The Integration Engineer
When it just has to work.

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I started thinking that I would create a comprehensive integration guide and framework. A document that would guide a person from the beginning to end of an integration, covering all the bases, and addressing all the issues. Then I ditched the idea. No one would ever want to read it. (not even me.) Instead here are 7 simple steps that should get your going, and that you should follow in each integration project. The rest of the plan is largely, and subjectively up to you. (more…)

After you have created your usage specification, it can be useful to use a validation tool to check to verify that new trading partners comply during your boarding process. I have used Foresight’s EDI Analyzer for this many times, and it lets be quickly see where the EDI file departs from the specification.

There is a temptation to use this same validation in the production integration. But this would be a mistake. I’m not saying, “Don’t validate.” I highly encourage validation on both standard compliance and required data validation in mapping and integration. But to use the usage specification has a side effect that I witnessed once. (Only once.) (more…)

Sometimes we hear and then use industry jargon without having a clear definition of what they are.  I think all of us are guilty of this from time to time.  This post clarifies what a SKU is, and discusses how SKUs are used in the supply chain, and in EDI.

Definition:  SKU stands for “Stock keeping Unit” initially used for identifying items that a company keeps in stock so that they can track how many they have and such.  Now also used for services, and for contracts or warranties. (more…)

I was reading an article on Spend Matters, by Jason Busch, and I had an idea. Jason was writing about Twitter entering the B2B Mainstream. Now to be honest I had heard about Southwest’s proactive use of twitter to monitor and shape how their customer experience was being perceived.  And like many things with Southwest’s business, I find it to be touched with brilliance.  So as I read about it, I was suddenly struck with a much deeper way that twitter and twitter like technologies could be used. (more…)

When setting up a supply chain integration, there is a lot of information that is exchanged. One thing that should be explored is what the supplier will do if they can’t process the order. This should be explored by making a list of all the errors that you can conceive of. This is the beginning of your test plan. Then having the Vendor respond with what they will do. (this doesn’t have to be actual transfer of erroring files, it can just be filing out a form with what will happen when said error is sent.  But of course, actually sending bad files to and from your test systems is a good idea when possible.) In the end you will have an idea of what will happen and what to expect when something goes wrong. However, sometimes this doesn’t cover all the bases.

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