesting to note that the DOD, as of this listing, has left out the whole range of documents that form the Advanced Ship Notice functions, in which carton contents are manifested and forwarded to the shipper for their application of delivery advice.

BISAC uses a subset of X12 which includes six documents. The nature of EDI transmissions is changing to take advantage of The Internet, but some of EDI still travels via the VANs (Value Added Networks). It is bound to be an interesting decade for EDI trading partners.2

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1 EDI http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/EDI.html As of 14 February 2006.
2 "ANSI X.12" http://www.courses.vcu.edu/INFO465-gs/ansi_x_12.htm As of 14 February 2006.

Search Engines' Help

The advent of the Internet has paved way in the increased information being offered and delivered to people all over the world. In business, Internet has been very vital for firms in gaining competitive advantage and increasing their operation's efficiency and effectivity.

But with all of this information garbled and all mixed-up in the web, how can an individual effectively go through and scan over this huge repository and finding the right information that one is targeting to get or acquire.

This is where the search engines' job comes in. Search engines, according to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, is a software program that searches a database and gathers and reports information that contains or is related to specified terms.1 It is basically a website whose primary function is providing a search engine for gathering and reporting information available on the Internet or a portion of the Internet.2

For investors or stockmarket players, search engines are very important in tracking company performances and in determining how well a company's stock has performed. Aside from determining the particular URL of a specific site that provides these information, such as of the Dowjones or Nasdaq, an investor may just go directly to these search engines and key in relevant keywords to get relative or pertinent links.

As a management student aspiring to work as an investment specialist, I decided to take on an experiment to determine for myself if search engines are really helpful in giving relelvant information. I decided to trace DELL's stocks and used these search engines (GOOGLE, YAHOO, ALTAVISTA) to determine how it's stocks are performing.

Using the Famous GOOGLE
Keying www.google.com after opening the Internet Explorer browser, the search engine's cover web page directly appeared. I'm quite impressed with the connection speed. This was maybe because I was the only one using the network (am trying all these in an internet cafe) or the connection speed offered in the cafe was just wonderfully superb, a service I would consider my school providing, hmmm, I don't know when (we are crawling here people).

Entering the keywords dell stock, Google finds 16,300,000 results within .23 seconds, sorting them according to relevance. Clicking on the links, one can see information upon information about DELL's: quotes' summary, its real-time ECN, options and historical prices; performance charts ranging from basic to technical analysis charts; news and info which includes headlines, company events and message boards; the company, providing a profile, key statistics, SEC filings, competitors, industry and components; analyst coverage which includes analyst opinion, analyst estiates, research reports an star analysts; ownership information which gives the company's major holders, insider, transactions info, and insider roster; and financials info which shows the company's income statement, balance sheet and cash flow.

Information about how DELL's stocks have perfomed over the week is easily accessed as well as how its has performed the past years or so. Above is the 5-day progress chart of Dell stocks, from Feb 7 to Feb 13. Above is the 5-year progress chart of Dell stocks.

News, events, company profile and other meaningful information can be accessed through the Internet which search engines easily display and sort for its users. This has fueled the increased importance of search engines and has proved why search engines are truly an internet-novice's bestfriend, it making easy for people to surf the gigantic information waves.

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1 "Search Engine" http://www.ask.com/reference/dictionary/ahdict/58678/search+engine As of 08 February 2006.
2 Ibidem

Now who's Edgar?

Edgar who?
"Now who is Edgar by the way?", I eavesdropped from my classmates talking. "Why are we to research about him?" Now, that should be one of the dumbest question one should ever hear.

Well, that is just to harsh to say. I know Edgar can be easily mistaken as an individual. As if an important person so valued that our teacher has required as to research about him. But Edgar in no man, nor any individual to that.

EDGAR (as how it is spelled, all in capital letters) stands for Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval System. EDGAR is an online database constructed by the Securities and Exchange Commision in the United States to facilitate companies operating in the country in filling their annual forms with the commision. SEC mentains EDGAR for the filing of registration statements, periodic reports and other filings mandated under the federal securities laws.1 EDGAR performs automated collection, validation, indexing, acceptance, and forwarding of submissions by companies and others who are required by law to file forms with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its primary purpose is to increase the efficiency and fairness of the securities market for the benefit of investors, corporations, and the economy by accelerating the receipt, acceptance, dissemination, and analysis of time-sensitive corporate information filed with the agency.2
Apart from companies acquiring easy processes of filing their required documents, other companies and interested individuals may find information about these filing companies effortlessly or with less hassle. Having the option of downloading free data from the database is a major benefit that EDGAR gives to its users. For a company, knowing the competitor is very important. Companies can now monitor, determine and make strategies based on the vital information that EDGAR gives. The SEC-EDGAR webpage says, "All companies, foreign and domestic, are required to file registration statements, periodic reports, and other forms electronically through EDGAR. Anyone can access and download this information for free. Here you'll find links to a complete list of filings available through EDGAR and instructions for searching the EDGAR database."

