WEBVTT
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.919
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the SourceForge podcast.
00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.439
I am your host, Bo Hamilton.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:14.560
So today's episode is one I think a lot of people are going to relate to, maybe a little bit uh too much.
00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:21.199
But if you're if you've ever landed a big retail account and then found out the hard way that that getting the order was the easy part.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:23.440
Because here's how it typically goes down.
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.879
So you close the deal, right?
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.160
Walmart, Target, Amazon, whoever, and you're celebrating.
00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:35.200
And then a day later you get an email that says something like, Cool, you need to be EDI compliant before your first purchase order ships.
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.399
And you're sitting there going, What's what's EDI?
00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.479
What's an electronic data interchange?
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.039
Um, if that is you or that was you at some point, you are in good company.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:52.560
Most small businesses sort of hit that wall with no in-house EDI person, no clue what an 850, 850, or an 856 is.
00:00:52.719 --> 00:01:00.479
And then they start calling providers and everyone wants a multi-year contract and a big setup fee before they'll even really explain what you're getting.
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.079
Um so it's kind of a mess.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:12.079
And honestly, it's been a mess for what I understand for a long time because most of this stuff was built for big enterprise companies and small businesses just sort of got tacked on later.
00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:15.920
Uh, my my guest today has been living in that world for over 30 years.
00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.239
Jim Gonzalez is the CEO of EDI Support LLC.
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:22.719
And for years, they were a consulting shop.
00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:29.680
So he's the guy who kept getting called in after you know somebody had already gotten burned by their EDI provider.
00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.319
Um, and at some point he decided, all right, we should just build the thing ourselves.
00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:40.159
And that turned into Elevate, uh, which is their cloud-based managed EDI platform for small businesses.
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.719
It's coming up on about a year old now.
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.319
And the whole pitch is basically the opposite of the of the legacy guys.
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.120
Transparent pricing, no long-term contracts, actual humans you can talk to.
00:01:51.280 --> 00:02:08.080
So we're going to get into a lot of this stuff, a lot of uh why uh EDI is such a pain for small businesses, what actually goes wrong when the first uh that first requirement lands, how EDI and ERP fit together, which trips up a lot of people, and what you should be asking a provider before you sign anything.
00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.439
So we've got a lot to get into.
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.159
Jim, welcome to the SourceForge podcast.
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.360
Glad you could join us.
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:15.120
Oh, thank you for having me.
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.919
Uh uh this is this is something that's near and dear to my heart for a long time, many decades.
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:26.319
Uh, just look forward to trying to help as much as I can with education and everything else.
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.520
Yeah, I'm really excited to have you here and just get right into it.
00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:36.159
Um, and I know we're gonna get into a lot of the specifics and get into the weeds here later on in this conversation.
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:40.800
But before we do that, maybe you can give us a quick sort of uh rundown on your story.
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.039
You've been obviously doing this for a long time.
00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.520
Um, how did you end up in EDI?
00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.280
And what was that moment where you went, you know, from consulting to you know building your own platform?
00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.080
So the funny thing is, is I came out of a technical school.
00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.680
Uh I live in Pennsylvania.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:06.560
So I came out of a technical school here in local in Pennsylvania called Burke's Technical Institute, which they I had to look just to make sure, but they are still around.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.919
So um I'm not that old yet.
00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:18.879
And I got into programming when I was there, so I was dealing with some archaic people are gonna understand what this is.
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.159
So AS400s and system 36s.
00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:31.520
Um, those are basically the entry point for most financial institutions back in the 90s and a lot of large institutions.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:33.599
So I learned how to program in that.
00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:41.680
So, you know, dealing with RPG, um, all the different flavors there and COBOL and all of those things, and I thought, you know what?
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:42.960
This will be great.
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.599
Um, I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna make a difference in the world, and uh, I'm gonna program different things for different people.
00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:54.240
Well, I was hired by an organization, they brought me in at 19 years old.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:02.159
Um, I lasted a whole six months doing programming, um, and then I started to figure out you know what?
00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:20.399
I just can't sit in a cubicle in dark spaces trying to figure out problems and fixes for people um when it came to actually programming, because most people know programmers are usually siloed individuals, and it's okay, there's nothing wrong with that.
00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:27.759
Um, but anybody that knows me, I probably would have become a menace for myself to go that long.
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.639
So, anyways, leads it to being the company I was at had their own EDI product.
00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:44.319
They then said, Hey Jim, listen, we're needing more people to learn EDI and to be in support and help out with EDI, ACH, AIA, Union Automation.
00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.360
And I was like, whatever that means, does that mean I get to talk to people?
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.319
And they're like, Yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm cool with that.
00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.480
Let's let's figure this out.
00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:00.480
So at the ripe age of 19, as I say, I got thrown into D-Bend real quick.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:04.959
Hey, you're gonna be all calls, you're gonna talk to people, and you're gonna learn what EDI is.
00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:11.920
I'm like, all right, um, the running joke used to be when I was sitting in the department, it was, hey, my Eddie's broke.
00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.680
And I'm like, who's Eddie?
00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:23.600
Um, so electronic data interchange went ahead, learned how to become an implementer of EDI, learned various different products way back in the day.
00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:28.240
We're talking on Unix, DOS, um, before Windows.
00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.759
Um, and then from there, I became a trainer.
00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:45.519
Um, I started traveling around the United States, going to different client sites, um, doing all of those things where I got to help some pretty well-known brands along my life path.
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:53.680
Um, and then I also moved on from there, went to do a consulting, um, even though we did consulting there to a lot.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.560
And that's why I say I've always been in the consulting arena.
00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.439
Um, I helped out with sales and consulting, tech consulting, all of those types of things.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:21.120
And moved into a consulting actual company and started helping larger brands, uh larger enterprise brands, again, a lot of names that I don't want to name drop, but a lot of companies that a lot of us have heard about and dealing in all kinds of industries: retail, logistics, transportations, uh, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, you name it.
00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:25.279
Because again, everybody knows my mantra, it's just moving data, you know.
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:35.759
And then with that, I started seeing like a lot of the small to medium businesses or the SMB market was not getting attention.
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.680
They weren't getting the love that a lot of the big enterprise level organizations were.
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:48.399
Well, EDI started for those enterprise organizations, not geared for the small to medium organizations.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.199
So I was like, what can I do to help?
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.160
Well, along the way, I was like, you know what?
00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:04.480
I don't like how certain things are done in the consulting world where they're not focused on the SMB, they're not helping the small individuals, they're they're just looking at money, they're just all those concerns.
00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:05.920
And I was like, you know what?
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:07.759
Why don't I start my own thing?
00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.120
Which happened to be my girlfriend at the time, was like, you should do it.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:12.160
You should do it.
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:13.519
Backed me up.
00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:15.040
Now she's my wife.
00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.959
Now we're coming up on being in business uh nine years.
00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:26.000
And I always tell people, listen, we deal with startups and we deal with companies up to 22 billion in annual revenue.
00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.759
So we can help out real small companies to real large organizations.
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.079
I appreciate you walking us through that.
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:32.879
That's that's amazing.
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:39.519
So you've really seen um you've obviously you've been doing this a long time since basically dial up.
00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:54.720
You've and you've worked you've seen both sides of the uh of the equation here with the customer side and the provider side and um all the industry sort of quirks and whatnot with in regards to standards, quote unquote standards with uh EDI.
00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.800
And yeah, I love that that that point where you're like, let's just I'm gonna do this myself.
00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:09.199
I can find a solution here for uh small businesses and helping them out um and getting all uh situated with EDI, um, you know, all the handling all their issues and their various needs.
00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:10.959
And um that's really fascinating.
00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:16.800
Uh I've I've got to ask, I've got in my notes here that you've you you your website is i hateedi.com.
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:20.480
That's a pretty bold, uh, bold domain for a company that sells EDI.
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:31.199
Uh well it's it's pretty funny because over the year you hear common things, and people that have been doing this, like myself for decades, the common thing that you hear is I hate EDI.
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:42.639
Doesn't matter if it's a small business, medium business, large enterprise business, the people that are in the everyday crux of EDI, they're like, I hate EDI.
00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.879
One reason, one fashion, one pain point, whatever that is.
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:54.480
So I was talking with uh my person, Lena, who helped me with my branding and and marketing and all those things.
00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.840
And I was like, you know what?
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.519
Here's what we're gonna do.
00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:00.159
I'm gonna see if this is domain's available.
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.240
I looked it up, it was available.
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.399
I called her up and I said, Hey, guess what?
00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.559
You're gonna set up my website, and she's like, Okay.
00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.320
I was like, the domain is I hate EDI.
00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.799
She's like, No, you're not serious.
00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.799
I'm like, no, I'm dead serious.
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:21.440
We're we're we're gonna go with I hate EDI because it's a common thing that's been done for decades.
00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:22.559
People have said it.
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:35.440
Um, so when I actually it's a conversation, uh open air for me, when I run across people that have been doing this for decades or a long period of time, they're like, I love your domain.
