Some supplier connections are available via EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) or via API.

These connections are mainly used to send purchase orders electronically, directly to the supplier’s system.

The goal is to avoid manual re-entry of the order by a supplier call center or customer service team, reducing the risk of data entry errors.

Connections are currently available with the following suppliers:

Sending purchase orders via EDI or API is free of charge.

An EDI or API connection is mainly used to automatically transmit a purchase order to the supplier.

The information required to process the order is sent to the supplier, including supplier items, ordered quantities, the relevant location, and the requested delivery date.

This helps reduce manual re-entry and makes order sending more reliable.

An EDI / API connection does not mean that all supplier information is retrieved automatically.

In most cases, suppliers do not allow automatic retrieval of:

These limitations mainly depend on the suppliers and on what they choose to make available through their connections.

The connection is used to send the purchase order. The commercial processing of the order, including substitutions, product refusals, promotions, discounts, or quantities actually delivered, must be handled directly with the supplier.

Automatic invoice retrieval depends on the supplier.

At this stage, only Sysco may offer invoice sending via EDI, subject to activation on their side.

Other suppliers do not necessarily offer this type of automatic invoice retrieval.

For Transgourmet, an internal robot can retrieve invoices from their website. If the website changes, automatic retrieval may be interrupted. Restoring the service may take time and, in some cases, may no longer be possible.

Not all suppliers require an EDI or API connection.

Some suppliers have systems that can automatically read purchase orders sent by email. In that case, sending the purchase order by email may be enough for the supplier to process it automatically.

Eligibility for an EDI or API connection depends on the supplier.

The supplier must be contacted to confirm whether they agree to activate an EDI or API connection for the relevant customer account.

This decision depends on the supplier and is outside our control.

For an order to be sent correctly, some information must be carefully configured.

In particular, the following should be checked:

The supplier item code is essential. If it is missing or incorrect, the order may be rejected, processed incorrectly, or require manual handling by the supplier.

EDI / API orders are sent automatically, without manual re-entry.

It is therefore essential that the configured packaging and order units match the supplier’s own setup.

If the packaging or order unit is incorrect, the quantities sent may not match the expected quantities, which can lead to ordering or delivery errors.

Special care should be taken when creating or updating a supplier item.

Orders sent via EDI or API are generally more reliable than manually re-entered orders, but errors can still occur.

An error may come from, for example:

When a technical error is detected, an alert may be sent by email, in the same way as when a supplier email could not be sent.

However, suppliers do not always return usable error messages. In some cases, the information may be sent directly by the supplier to the customer, or may require manual handling on the supplier’s side.

To secure the exchange, it is important to enter a supplier contact. This contact may be used, for example, to send the order by email if needed.

To set up an EDI or API connection with a supplier that is not already connected, the supplier must first be contacted.

The following points need to be checked with them:

Once these points are confirmed, the supplier can be put in contact with our support team.

Depending on the supplier, the required format, and the complexity of the integration, this setup may be subject to a quote or specific billing.

The EDI / API connection allows purchase orders to be sent automatically to the supplier.

It is used to transmit the order, but it does not cover the commercial processing performed afterwards by the supplier: product acceptance, substitutions, discounts, delivered quantities, or non-technical refusals.

To avoid errors, supplier item codes, customer references, and packaging / order units must be correctly configured.