Available Information
EDGAR offers a lot of valuable information for every individual that would take interest. Corporate financial information is what primarily EDGAR offers though searches are available for users to get specifics.

General-Purpose Searches

Companies and Other Filers

• This search works best when you have a specific company in mind. "Search Companies and Filings" allows you to retrieve real-time filings for a specific company and to find key company information — including its name, address, telephone number, state of incorporation, Central Index Key (CIK) number, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code, and fiscal year end. Simply type in the name of the company or its CIK number. Note: A CIK is the unique number that the SEC's computer system assigns to individuals and corporations who file disclosure documents with the SEC. All new electronic and paper filers, foreign and domestic, receive a CIK number. You don't need to know a company's CIK, but searching by that number will narrow your search to the exact company you want.
  
• You can also search for all SEC-registered companies in a particular state. Or you can search for all companies with a specific SIC code. For example, if you enter 7370 in the SIC box, you'll retrieve all SEC-registered companies that fall into the Standard Industrial Classification known as "Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc."
  Once you've found the company you want, you can limit the search results by date (for example, "Prior to 2002-01-01") or by the type of filing (for example, "10-K").

Latest Filings

• Here you'll find the most recent filings our EDGAR system has received - from all SEC filers, including individuals and companies, paper filers and electronic filers. The list on this page features the most recent real-time filings from a broad range of companies and individuals for the current official filing date (including filings made after the 5:30 pm deadline on the previous filing day). Note: Filings may be made Monday through Friday (except for U.S. Federal Holidays).
  If you want to retrieve a paper filing, please contact the SEC Public Reference Room and be sure to provide the "Paper/Film #" that appears in blue under the company's name.

Search for Filings Directly

• Perhaps our most powerful and flexible search, "Search for Filings Directly" allows you to search by company name, type of form, or both. You can also narrow your search by selecting a specific date or date range.

Historical EDGAR Archives

• Enter a keyword or phrase to search all header information (including addresses) in all filings in the EDGAR database. You can also use the company CIK as a search term. This search will truncate at 2000 records (filings).
  Tip: For best results when using the Simple search syntax, use lower-case only and make use of phrase delimiters (commas, "and", "or", etc.), which are described more fully on the bottom of the search screen. For example, to search on "Washington Energy" and "Utility", use the keyphrase washington energy and utility.
  

Special-Purpose Searches

EDGAR CIK (Central Index Key) Lookup

• The CIK is a unique identifier assigned by the SEC to all companies and people who file disclosures with the SEC. Simply enter the company's name and click on search to find the CIK. Then use the CIK (including the leading zeroes - e.g., 00001111) as a keyword in your Archives or Forms Lookup search.

Current Events Analysis

• Retrieve filings made during the previous week. For example, you can check 10-K (annual) and 10-Q (quarterly) reports, proxies, and others. Simply select the desired time period and the form you'd like to see. Select "all" if you don't want to limit your search to a particular form.

Mutual Fund Prospectuses

• To view prospectuses for the mutual fund of your choice, enter at least 5 - but no more than 20 - characters of the mutual fund company's name, and then click the "Find Funds" button.
  Tip: Mutual fund companies often register several different funds as one "series" and include information about each of those funds in one prospectus for the series. For example, information about the "XYZ S&P 500 Index Fund" might appear in the prospectus for "XYZ Index Funds." If your search results don't list the exact name of the fund you're seeking, then scan the list for the most logical name, check each prospectus to see whether it covers the fund you're researching, or contact the fund to find out the name of the series to which the fund belongs.3

Using the information
Companies and interested individuals after seaching EDGAR may use these gathered information to effect and develop new strategies, weigh company standing in the market environment, know what competitors are doing and how they are faring each with their own operations. As discussed above, these information can be made as guide in conducting searches about other companies. Finding other companies' information and when making valuable research papers, EDGAR is a very good resource of valuable, timely and accurate information.

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1 "EDGAR" http://www.investordictionary.com/definition/electronic+data+gathering,+analysis,+and+retrieval+system+(edgar).aspx As of 08 February 2006.
2 "Important Information About EDGAR" http://www.sec.gov/edgar/aboutedgar.htm As of 08 February 2006.
3 "How Do I Use EDGAR?"http://www.sec.gov/edgar/quickedgar.htm. As of 08 February 2006

The CIO and IRM

Since corporations have acknowledge the importance of timely and accurate information in their efforts to gain competitive advantage in business, the creation of IS departments have gathered a following, with companies making it a point to utilize their environment data and information for their own advantage doing this effectively by assigning a particular person to head a specific department to handle such tasks. CIOs, they are called, are vital to a company's plans of gaining competitive advantage.