00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:41.200
As soon as I seen your domain, I knew you were serious about EDI because everybody hates EDI.
00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.559
It's just it's just how it happens, you know.
00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:52.320
And being a consultant, you know, we're we're always trying to figure out answers and solutions no matter the size of the company.
00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.919
So we're like, you know what?
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.480
If you hate EDI, hey, come to us.
00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:02.320
We're gonna we're gonna try to make it suck a little bit less um and be a little bit better for you.
00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:03.120
I love that.
00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.039
Yeah, I love that you just leaned right into it.
00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.399
And yeah, absolutely, I can imagine it's a great conversation starter.
00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:18.960
Um let's uh let's get let's go back to the um, you know, take a step back, I guess, and and maybe you could help us explain um and uh understand what exactly is EDI.
00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.960
So I mentioned like the 850s, 856s in the intro.
00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.720
Um, and I'm guessing that meant nothing to some people.
00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.720
Um so maybe you could help kind of explain that.
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:34.399
What is what is EDI and uh also like why why did the big retailers make everyone do it in the first place?
00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:44.639
So the the easiest way that I ever describe it, and again, I love my wife, but even my wife still to this day is like, what do you do?
00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.519
And uh can you fix my computer?
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:48.799
I'm like, no, I can't.
00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.360
I yes, I could, but do I want to?
00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:52.799
No, I really don't.
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:58.799
So when it comes to EDI electronic data interchange, think of business documents.
00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:06.480
Okay, think of things that are being exchanged between two different business entities to ask them to do something.
00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:12.159
So in retail, you have what is considered a lot of times the order to cash process.
00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:25.759
So a purchase order being received by one entity, and then that entity fulfilling that purchase order and shipping products and labeling products, and then hey, I want to get paid and I want to invoice it.
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:33.360
Now, EDI in most people's realm, if you're talking about just say North America, okay.
00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:44.000
North America, we're in a certain standard dealing in the X12, and there's different standards and formats and all of those different things that fall under EDI.
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:49.600
Um, one of the big things that a lot of people have been talking about over the last few years is API.
00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:50.879
Well, guess what?
00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:56.639
API falls under EDI because EDI is just a sending of electronic data.
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:04.799
API is making a connection to receive that electronic data or pull that electronic data.
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:19.679
Think about it this way anything that you can send document-wise, purchase orders, insurance claims, transportation, tendering, where's my load at?
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.559
All of those different things in a document format, but it's electronic.
00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:29.039
It can be XML, it can be X12, it can be a CSV file.
00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.159
It can some people even consider PDF files.
00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:37.519
They're a little unstructured, but you could put them into that bucket if you wanted to.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:46.960
The actual sort of number, like the 8850, 850s, 855, those are the specific sort of like 850 is the purchase order, right?
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:56.960
And then uh the 856 is sort of the basically the packing slip, but in a format that a warehouse computer can read before the the truck shows up, that sort of thing.
00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.240
Correct, correct.
00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.879
So you have your purchase order, which is your 850.
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.799
You have sometimes an 855, which is a purchase order acknowledgement.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:12.879
You also then have an 856, as you've indicated, which is a shipment document, and then you have your 810, which is your invoice.
00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.480
Those are common in the retail aspect of things.
00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.080
Now, could that be in an order to cash process?
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:20.639
Yes.
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.159
Could that be in a what's called a procurement process?
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:24.799
Yes.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:32.000
It depends on who's representing the buyer or who is the buyer and who is the seller, um, depending on which way you're looking at things.
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:40.159
So when you're thinking about it, think about okay, what can I do or what did I used to do when I wanted to order something?
00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:50.559
You would send a fax, you would make a phone call, um, you would send pigeon, whatever you looked at, whichever way you wanted to handle it, you just wanted to get that order process.
00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:56.879
Well, now, also in our day and age, everybody wants real-time information.
00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.480
So I do it on a weekly basis.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.879
I'm pretty sure you do it on a weekly basis.
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.120
Maybe you track a shipment, you're expecting something to come in the next day.
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.240
Um, you want to know exactly where is that truck that has your product right now?
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:13.039
Is it in St.
00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:13.600
Louis?
00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:14.879
Is it in Florida?
00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:15.759
Where is it?
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.320
So that I can expect when it hits my porch or when it gets to the post office or whatever that looks like.
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:27.440
Okay, it's the same thing when you're looking in, like, I don't know, pharmaceuticals.
00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:35.039
So a big push in the United States is to bring pharmacy in-house here in the US, start manufacturing, start doing all those things.
00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:44.720
Well, those pharmaceutical manufacturers they need to know when is that compound going to be received at their manufacturing facility.
00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:51.360
So you have to start understanding the chain of events that's being reported through EDI.
00:14:51.519 --> 00:15:02.799
Um, and I always say, and I I missed it in the last piece, but EDI X12, it has a lot of different standards, but sometimes it's not structured.
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.559
And sometimes those standards are very loose leaf.
00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.759
So we say there's standards, but there's really not.
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.200
People are going to do what they want to do when it comes to business.
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:13.759
Right.
00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:14.000
Yeah.
00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:17.279
Businesses are going to find a way that that something that works for them, right?
00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:24.559
Um, so maybe you can help us walk through the scenario that maybe some uh listeners are are kind of dreading or have already lived.
00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:29.440
Um you have a small company, they maybe they just landed a big retail account and they got the email.
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.639
You've got 30 days to be EDI compliant.
00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.159
Um, what what happens next?
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.240
Like what do what do most people actually do?
00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.679
And then where does it really start to go sideways?
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.840
See, this is the this is the fun thing.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:50.720
So if you if you don't have EDI already in place, the first thing that most of them start doing is they start listening to the wrong people.
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.279
So they they start listening to, oh, well, my trading partner.
00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:58.799
So your trading partner is somebody that you exchange EDI with.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:03.200
Okay, doesn't matter if it's uh carrying company, doesn't matter who it is.
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.360
Okay, so we call them trading partners.
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.679
So they listen to the trading partner.
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.799
The trading partner says you should go with X, Y, and Z.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.960
They the small business doesn't do their own research and say, oh, well, are they good?
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.799
What do their Google reviews look like?
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.639
What are other people saying about them?
00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:34.960
Or hey, maybe I should reach out to a professional that does consulting on this to get an answer as to who maybe should I should go with depending on my scenarios, depending on what I'm selling, how I'm selling.
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.480
Is it going to the store?
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.080
Is it going to a customer?
00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:46.000
Do I need it to be integrated with a back-end accounting system or ERP system or something of that nature?
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:51.679
Um, they're purely just going with, eh, this is who they told me to go with, so that's who I'm just gonna go with.
00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:01.679
And then what ends up happening is they are locked into a three to five-year contract, they're paying ridiculous pricing because they didn't read the fine lines.
00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:10.160
So there's a lot of things that they learn rather quickly about what that implementation of EDI look like.
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:18.400
And sometimes when they think it's supposed to be 30 days, it becomes six months, eight months, a year down the road.
00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:30.799
And there's had they just done a little bit of research, maybe whatever it may be, using AI, whatever, just look for a consulting company or somebody that's like, hey, listen, we're not biased.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:39.279
We're here to bring you options and we're here to speak about what you currently have going on and figure out where you should do your due diligence.
00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.200
Look at these different companies.
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:54.160
They fit the scenario that you're speaking of and what you're looking for, so that they get something that's built for them, not something that's built for the salesperson that's trying to sell it to them.
00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:07.359
And that's a common mistake a lot of small companies, even some large companies, make, is they go with who they're told to go with instead of who they should go with by doing their own due diligence.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:18.720
So let's let's talk about the the the calls that you you receive, because obviously, you know, you're the you're the go-to consulting firm in this industry for companies to to get some support, right?
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.160
So you obviously and you spent some you spent many years on the consulting side, so I'm guessing you heard some stories.
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:33.359
Um, what's the one you hear sort of over and over again that the bit the business that came up to you and after uh just a bad experience with one of the bigger providers?
00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:47.359
Um maybe maybe anything that come to mind there, and then and then maybe you could also talk about like what did it actually sort of cost them um both in you know monetary figures, but also in time, um, the relationship with the the retailer or whatever it was.
00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.599
Like, can you walk us through that?
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:55.200
I can give you, you know, far-reaching ends of of the ranges.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.839
I never I don't want to speak about any existing companies that are out there.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.000
And this is gonna probably make the viewers laugh and yourself laugh.
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:12.240
The way that my view is is if you acknowledge anybody that's out there in the marketplace, you're giving them reputation.
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:17.200
You're giving them and thinking that they're on the same level as you and your organization.
00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:22.480
This sounds a little cocky, but I don't think any other organizations are on the same level as ours.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.519
So I don't look at them as competition and I don't speak about them in the general public where I try not to.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:37.279
So, with that being said, but some organizations, like I had a really small company, and this seems to happen on a regular basis.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.559
Really small organization reached out, you know.
