The potential benefits of EDI to make organizations more effective EDI can brings many direct advantages such

as saving operational costs; as well as long-term indirect advantages include creating precious opportunities for business organizations to retest its current business practice, and identify whether the operation process is efficient. (Pfeiffer, 1992) Indeed, EDI brings business organization huge benefits including costs savings, business efficiency, data accuracy, and just-in-time support (see figure1). (Lavocou et al, 1995)

Figure 1 Firstly, EDI helps enterprise eliminate lots of paperwork and keep labour savings with faster processing and exchange of information without mailing. As a typical example of Easyjet, they complete EDI process based on their own eRes system creating paperless model which means customers only need to get a reference number instead of paper tickets to check-in at the airport. Beside the financial department will take advantage of electronic data receipt without heavy paper documents to settle financial affairs (Pumfrey, 2004). This signifies that EDI decreases transaction costs and increases financial savings. Secondly, EDI significantly improves efficiency by creating quick response in the retail industry. (Angeles et al, 1998) Organizational staff can rapidly gain access to the information about ordering details, promotions; and stocks level. Therefore delivery time has been noticeably shortened between retailers and customers through eliminating surplus merchandiser planning. Moreover small quantities ordering becomes more continently and distributing goods becomes more efficiently. Thirdly, the data accuracy of EDI brings organization benefits in maintaining customer service quality. Suppliers access accurate electronic information through EDI to fill

in ordering details such as items, quantities and delivery time customers required. (Teschler, 1991) Lastly, support in just-in-time system is deemed as an indirect benefit of EDI to enterprises. In manufacturing industry, the use of EDI is combined with the just-in-time inventory management in order to reduce inventory costs. Only necessary materials will be ordered in appropriate amount and be delivered to production line directly. (Angeles et al, 1998) Generally, EDI integrate internal and external information system between trading partners. It realises business process reinterring and facilitates business organisation to own completive advantages by decreasing transaction costs, enhancing operational efficiency, gaining higher quality information, and reducing inventory levels by JIT system.

What does organisation have to do to take advantage of EDI?

According to the benefit of EDI, many organisations implied this technology to support their system to be more accuracy and reliable. It seems that implementing EDIs system is quite complicated and costly, but its functions can support many sections in the organisation, for example, development project, financial analysis and business strategy. The below processes are steps which organisation will do for establishing EDI network.

1. Providing support teams for EDI Companies have to prepare and plan which ways that they can take the benefit from EDI to their process. Hence, they have to improve their structure for EDIs support. Some companies hire the expertise EDI companies to develop system.

2. Matching EDI with strategy of organisation and businesss goals. According to EDIs benefit, management teams have been made the decision of their business strategy which part of their business will obtain the benefit of EDIs implement. So companies have to prepare and plan how they use EDI to achieve their business targets.

3. Preparing equipment and system for support EDI implement.

In order to service organisational system, all equipment and service are required for manage and support system, for instance, Valued-Add-network (VAN), software and hardware.

4. Interface EDI with the business partnerships system To integrate system between organisations, data must be matched with both existing application and new system. Moreover, software tools will transfer all required data from internal database to EDIs system. According to this combination, it will save cost for communication and increase accuracy.

5. Linking data with internal organisations process. For stable process in business, the information which will be sent within organization has to be match with EDI and transfer to other sections smoothly.

6. Trial period When EDI has been set up to the business system, it is essential to run the system with some sectors firstly, so some problems may be showed, for example, bugs, error and missing information.

7. Improve the efficiency of EDI system in business partners. After solving all problems from trial stage, the education and training for using the application for business partners are so important. So the process system will be developed to be more stable and smooth.