The Life-cycle of Electronic Data Interchange: Emergence from the Dust till a doubtful Survival in the Future

The introduction of internet applications in e-commerce made many adopters think that EDI would soon disappear. But the trend in logistics towards closer collaboration in supply chains made on the other hand the impact of EDI larger. A resultant of those forces will probably lead to a new type of EDI, which integrates with other technologies. Early studies on EDI were promoting its use because of savings in administrative work. But due to intra-corporation management model changes, today‟s savings should be looked for rather in lower inventory holding, fewer obsolete materials, and lower premium freight. The traditional potential of EDI reduces cost and error, but cannot cover its comparatively huge investment and maintenance cost at all, especially for small players. Players in the supply chain should look for indirect potential of EDI. EDI is to be treated as a tool of providing a communication channel or a platform for integrating other technologies that can completely redesign the supply chain. Players in the chain should be aware that the most relevant infrastructure of such a collaboration model consists of a smooth working collaborative information system, including EDI, but intertwined with other applications and technologies to emerge its potential benefit.