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.079
As you indicated, we built our own product, Elevate.
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.799
Essentially, we started down that pathway three years ago.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:58.079
This small organization was doing very minimal purchase orders with a large retail entity, and I'm talking like five purchase orders a month, which is not a huge amount of data.
00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:07.920
And they were spending anywhere between two to three hundred dollars per month, and they were locked in to a three-year contract.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:20.400
Two to three hundred dollars doesn't sound like a lot of money, but when you sell small products with small margins, that's eating into your margins, that's eating into all of those things.
00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:36.880
That exact same company when their contract came up, they went with us at elevate, and I literally cut their yearly cost in half with a higher level of customer service.
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:45.200
So you got best of both worlds, and that's where some people are like, oh well, how are you cheaper than these other entities?
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:57.599
The way that I have to explain it is this our platform was built in 20, started to be built in 2024, edge of 2023, started to be built.
00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:07.519
So you're talking about a new platform, brand new, coming to the market using latest and greatest technology and infrastructure to set it up.
00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:16.559
That's also backed by a team of individuals that have been doing this, most of the individuals, decades each.
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:26.720
So 24 people on my team, decades each of experience, some greater than mine, and latest and greatest technology to back it up.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:32.799
So we're able to put our pricing servers, and you know this, Bo.
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.079
How much did virtual servers cost 10 years ago?
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.519
A lot of money.
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:48.640
So virtual servers years ago, you could get a virtual server, and on average, your monthly cost was going to probably be between two to four thousand dollars for a virtual server.
00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:59.759
Okay, you can buy a physical server back then for with half decent bells and whistles, and we're not that type of people, but you could buy a server physical for eight to ten thousand dollars.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.480
Okay.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.680
Now, over time that's gonna degrade.
00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:05.200
Think of Elevate.
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:20.319
We're up against competition that have been doing this for 20-30 years and haven't revamped their system, and their pricing has steadily increased while the infrastructure costs have steadily decreased.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:30.960
So where does it make sense for me to pay a company 10 years ago pricing when we're sitting in 2026?
00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:47.359
So an elevate standpoint, yes, we are built and we look like we are cheaper than everybody, but it's based on today's economics, not 20 years ago economics.
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:55.119
It's also built to be a long-standing partner with companies.
00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.440
So we're earning your business every month.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:15.759
I'm not locking you in on a one, two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year contract that I can show my investors hey, here's the amount of money that I have locked in on a contractual basis year over year, because guess who the investor and who the only person is that owns EDI support?
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:25.200
So I can make my pricing based on what I think is fair and justifiable for all these organizations.
00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.880
Um, so I hope that paints a little bit of a picture.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.599
You know, our pricing, it all depends on who you're going with, who you're reviewing.
00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:40.720
I'm not saying that you can't find somebody or organizations that are gonna be better in pricing than ours.
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:51.519
But I'm gonna probably say with everything we're bringing to the table, it's gonna be very hard to find something that's built better for the SMB world.
00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:58.240
Is EDI actually you know broken for small businesses, or is it just sort of hard to pick the right one?
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.200
It's hard for them to pick the right one.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.440
You you hit the nail right on the head.
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.839
Listen, they're gonna go out and they're gonna do all these searches, you know, AI rendered searches, all of those type of things.
00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:18.799
You know, on the back end of AI, sometimes it's who pays the best to be found the fastest in AI.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.559
And a lot of people don't know that.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.119
It's not fully truthful.
00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:25.599
But now they'll give you a list.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:38.559
Go down that list, have somebody that can you can leverage and you can lean on that has years of experience to say, hey, off of this list, tell me what they do, let me look at their pricing, let me look at what they offer.
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.039
What does their SLAs look like?
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.480
Their service level agreements, how quick are they responding to you?
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.119
Is it a bot that's responding to you?
00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:48.240
Is it a human?
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:49.359
Is there an email?
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.759
Is there a phone number that you can call?
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:52.799
Well, guess what?
00:24:52.960 --> 00:25:03.519
With us, you get an email, you get a phone number, and you get human responses in two hours or less, and typically resolution in 24 hours or less.
00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:17.200
Most organizations that are out there can't do that or are not doing that because now they're starting to use the AI and the box and all of those things to answer when you're having problems on EDI.
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.000
Well, guess what?
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:35.440
In the EDI world, you need responsiveness, you need somebody that's gonna pick up the phone, somebody's gonna answer an email, somebody that's gonna get back to you rather quickly, because most of these large retailers they have to answer to the common customer.
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:41.279
So if they're if you're calling a big box store and you're saying, Where's my product?
00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.200
Guess who they're gonna be beating down the door of that supplier that's supplying the product to say, Where's my product?
00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:48.319
Where's it at?
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:51.599
Now, typically that's all should be known in EDI.
00:25:52.079 --> 00:26:06.880
People have to go down the pathway of figuring out who is the best provider, who is making the fit known for them, and who's cost effective in that arena for them and not inhibiting their growth.
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:21.440
Here's the funny part there is actually an EDI provider out there that a lot of people know and a lot of people utilize that actually bases their pricing on your average revenue that you're doing with a retailer.
00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:31.680
So imagine if you're selling a million dollars to said retailer, and the EDI provider you select takes 10% of that.
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:38.960
So you're paying them a hundred grand to utilize their EDI platform before you ever make a profit.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:45.680
And these companies are out there and they're they make it, they make EDI sound like it's so much harder than what it is.
00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:49.039
EDI can't be complicated all day long.
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:54.960
EDI needs people that know what they're doing to set you up for success.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:04.160
But EDI is not hard for people that live and breathe this day in, day out.
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:08.240
Not one individual knows every piece of EDI.
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.240
I don't know every piece of EDI.
00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:15.440
A lot of people give me a lot more credit about my knowledge in EDI.
00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:21.119
I've just been lucky where I've seen a lot of different things, but I don't know everything.
00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.920
That's why I have a team of individuals behind me.
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:25.680
Like, hey, let's figure this out.
00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:29.759
Let's brainstorm, let's go at this and let's come up with a solution.
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:32.240
Yeah, well, and you're constantly learning more every day.
00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:38.880
And and but obviously you you've your experience in the industry has has helped you, you know, stand out, and you are a great resource.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:54.880
And I was just thinking, speaking to the um, you know, some of the chatbots and and stuff you interact with with some um providers uh out there um where they're maybe they're maybe useful for answering some basic information and definitions, terminology, that sort of thing.
00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:05.680
But I think that having a person, a real human being to talk to and actually get a an understanding of of um you know some of the complexities involved, I think is really appealing.
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:17.279
I mean, I can't imagine someone who's like, you know, uh a selling point would be some LLM chatbot automated tool um that's gonna get them to sign with that EDI support provider, you know?
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:19.200
But that's the crazy thing.
00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:25.519
So um so I was at a big retail convention earlier this year.
00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:42.559
Everybody's booth was talking about their AI and how their AI is like this uh, I don't know, godsend that it's gonna answer everything in the world and it's gonna do all of these different things, and you're all gonna be taken care of.
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.920
And I was walking around this conference, and some people would say to me, Hey, what do you think of AI?
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.839
How is it gonna work in in EDI?
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:59.200
And I would say, Hey, listen, AI is gonna work in EDI, it's gonna work in a lot of facets throughout the industries, the world, all of those things.
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:10.400
AI is there to answer yes or no set questions for the most part, as it is today and for the next maybe five years.
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:12.319
Okay, greater than that, who knows?
00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.000
AI is moving fast.
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:32.559
But if you need to get a hold of somebody, what drives you nuts when you pick up that phone call and all of a sudden you have and you can tell it's an AI rendering voice that's like you have to repeat yourself 16 times to get to the department or to the person that you need to talk to.
00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.480
EDI is the same way.
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.640
You may get select answers of, hey, where is my document?
00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.119
Hey, was this document sent?
00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.720
Not, hey, can you validate this?
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:58.559
Look at the document, tell me when it was sent, look at the grouping of information that was done with it, and then come back and give me all of the things that were maybe missed or are data related to my ERP or my accounting system.
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:04.079
AI is gonna come back and probably give you an answer of, hey, would you like a Coke or a Pepsi?
00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.759
Because it's gonna go a little haywire.
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.279
It's not gonna have those answers.
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:21.519
There's a lot of major EDI providers that are literally sending out emails that say, hey, we've just introduced this bot to respond to our customers and give our customers answers.
00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.880
AI from our side is where do we leverage AI at EDI support?
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:33.200
Some people have asked me this, and I've said, listen, we leverage AI to help with our development.
00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:39.759
We still have engineers and developers that are reviewing that code, but it helps to speed up the code.
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:40.319
Okay.
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.759
Somebody's not having to click all of those things.
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.240
It's just like a voice to text, okay?
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:49.599
Is voice to text always correct of what you're trying to say?