What then are CIOs?
CIOs (Chief Information Officer) are senior executives responsible for all aspects of their companies' information technology and systems. They direct the use of IT to support the company's goals. With knowledge of both technology and business process and a cross-functional perspective, they are usually the managers most capable of aligning the organization's technology deployment strategy with its business strategy. CIOs oversee technology purchases, implementation and various related services provided by the information systems department. However, at many leading-edge organizations, the CIO delegates many of the tactical and operational issues to a "trusted lieutenant" in order to focus on more strategic concerns.

The "information" part of the CIO's job is increasingly important. The effective and strategic use of common enterprise-wide information requires someone with a cross-functional perspective. CIOs have taken a leadership role in reengineering their organizations' business processes and the underpinning IT infrastructures to achieve more productive, efficient and valuable use of information within the enterprise. Many also take a leadership role in knowledge management and the valuation of intellectual capital. Similarly, CIOs are in an ideal position to lead organizations' Internet and Web initiatives.

CIOs usually report to the CEO, COO or CFO, and they often have a seat on the executive steering committee or board (or at least have frequent and close access to top officers). While the specific title CIO is generally a clear indication of an IT executive's senior rank and strategic influence, many executives with the title VP or director of information technology, systems or services hold comparable positions.1

In many corporations, the chief information officer (CIO) or IT director is the newest addition to the senior management team. But while it may be the latest ingredient in the alphabet soup of corporate management, the CIO's role is growing fast in both numbers and importance, and it is evolving as it grows.

The number of corporate CIOs has increased dramatically over the past two decades as information management moves from the wings of company operations to centre stage. The CIO's role is shifting from the technical business of data processing to the more broadly conceived job of 'knowledge management.' So important has managing knowledge become to the success of a company that harnessing knowledge may be a corporation's most pressing challenge-and at the very heart of the CIO's evolving role.

Though a relative newcomer to the executive wing, the CIO has become in many ways the most challenging and dynamic leadership role in the business world. Throughout the '80s and '90s, corporations have faced dramatic challenges brought about by changes in markets and corporate organisations. In many industries, both production and markets have globalised. Companies have experienced major shifts both upward and downward in their of scale of operations through significant downsizing and major mergers and acquisitions. In responding to these dramatic changes, companies have invested vast resources to reengineer their operations. It has been estimated that companies worldwide are spending $52 billion a year on reengineering, of which $40 billion goes annually into information technology. In other words, the CIO is at the centre of many of the most volatile and costly changes in the life of a corporation.2

Then what is IRM?
One of the dilemmas facing today's manager is that on the one hand they seem to be suffering from information overload, yet on other hand, they often they complain about shortage of information needed to make vital decisions.

Symptoms of overload are a growth of incoming information, including electronic mail, an explosion in the volume of information sources (there are over 10,000 business newsletter titles and a similar number of CD-ROM titles). Symptoms of scarcity are the lack of vital information for decision making, unexpected competitor moves and the inability to find the relevant 'needle in the haystack.

There is also the crucial problem of exploiting an organisation's proprietary information as a strategic asset.

Underlying these problems is that of having "the right information, in the right place, in the right format, at the right time".

Partial solutions include Executive Information Systems (EIS), On-line and CD-ROM data-bases, alerting services. A more encompassing solution is to adopt the principles of Information Resources Management (IRM) (not to be confused with an information management or information systems). Whereas the value (often declining!) of tangible assets, such as property and office equipment, is regularly assessed and audited, similar processes are lacking for intangible assets, such as information and knowledge, whose asset value is increasing in many organisations.

Information Resources Management (IRM) is an emerging discipline that helps managers assess and exploit their information assets for business development. It draws on the techniques of information science (libraries) and information systems (IT related). It an important foundation for knowledge management, in that deals systematically with explicit knowledge. Knowledge centres often play an important part in introducing IRM into an organization.3






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1 "What is a CIO?" http://www.cio.com/summaries/role/description/?action=print As of 02 February 2006.
2 "The Changing Role of the Chief Information Officer" http://www.cio.com/research/executive/edit/kornferry.html As of 02 February 2006.
3 "Information Resources Management" by David Skyrme http://www.skyrme.com/insights/8irm.htm#whatis As of 02 February 2006.

Knowledge Management is the explicit and systematic management of vital knowledge - and its associated processes of creation, organization, diffusion, use and exploitation.