00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.440
And then you're looking at your phone and you're going, that's not what I wanted.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:55.759
AI development is the same way.
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:56.319
Okay.
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:05.759
It's going to get a good majority of it right, but you're still going to want eyes looking at it and scrutinizing it, making sure it's it's 100% taken care of.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:07.440
EDI is the same way.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:15.519
AI can help with the mapping, can help with the configurations of communication, can help with those standardized things.
00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:32.880
AI can send out emails, it can do reminders, it can do all of those things because you're giving it a set schedule of sending out reminders for emails or coming in and doing mapping because you're using this retailer at many different tenants.
00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:38.400
But AI also needs to have a set of eyes looking over it.
00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.400
There's got to be a human and a loop.
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:44.480
Now, does it does it reduce staff allocations?
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:45.039
Yeah.
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:47.440
Does it reduce staff augmenting?
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:48.319
Yes.
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.279
Is it the answer to everything?
00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:51.920
No.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:58.559
Is it going to do everything you need it to do when you're setting up EDI or an API integration?
00:31:58.880 --> 00:31:59.200
No.
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:03.519
Because it's only doing the standard things that need to be done.
00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:11.759
And for anybody that's been in EDI for a long length of period, they know, listen, we customize it to meet our business flow.
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:17.839
You know, um, and we customize and we do things that are natural to us.
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:23.200
So it's it's a it's an interesting thing that's going on in the marketplace.
00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:27.920
Um, do I think bots are gonna be an AI usage is gonna grow?
00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:28.880
Yeah, it is.
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:38.720
It's gonna continually grow and it's gonna it's gonna continually get smarter and smarter, but EDI still needs a lot of human hand holding.
00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:39.680
Absolutely.
00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:49.839
Yeah, I I like you were saying, like who knows what it's what AI is gonna be like in the next five years, I mean, let alone the next one to two years um and the capabilities it's able to unlock.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:33:03.920
But I think what what's what it's able to do now and what you have utilized and incorporated, I I think is uh I think that's a very obviously good choice that's attractive to potential customers.
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:14.319
Um like if I want to communicate with a real person and and develop sort of a business uh partnership there, I don't want to have to just be constantly delegated to these automated chatbots.
00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:18.880
I feel like you lose that human connection, you lose I don't know, you lose something there.
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:26.240
Um, I don't know if I can even put it into words exactly, but um I'm not ready to yeah, sign sign over with this completely automated company.
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:29.599
Yeah, we're not we're not at that point yet.
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:43.200
So on the on the opposite side of things is you have to think of how many people are pushing back on AI and bot usage and all of those things because they want job security.
00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:54.240
In EDI, what you find is is if you already have existing EDI, there's typically one or two people that are in your organization that know everything about your EDI system.
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:54.880
Okay.
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:56.640
Enterprise level.
00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:10.239
Just literally talk to very big company, very well known by a lot of people throughout the world, and they have two people that know their EDI system inside and out.
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:11.519
Well, guess what?
00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:13.840
There's limited documentation.
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:21.280
When one of those two people is homesick or on vacation, they're now funneled through one person.
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:36.800
AI is not going to come in and gather 30 years of knowledge of the homegrown conditional rules that this person has baked into their business process that EDI is handling.
00:34:37.280 --> 00:35:03.440
Over time, it can be unwound, or the layers of the onion can be peeled, and you can figure it out and you can put it into a system using AI, but you still need a human to go through and talk to all these different departments and say, Hey, let's sit down and what is your A50 or purchase order process look like?
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:15.679
Let's sit in a meeting and let's scope this all out and see how many steps there are and how many conditional rules there are depending on who the trading partner is.
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:26.480
There's just a there's a lot for people to learn, there's a lot for AI to learn, there's a lot for everybody to be happy in this space.
00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:27.519
Okay, Jim.
00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:33.039
So I want to hit you with uh something that sort of confuses a lot of people and it it confused me a little bit.
00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:35.920
It was um EDI versus ERP.
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:47.519
So you've got you've got EDI and then you've got your your ERP, you've got QuickBooks, Net Suite, uh whatever you're running the business on, and people kind of lump those two together or maybe assume one handles the other.
00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:49.599
How do those two actually connect?
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:52.880
And and why does that matter on a day-to-day basis for small business?
00:35:53.840 --> 00:36:04.880
So with with small businesses, the way that I always describe it to people is this your ERP is dealing with your accounting processes.
00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:12.320
So maybe it stores your inventory, it stores your uh your financing, what did you make from a customer?
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:15.920
What do you pay for a customer to to uh your different vendors?
00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:22.639
All of those different things are stored inside your ERP that are reporting on your company, okay?
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:28.800
You know, EDI is just the movement of data.
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:35.679
Now, can EDI processing be built into an ERP?
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:51.039
Yes, there are some ERPs out there that do have EDI functionality built into them, but your ERP is really for financial inventory tracking.
00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:53.199
What ship twos are you dealing with?
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:54.800
Who are your customers?
00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.239
All of those different things.
00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:09.360
You may have just say a thousand customers, but you only have five that are handling EDI processing or EDI documents that need to be processed.
00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:16.960
So it's it's exchanging data in a certain format handles your is your EDI.
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:20.159
Your ERP is where do you hold that data?
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:22.000
Where do you hold that information?
00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:31.360
How do you look up and do reports on what you've sold to your various customers over the year or six months or two years?
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:42.559
How do you do a report to look at what are all the different ship to locations throughout the United States or the world that you're shipping orders with or you're manufacturing goods for?
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:48.400
So your ERP is going to handle that data and that reporting information.
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:49.440
Gratcha.
00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:51.039
Okay, I appreciate that explanation.
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.880
That that makes a lot of sense now that you've you've phrased it so simply.
00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:55.920
I appreciate that.
00:37:56.079 --> 00:38:03.519
Um I want to now get a little bit uh more practical in terms of uh, you know, when when somebody is um about to sign something.
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:10.480
Like I imagine that someone listening right now is maybe about to sign um something this week, let's say.
00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:13.199
What what should they be asking before they do so?
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:20.719
And and and maybe on the flip side too, like what are some of the red flags, the stuff that should make them sort of, you know, close the tab, keep looking.
00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:27.360
Most businesses and most organizations have no clue of what they're gonna look like in five years.
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:27.920
Okay.
00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:32.960
If I look at my own business and I say, what did it look like five years ago?
00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:36.880
We were all five years ago strictly on consulting.
00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:41.119
Didn't matter what product you utilized, any of those types of things, just bring us the work.
00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:42.639
Now, do we still do that?
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:51.519
Yes, but we've added all these other things, you know, elevate, we're a boomy partner, like we've added these different things that are a part of that.
00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:56.000
We still do our consulting, but we've added other functions and features.
00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:56.480
Okay.
00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:05.920
When these EDI providers, they're like, hey, I want you to sign a two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year contract, try to limit that first thing.
00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:09.519
If you've done your due diligence, the only thing that's holding you back is your contract.
00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:11.599
Again, limit that contract.
00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:17.599
Also, what do the increases look like over the next few years?
00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:19.440
Can you lock that in?
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:24.159
You know, are they going to be giving you price adjustments whenever they feel like it?
00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:27.440
And for whatever percentage they feel like.
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:35.280
Well, you want to get that in writing if you're doing an extended period of contract because what does my renewal rate become?
00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:38.400
The next thing, what are they providing to you?
00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:40.239
What all do they cover?
00:39:40.639 --> 00:39:42.559
Do they do the implementation?
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:45.039
Do they give you customer support?
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:47.840
How quick does their customer support respond?
00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.719
How quick does it get fixes?
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:57.440
Are you able to customize their platform built for your business processes?
00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:04.239
Or do you have to deal with an off-the-shelf standard workflow?
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:15.280
There's things that are going to come into play that you want to answer for yourself, not only being longevity, being customer service, being how fast are they going to get back to you?
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:17.440
How can you customize it?
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:24.480
Does it allow API integration to your ERP system or WMS or TMS system?
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:26.000
What does that look like?
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:37.599
So start thinking about those things because those are typical red flags that we run across where they're like, hey, I didn't know they didn't talk to our trading partners.
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:39.760
And it was all routed through us.
00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:44.800
And we have to do all of the project management for implementing EDI.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:51.440
Well, what are the add-on costs that they may not be talking about up front?
00:40:51.679 --> 00:41:02.559
You know, some have hidden costs that are data related, where you're not only paying for their platform, but you pay for as much data as you put through it.
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:16.559
And if you have overages or you want a higher level of support, because they have gold, silver, and and um bronze level of support, which one do you fall into?
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:22.480
Do big companies get weighed heavier than little companies?
00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:27.039
So if they're if they're if everybody's getting treated the same, that's okay.
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:41.840
But if your business, because you're$200 a month compared to somebody that's$200,000 a month, gets a slower response or only gets bots that you can talk to, there's an issue.
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:44.159
So start to look at all those different things.
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:48.400
And again, if you have questions, and this is always my big thing.
00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:51.119
If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out.
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:53.360
We do this stuff on a daily basis.
00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:59.039
Phone calls with me and meetings, they're free until we actually start doing work.
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:06.719
Well, I hope, I hope prospective, you know, uh customers are taking notes here because those are all very, very important things you listed.
00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:14.880
And um, it sounds like a lot of the sort of red flags are are things that you've obviously um you know really worked to uh uh address.
00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:25.840
Like it's like the opposite of of how you guys really set up Elevate with your transparent pricing, the lack of contracts, actual humans um instead of uh of bots.
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:32.880
Um that sounds like it it should just be the standard, like the bare minimum, but obviously it's sounds like it's not.
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:37.760
The fun part is is when I got into this, that was the standard.
00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:40.159
So I'm not reinventing the wheel.
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:47.519
I'm just bringing back what I was used to when I got into EDI at the ripe age of 19.
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:51.119
Why why why do you think it's those things are so rare?
00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:56.000
Is it the sort of insidification that's happening or or you know something else?
00:42:56.400 --> 00:43:07.440
So it the the way that I look at it is um you're larger, so in the EDI world, when it comes to providers, there's typically you're either falling on one side of the spectrum or the other.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:12.159
You're either a small business that's an EDI provider, which we are.
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:22.000
You have either small players or very large organizations that have been in this space for decades upon decades.
00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:28.719
Typically, those larger organizations in the EDI world, they also answer to investors.
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:29.360
Okay.
00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:31.519
So investors, what do they want?
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:33.280
Investors want money.
00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:38.079
They want, if they're gonna give you money, they want to get something in return.
00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:42.559
And typically that's a payout or some type of monetary thing.
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:52.719
So all along these years, these large corporations that had many technical people on their teams keep reducing.
00:43:52.960 --> 00:44:02.880
They're not slowing down the number of customers they're adding, but they're actually the weird thing is they're they tout, oh, I've I we deal with 50,000 customers.
00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:08.480
And I'm like, okay, what's your ratio of customers to actual employees?
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:12.320
And what does it look like it's done over the last 10 years?
00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:15.679
Well, that divide has become greater and greater.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:26.079
So maybe they have 30 companies supported by one person, or every thousand companies supported by one person.
00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:29.360
That's that's not sustainable.
00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:31.519
That's not sustainable at all.
00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:35.199
I don't care how much AI and the bots take over.
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:43.599
Um, you still need individuals that are going to be there to project manage, to work on things, to be responsive to people.
00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:56.400
Um, so that's really where the great divide has happened is a lot of these larger organizations that have been around for a very long period of time have reduced their staff as they've increased their customer load.
00:44:56.719 --> 00:45:19.360
Well, I just love that, you know, going back to what you said earlier, and you're explaining sort of the questions to ask about weighing your options of um EDI providers and and whatnot, is it's it's just kind of wild that you know the the sort of like we'll we'll tell you the price and let you leave if you're unhappy is is basically a differentiator that you guys are are setting for yourself versus the kind of competition.
00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:20.800
But you know, here we are.
00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.360
That's kind of the the way things are, it seems like.
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:29.599
Well, and that's and that's the thing is you're not gonna, you know, typically think of your your own world, though.
00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:34.320
When you're when you're going out and you're shopping for a car, you want to know what that car is gonna cost you.
00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:44.320
Like you're you're not just gonna go and go, oh, I want a I want a high-end luxury vehicle, and I can't afford it because I only make X.
00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:46.719
Well, you want to see what the pricing looks like.
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:53.199
You want to understand what is the pricing because that's what you can spend, or that's what you can factor in for your business.
00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:58.800
Whether that's your small, medium, or large, everybody wants to know what's the price.
00:45:58.960 --> 00:46:04.880
I don't I don't need to talk to your salesperson to just get an understanding of what your pricing is.
00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:06.079
Totally, 100%.
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:12.480
Yeah, now I just wish the principles you are based off of that your company is based off of is applied to the healthcare industry.
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:14.480
That would be uh that would be great.
00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:18.159
That's another realm of you know, healthcare EDI.
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:22.480
Um, there's a lot of there's a lot of movements that are that are going on there.
00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:33.199
There's a lot of things that people are are doing in that space that are speeding things up and making things easier, but they're still not at the level that they need to be.
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:35.760
Um, you still need human interaction.
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:44.960
And listen, there's only so many insurance providers out there, not compared to what we have in like the retail realm.
00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:57.039
The retail realm, you're talking tens of thousands, hundreds, millions of organizations that are out there in the retail space that all do it a certain way.
00:46:57.760 --> 00:47:18.800
And that's where like I have to tell people listen, if if healthcare is not there yet, and that has less EDI documents that are being sent back and forth, less companies that are involved in it, retail, transportation, logistics, they're not gonna catch up quite yet.
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:34.079
Well, um, I I want to capitalize on the the the value proposition you offer here and and give you a chance to uh direct viewers and listeners to um your website and and where they can get in contact with you and your team.
00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:36.000
Where's the best place to go?
00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:39.840
So again, we'll go back to our funny little domain.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.639
You know, hop out there, check out www.ihateedi.com.
00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:46.400
Pretty easy to do.
00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:48.480
Um, it'll lead you.
00:47:48.719 --> 00:47:51.280
Again, we do EDI consulting.
00:47:51.519 --> 00:47:54.400
We have our own platform in of Elevate.
00:47:54.559 --> 00:47:56.480
You know, you don't have to use Elevate.
00:47:56.639 --> 00:48:07.920
We can do consulting and talk about all the different companies that are out there, their different platforms, what they bring to the table and and help you to do your due diligence of figuring out what truly makes sense.
00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:12.960
Um, we're also, for the last coming up on seven years, a boomy partner.
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:15.679
It's an iPass, a platform that we believe in.
00:48:15.760 --> 00:48:19.119
We do a lot of consulting on that product for a lot of companies.
00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:21.840
And really, we're just here for conversation.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:22.960
We're here to help.
00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:26.159
I have a YouTube channel that has over 300 videos.
00:48:26.320 --> 00:48:33.360
We also have a Discord server that gives you information from leading EDI and API people around the world.
00:48:33.440 --> 00:48:35.599
We have over 1,200 members there.
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:37.840
Um, you can even find me on LinkedIn.
00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:39.119
We're on LinkedIn.
00:48:39.199 --> 00:48:41.679
I have like 10,000 followers on there.
00:48:41.840 --> 00:48:44.159
Um, again, I'm not touting these numbers.
00:48:44.320 --> 00:49:01.119
I'm just allowing you to understand the connections that I've made over these years and the people that are in my sphere of influence that I can talk to or reach out to and have a conversation with to find you and help you build an answer for what your need is.
00:49:01.360 --> 00:49:02.960
You know, where are your pain points?
00:49:03.039 --> 00:49:04.960
What can we figure out and help you through?
00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:07.119
It's again, it's all about education.
00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:12.719
I sing the kid around with people and tell them, listen, my wife and my daughters are happy.
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:16.559
And as long as they're happy financially, I'm okay financially.
00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:20.320
So I don't have to get more and more customers.
00:49:20.480 --> 00:49:23.119
I enjoy helping more customers.
00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:27.440
Well, I wish everyone had your attitude because I think the world would be a better place.
00:49:27.519 --> 00:49:51.920
I love that you're just a resource for uh this industry and this um the EDI support, and you're you're just open to um, you know, communication in all forms and working with uh whoever might be uh interested in working with you, partnering, uh, you know, taking advantage using elevate, but also just you're you're open to helping answer any questions and clear concerns and things up like that.
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:55.840
And I I can attest to the EDI support LLC YouTube channel.
00:49:55.920 --> 00:50:04.000
It's it's a great resource for those interested in learning more about this industry and and and sort of behind the scenes um things going on there.
00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:06.159
Jim, thank you so much for everything you shared with us.
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:07.440
This has really been great.
00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:08.960
Oh no, thank you.
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:10.639
Thank you for the conversation.
00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:15.440
Um, like I said, I I look forward to always having conversations like this.
00:50:15.679 --> 00:50:18.960
And hopefully we can have another conversation again in the future.
00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:20.000
I would love to.
00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:28.880
I mean, yeah, with us, and we can continue to drill into AI and what's what it what it falls short and uh and tackling and handling because there's a lot to get into there.
00:50:29.119 --> 00:50:32.400
Um, but yeah, we'll have you back and hopefully soon.
00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:33.280
All right, Bo.
00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:33.599
All right.
00:50:33.760 --> 00:50:35.920
Well, you have your you have yourself a great day.
00:50:36.159 --> 00:50:37.440
Thank you so much, you too.
00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:40.239
And thank you all for listening to the SourceForge podcast.
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:41.840
I am your host, Bo Hamilton.
00:50:41.920 --> 00:50:46.559
Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date with all of our upcoming B2B software related podcasts.
00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:48.880
I will talk to you in the next one.
00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:07.919
Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the SourceForge podcast.
00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:09.439
I am your host, Bo Hamilton.
00:00:09.759 --> 00:00:14.560
So today's episode is one I think a lot of people are going to relate to, maybe a little bit uh too much.
00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:21.199
But if you're if you've ever landed a big retail account and then found out the hard way that that getting the order was the easy part.
00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:23.440
Because here's how it typically goes down.
00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:24.879
So you close the deal, right?
00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:28.160
Walmart, Target, Amazon, whoever, and you're celebrating.
00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:35.200
And then a day later you get an email that says something like, Cool, you need to be EDI compliant before your first purchase order ships.
00:00:35.280 --> 00:00:38.399
And you're sitting there going, What's what's EDI?
00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:40.479
What's an electronic data interchange?
00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:45.039
Um, if that is you or that was you at some point, you are in good company.
00:00:45.200 --> 00:00:52.560
Most small businesses sort of hit that wall with no in-house EDI person, no clue what an 850, 850, or an 856 is.
00:00:52.719 --> 00:01:00.479
And then they start calling providers and everyone wants a multi-year contract and a big setup fee before they'll even really explain what you're getting.
00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:02.079
Um so it's kind of a mess.
00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:12.079
And honestly, it's been a mess for what I understand for a long time because most of this stuff was built for big enterprise companies and small businesses just sort of got tacked on later.
00:01:12.239 --> 00:01:15.920
Uh, my my guest today has been living in that world for over 30 years.
00:01:16.079 --> 00:01:20.239
Jim Gonzalez is the CEO of EDI Support LLC.
00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:22.719
And for years, they were a consulting shop.
00:01:22.799 --> 00:01:29.680
So he's the guy who kept getting called in after you know somebody had already gotten burned by their EDI provider.
00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:34.319
Um, and at some point he decided, all right, we should just build the thing ourselves.
00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:40.159
And that turned into Elevate, uh, which is their cloud-based managed EDI platform for small businesses.
00:01:40.319 --> 00:01:42.719
It's coming up on about a year old now.
00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.319
And the whole pitch is basically the opposite of the of the legacy guys.
00:01:46.480 --> 00:01:51.120
Transparent pricing, no long-term contracts, actual humans you can talk to.
00:01:51.280 --> 00:02:08.080
So we're going to get into a lot of this stuff, a lot of uh why uh EDI is such a pain for small businesses, what actually goes wrong when the first uh that first requirement lands, how EDI and ERP fit together, which trips up a lot of people, and what you should be asking a provider before you sign anything.
00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.439
So we've got a lot to get into.
00:02:09.680 --> 00:02:12.159
Jim, welcome to the SourceForge podcast.
00:02:12.319 --> 00:02:13.360
Glad you could join us.
00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:15.120
Oh, thank you for having me.
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.919
Uh uh this is this is something that's near and dear to my heart for a long time, many decades.
00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:26.319
Uh, just look forward to trying to help as much as I can with education and everything else.
00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:29.520
Yeah, I'm really excited to have you here and just get right into it.
00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:36.159
Um, and I know we're gonna get into a lot of the specifics and get into the weeds here later on in this conversation.
00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:40.800
But before we do that, maybe you can give us a quick sort of uh rundown on your story.
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:43.039
You've been obviously doing this for a long time.
00:02:43.199 --> 00:02:45.520
Um, how did you end up in EDI?
00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.280
And what was that moment where you went, you know, from consulting to you know building your own platform?
00:02:51.680 --> 00:02:56.080
So the funny thing is, is I came out of a technical school.
00:02:56.159 --> 00:02:57.680
Uh I live in Pennsylvania.
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:06.560
So I came out of a technical school here in local in Pennsylvania called Burke's Technical Institute, which they I had to look just to make sure, but they are still around.
00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.919
So um I'm not that old yet.
00:03:10.319 --> 00:03:18.879
And I got into programming when I was there, so I was dealing with some archaic people are gonna understand what this is.
00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.159
So AS400s and system 36s.
00:03:22.479 --> 00:03:31.520
Um, those are basically the entry point for most financial institutions back in the 90s and a lot of large institutions.
00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:33.599
So I learned how to program in that.
00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:41.680
So, you know, dealing with RPG, um, all the different flavors there and COBOL and all of those things, and I thought, you know what?
00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:42.960
This will be great.
00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:49.599
Um, I'm gonna get out there and I'm gonna make a difference in the world, and uh, I'm gonna program different things for different people.
00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:54.240
Well, I was hired by an organization, they brought me in at 19 years old.
00:03:54.400 --> 00:04:02.159
Um, I lasted a whole six months doing programming, um, and then I started to figure out you know what?
00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:20.399
I just can't sit in a cubicle in dark spaces trying to figure out problems and fixes for people um when it came to actually programming, because most people know programmers are usually siloed individuals, and it's okay, there's nothing wrong with that.
00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:27.759
Um, but anybody that knows me, I probably would have become a menace for myself to go that long.
00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.639
So, anyways, leads it to being the company I was at had their own EDI product.
00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:44.319
They then said, Hey Jim, listen, we're needing more people to learn EDI and to be in support and help out with EDI, ACH, AIA, Union Automation.
00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:49.360
And I was like, whatever that means, does that mean I get to talk to people?
00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.319
And they're like, Yeah, I'm like, okay, I'm cool with that.
00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:54.480
Let's let's figure this out.
00:04:54.800 --> 00:05:00.480
So at the ripe age of 19, as I say, I got thrown into D-Bend real quick.
00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:04.959
Hey, you're gonna be all calls, you're gonna talk to people, and you're gonna learn what EDI is.
00:05:05.040 --> 00:05:11.920
I'm like, all right, um, the running joke used to be when I was sitting in the department, it was, hey, my Eddie's broke.
00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:13.680
And I'm like, who's Eddie?
00:05:13.920 --> 00:05:23.600
Um, so electronic data interchange went ahead, learned how to become an implementer of EDI, learned various different products way back in the day.
00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:28.240
We're talking on Unix, DOS, um, before Windows.
00:05:28.480 --> 00:05:31.759
Um, and then from there, I became a trainer.
00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:45.519
Um, I started traveling around the United States, going to different client sites, um, doing all of those things where I got to help some pretty well-known brands along my life path.
00:05:45.680 --> 00:05:53.680
Um, and then I also moved on from there, went to do a consulting, um, even though we did consulting there to a lot.
00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.560
And that's why I say I've always been in the consulting arena.
00:05:56.720 --> 00:06:01.439
Um, I helped out with sales and consulting, tech consulting, all of those types of things.
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:21.120
And moved into a consulting actual company and started helping larger brands, uh larger enterprise brands, again, a lot of names that I don't want to name drop, but a lot of companies that a lot of us have heard about and dealing in all kinds of industries: retail, logistics, transportations, uh, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, you name it.
00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:25.279
Because again, everybody knows my mantra, it's just moving data, you know.
00:06:25.519 --> 00:06:35.759
And then with that, I started seeing like a lot of the small to medium businesses or the SMB market was not getting attention.
00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:41.680
They weren't getting the love that a lot of the big enterprise level organizations were.
00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:48.399
Well, EDI started for those enterprise organizations, not geared for the small to medium organizations.
00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:51.199
So I was like, what can I do to help?
00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:54.160
Well, along the way, I was like, you know what?
00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:04.480
I don't like how certain things are done in the consulting world where they're not focused on the SMB, they're not helping the small individuals, they're they're just looking at money, they're just all those concerns.
00:07:04.560 --> 00:07:05.920
And I was like, you know what?
00:07:06.160 --> 00:07:07.759
Why don't I start my own thing?
00:07:07.920 --> 00:07:11.120
Which happened to be my girlfriend at the time, was like, you should do it.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:12.160
You should do it.
00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:13.519
Backed me up.
00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:15.040
Now she's my wife.
00:07:15.279 --> 00:07:18.959
Now we're coming up on being in business uh nine years.
00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:26.000
And I always tell people, listen, we deal with startups and we deal with companies up to 22 billion in annual revenue.
00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.759
So we can help out real small companies to real large organizations.
00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.079
I appreciate you walking us through that.
00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:32.879
That's that's amazing.
00:07:33.040 --> 00:07:39.519
So you've really seen um you've obviously you've been doing this a long time since basically dial up.
00:07:39.680 --> 00:07:54.720
You've and you've worked you've seen both sides of the uh of the equation here with the customer side and the provider side and um all the industry sort of quirks and whatnot with in regards to standards, quote unquote standards with uh EDI.
00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:58.800
And yeah, I love that that that point where you're like, let's just I'm gonna do this myself.
00:07:58.959 --> 00:08:09.199
I can find a solution here for uh small businesses and helping them out um and getting all uh situated with EDI, um, you know, all the handling all their issues and their various needs.
00:08:09.279 --> 00:08:10.959
And um that's really fascinating.
00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:16.800
Uh I've I've got to ask, I've got in my notes here that you've you you your website is i hateedi.com.
00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:20.480
That's a pretty bold, uh, bold domain for a company that sells EDI.
00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:31.199
Uh well it's it's pretty funny because over the year you hear common things, and people that have been doing this, like myself for decades, the common thing that you hear is I hate EDI.
00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:42.639
Doesn't matter if it's a small business, medium business, large enterprise business, the people that are in the everyday crux of EDI, they're like, I hate EDI.
00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:46.879
One reason, one fashion, one pain point, whatever that is.
00:08:47.200 --> 00:08:54.480
So I was talking with uh my person, Lena, who helped me with my branding and and marketing and all those things.
00:08:54.559 --> 00:08:55.840
And I was like, you know what?
00:08:56.080 --> 00:08:57.519
Here's what we're gonna do.
00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:00.159
I'm gonna see if this is domain's available.
00:09:00.320 --> 00:09:02.240
I looked it up, it was available.
00:09:02.399 --> 00:09:04.399
I called her up and I said, Hey, guess what?
00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:06.559
You're gonna set up my website, and she's like, Okay.
00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:10.320
I was like, the domain is I hate EDI.
00:09:10.480 --> 00:09:12.799
She's like, No, you're not serious.
00:09:13.039 --> 00:09:14.799
I'm like, no, I'm dead serious.
00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:21.440
We're we're we're gonna go with I hate EDI because it's a common thing that's been done for decades.
00:09:21.600 --> 00:09:22.559
People have said it.
00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:35.440
Um, so when I actually it's a conversation, uh open air for me, when I run across people that have been doing this for decades or a long period of time, they're like, I love your domain.
00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:41.200
As soon as I seen your domain, I knew you were serious about EDI because everybody hates EDI.
00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.559
It's just it's just how it happens, you know.
00:09:44.799 --> 00:09:52.320
And being a consultant, you know, we're we're always trying to figure out answers and solutions no matter the size of the company.
00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.919
So we're like, you know what?
00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:56.480
If you hate EDI, hey, come to us.
00:09:56.639 --> 00:10:02.320
We're gonna we're gonna try to make it suck a little bit less um and be a little bit better for you.
00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:03.120
I love that.
00:10:03.200 --> 00:10:05.039
Yeah, I love that you just leaned right into it.
00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:08.399
And yeah, absolutely, I can imagine it's a great conversation starter.
00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:18.960
Um let's uh let's get let's go back to the um, you know, take a step back, I guess, and and maybe you could help us explain um and uh understand what exactly is EDI.
00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.960
So I mentioned like the 850s, 856s in the intro.
00:10:23.120 --> 00:10:26.720
Um, and I'm guessing that meant nothing to some people.
00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:28.720
Um so maybe you could help kind of explain that.
00:10:28.799 --> 00:10:34.399
What is what is EDI and uh also like why why did the big retailers make everyone do it in the first place?
00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:44.639
So the the easiest way that I ever describe it, and again, I love my wife, but even my wife still to this day is like, what do you do?
00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.519
And uh can you fix my computer?
00:10:47.679 --> 00:10:48.799
I'm like, no, I can't.
00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:51.360
I yes, I could, but do I want to?
00:10:51.600 --> 00:10:52.799
No, I really don't.
00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:58.799
So when it comes to EDI electronic data interchange, think of business documents.
00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:06.480
Okay, think of things that are being exchanged between two different business entities to ask them to do something.
00:11:06.799 --> 00:11:12.159
So in retail, you have what is considered a lot of times the order to cash process.
00:11:12.240 --> 00:11:25.759
So a purchase order being received by one entity, and then that entity fulfilling that purchase order and shipping products and labeling products, and then hey, I want to get paid and I want to invoice it.
00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:33.360
Now, EDI in most people's realm, if you're talking about just say North America, okay.
00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:44.000
North America, we're in a certain standard dealing in the X12, and there's different standards and formats and all of those different things that fall under EDI.
00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:49.600
Um, one of the big things that a lot of people have been talking about over the last few years is API.
00:11:49.840 --> 00:11:50.879
Well, guess what?
00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:56.639
API falls under EDI because EDI is just a sending of electronic data.
00:11:57.200 --> 00:12:04.799
API is making a connection to receive that electronic data or pull that electronic data.
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:19.679
Think about it this way anything that you can send document-wise, purchase orders, insurance claims, transportation, tendering, where's my load at?
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.559
All of those different things in a document format, but it's electronic.
00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:29.039
It can be XML, it can be X12, it can be a CSV file.
00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.159
It can some people even consider PDF files.
00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:37.519
They're a little unstructured, but you could put them into that bucket if you wanted to.
00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:46.960
The actual sort of number, like the 8850, 850s, 855, those are the specific sort of like 850 is the purchase order, right?
00:12:47.120 --> 00:12:56.960
And then uh the 856 is sort of the basically the packing slip, but in a format that a warehouse computer can read before the the truck shows up, that sort of thing.
00:12:57.279 --> 00:12:58.240
Correct, correct.
00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:00.879
So you have your purchase order, which is your 850.
00:13:01.039 --> 00:13:04.799
You have sometimes an 855, which is a purchase order acknowledgement.
00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:12.879
You also then have an 856, as you've indicated, which is a shipment document, and then you have your 810, which is your invoice.
00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:16.480
Those are common in the retail aspect of things.
00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.080
Now, could that be in an order to cash process?
00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:20.639
Yes.
00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:24.159
Could that be in a what's called a procurement process?
00:13:24.399 --> 00:13:24.799
Yes.
00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:32.000
It depends on who's representing the buyer or who is the buyer and who is the seller, um, depending on which way you're looking at things.
00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:40.159
So when you're thinking about it, think about okay, what can I do or what did I used to do when I wanted to order something?
00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:50.559
You would send a fax, you would make a phone call, um, you would send pigeon, whatever you looked at, whichever way you wanted to handle it, you just wanted to get that order process.
00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:56.879
Well, now, also in our day and age, everybody wants real-time information.
00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:00.480
So I do it on a weekly basis.
00:14:00.639 --> 00:14:02.879
I'm pretty sure you do it on a weekly basis.
00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:07.120
Maybe you track a shipment, you're expecting something to come in the next day.
00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:12.240
Um, you want to know exactly where is that truck that has your product right now?
00:14:12.399 --> 00:14:13.039
Is it in St.
00:14:13.200 --> 00:14:13.600
Louis?
00:14:13.759 --> 00:14:14.879
Is it in Florida?
00:14:15.039 --> 00:14:15.759
Where is it?
00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:22.320
So that I can expect when it hits my porch or when it gets to the post office or whatever that looks like.
00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:27.440
Okay, it's the same thing when you're looking in, like, I don't know, pharmaceuticals.
00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:35.039
So a big push in the United States is to bring pharmacy in-house here in the US, start manufacturing, start doing all those things.
00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:44.720
Well, those pharmaceutical manufacturers they need to know when is that compound going to be received at their manufacturing facility.
00:14:44.960 --> 00:14:51.360
So you have to start understanding the chain of events that's being reported through EDI.
00:14:51.519 --> 00:15:02.799
Um, and I always say, and I I missed it in the last piece, but EDI X12, it has a lot of different standards, but sometimes it's not structured.
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:06.559
And sometimes those standards are very loose leaf.
00:15:06.799 --> 00:15:09.759
So we say there's standards, but there's really not.
00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:13.200
People are going to do what they want to do when it comes to business.
00:15:13.519 --> 00:15:13.759
Right.
00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:14.000
Yeah.
00:15:14.080 --> 00:15:17.279
Businesses are going to find a way that that something that works for them, right?
00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:24.559
Um, so maybe you can help us walk through the scenario that maybe some uh listeners are are kind of dreading or have already lived.
00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:29.440
Um you have a small company, they maybe they just landed a big retail account and they got the email.
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:32.639
You've got 30 days to be EDI compliant.
00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.159
Um, what what happens next?
00:15:34.240 --> 00:15:36.240
Like what do what do most people actually do?
00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:39.679
And then where does it really start to go sideways?
00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:41.840
See, this is the this is the fun thing.
00:15:42.000 --> 00:15:50.720
So if you if you don't have EDI already in place, the first thing that most of them start doing is they start listening to the wrong people.
00:15:51.200 --> 00:15:55.279
So they they start listening to, oh, well, my trading partner.
00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:58.799
So your trading partner is somebody that you exchange EDI with.
00:15:58.960 --> 00:16:03.200
Okay, doesn't matter if it's uh carrying company, doesn't matter who it is.
00:16:03.279 --> 00:16:05.360
Okay, so we call them trading partners.
00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:07.679
So they listen to the trading partner.
00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:10.799
The trading partner says you should go with X, Y, and Z.
00:16:11.360 --> 00:16:16.960
They the small business doesn't do their own research and say, oh, well, are they good?
00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.799
What do their Google reviews look like?
00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:20.639
What are other people saying about them?
00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:34.960
Or hey, maybe I should reach out to a professional that does consulting on this to get an answer as to who maybe should I should go with depending on my scenarios, depending on what I'm selling, how I'm selling.
00:16:35.120 --> 00:16:36.480
Is it going to the store?
00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:38.080
Is it going to a customer?
00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:46.000
Do I need it to be integrated with a back-end accounting system or ERP system or something of that nature?
00:16:46.399 --> 00:16:51.679
Um, they're purely just going with, eh, this is who they told me to go with, so that's who I'm just gonna go with.
00:16:51.840 --> 00:17:01.679
And then what ends up happening is they are locked into a three to five-year contract, they're paying ridiculous pricing because they didn't read the fine lines.
00:17:01.840 --> 00:17:10.160
So there's a lot of things that they learn rather quickly about what that implementation of EDI look like.
00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:18.400
And sometimes when they think it's supposed to be 30 days, it becomes six months, eight months, a year down the road.
00:17:18.559 --> 00:17:30.799
And there's had they just done a little bit of research, maybe whatever it may be, using AI, whatever, just look for a consulting company or somebody that's like, hey, listen, we're not biased.
00:17:30.880 --> 00:17:39.279
We're here to bring you options and we're here to speak about what you currently have going on and figure out where you should do your due diligence.
00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.200
Look at these different companies.
00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:54.160
They fit the scenario that you're speaking of and what you're looking for, so that they get something that's built for them, not something that's built for the salesperson that's trying to sell it to them.
00:17:54.319 --> 00:18:07.359
And that's a common mistake a lot of small companies, even some large companies, make, is they go with who they're told to go with instead of who they should go with by doing their own due diligence.
00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:18.720
So let's let's talk about the the the calls that you you receive, because obviously, you know, you're the you're the go-to consulting firm in this industry for companies to to get some support, right?
00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.160
So you obviously and you spent some you spent many years on the consulting side, so I'm guessing you heard some stories.
00:18:24.240 --> 00:18:33.359
Um, what's the one you hear sort of over and over again that the bit the business that came up to you and after uh just a bad experience with one of the bigger providers?
00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:47.359
Um maybe maybe anything that come to mind there, and then and then maybe you could also talk about like what did it actually sort of cost them um both in you know monetary figures, but also in time, um, the relationship with the the retailer or whatever it was.
00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:49.599
Like, can you walk us through that?
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:55.200
I can give you, you know, far-reaching ends of of the ranges.
00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:59.839
I never I don't want to speak about any existing companies that are out there.
00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:04.000
And this is gonna probably make the viewers laugh and yourself laugh.
00:19:04.240 --> 00:19:12.240
The way that my view is is if you acknowledge anybody that's out there in the marketplace, you're giving them reputation.
00:19:12.400 --> 00:19:17.200
You're giving them and thinking that they're on the same level as you and your organization.
00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:22.480
This sounds a little cocky, but I don't think any other organizations are on the same level as ours.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:29.519
So I don't look at them as competition and I don't speak about them in the general public where I try not to.
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:37.279
So, with that being said, but some organizations, like I had a really small company, and this seems to happen on a regular basis.
00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:40.559
Really small organization reached out, you know.
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.079
As you indicated, we built our own product, Elevate.
00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:46.799
Essentially, we started down that pathway three years ago.
00:19:47.039 --> 00:19:58.079
This small organization was doing very minimal purchase orders with a large retail entity, and I'm talking like five purchase orders a month, which is not a huge amount of data.
00:19:58.319 --> 00:20:07.920
And they were spending anywhere between two to three hundred dollars per month, and they were locked in to a three-year contract.
00:20:08.480 --> 00:20:20.400
Two to three hundred dollars doesn't sound like a lot of money, but when you sell small products with small margins, that's eating into your margins, that's eating into all of those things.
00:20:20.559 --> 00:20:36.880
That exact same company when their contract came up, they went with us at elevate, and I literally cut their yearly cost in half with a higher level of customer service.
00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:45.200
So you got best of both worlds, and that's where some people are like, oh well, how are you cheaper than these other entities?
00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:57.599
The way that I have to explain it is this our platform was built in 20, started to be built in 2024, edge of 2023, started to be built.
00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:07.519
So you're talking about a new platform, brand new, coming to the market using latest and greatest technology and infrastructure to set it up.
00:21:07.680 --> 00:21:16.559
That's also backed by a team of individuals that have been doing this, most of the individuals, decades each.
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:26.720
So 24 people on my team, decades each of experience, some greater than mine, and latest and greatest technology to back it up.
00:21:26.880 --> 00:21:32.799
So we're able to put our pricing servers, and you know this, Bo.
00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:36.079
How much did virtual servers cost 10 years ago?
00:21:36.400 --> 00:21:37.519
A lot of money.
00:21:37.839 --> 00:21:48.640
So virtual servers years ago, you could get a virtual server, and on average, your monthly cost was going to probably be between two to four thousand dollars for a virtual server.
00:21:48.880 --> 00:21:59.759
Okay, you can buy a physical server back then for with half decent bells and whistles, and we're not that type of people, but you could buy a server physical for eight to ten thousand dollars.
00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:00.480
Okay.
00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:03.680
Now, over time that's gonna degrade.
00:22:04.160 --> 00:22:05.200
Think of Elevate.
00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:20.319
We're up against competition that have been doing this for 20-30 years and haven't revamped their system, and their pricing has steadily increased while the infrastructure costs have steadily decreased.
00:22:20.640 --> 00:22:30.960
So where does it make sense for me to pay a company 10 years ago pricing when we're sitting in 2026?
00:22:31.839 --> 00:22:47.359
So an elevate standpoint, yes, we are built and we look like we are cheaper than everybody, but it's based on today's economics, not 20 years ago economics.
00:22:47.920 --> 00:22:55.119
It's also built to be a long-standing partner with companies.
00:22:55.359 --> 00:22:57.440
So we're earning your business every month.
00:22:57.519 --> 00:23:15.759
I'm not locking you in on a one, two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year contract that I can show my investors hey, here's the amount of money that I have locked in on a contractual basis year over year, because guess who the investor and who the only person is that owns EDI support?
00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:25.200
So I can make my pricing based on what I think is fair and justifiable for all these organizations.
00:23:25.680 --> 00:23:28.880
Um, so I hope that paints a little bit of a picture.
00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:33.599
You know, our pricing, it all depends on who you're going with, who you're reviewing.
00:23:33.680 --> 00:23:40.720
I'm not saying that you can't find somebody or organizations that are gonna be better in pricing than ours.
00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:51.519
But I'm gonna probably say with everything we're bringing to the table, it's gonna be very hard to find something that's built better for the SMB world.
00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:58.240
Is EDI actually you know broken for small businesses, or is it just sort of hard to pick the right one?
00:23:58.960 --> 00:24:01.200
It's hard for them to pick the right one.
00:24:01.519 --> 00:24:03.440
You you hit the nail right on the head.
00:24:03.599 --> 00:24:09.839
Listen, they're gonna go out and they're gonna do all these searches, you know, AI rendered searches, all of those type of things.
00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:18.799
You know, on the back end of AI, sometimes it's who pays the best to be found the fastest in AI.
00:24:18.960 --> 00:24:20.559
And a lot of people don't know that.
00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.119
It's not fully truthful.
00:24:23.599 --> 00:24:25.599
But now they'll give you a list.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:38.559
Go down that list, have somebody that can you can leverage and you can lean on that has years of experience to say, hey, off of this list, tell me what they do, let me look at their pricing, let me look at what they offer.
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:41.039
What does their SLAs look like?
00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:44.480
Their service level agreements, how quick are they responding to you?
00:24:44.640 --> 00:24:47.119
Is it a bot that's responding to you?
00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:48.240
Is it a human?
00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:49.359
Is there an email?
00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:51.759
Is there a phone number that you can call?
00:24:52.000 --> 00:24:52.799
Well, guess what?
00:24:52.960 --> 00:25:03.519
With us, you get an email, you get a phone number, and you get human responses in two hours or less, and typically resolution in 24 hours or less.
00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:17.200
Most organizations that are out there can't do that or are not doing that because now they're starting to use the AI and the box and all of those things to answer when you're having problems on EDI.
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:18.000
Well, guess what?
00:25:18.160 --> 00:25:35.440
In the EDI world, you need responsiveness, you need somebody that's gonna pick up the phone, somebody's gonna answer an email, somebody that's gonna get back to you rather quickly, because most of these large retailers they have to answer to the common customer.
00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:41.279
So if they're if you're calling a big box store and you're saying, Where's my product?
00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:47.200
Guess who they're gonna be beating down the door of that supplier that's supplying the product to say, Where's my product?
00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:48.319
Where's it at?
00:25:48.480 --> 00:25:51.599
Now, typically that's all should be known in EDI.
00:25:52.079 --> 00:26:06.880
People have to go down the pathway of figuring out who is the best provider, who is making the fit known for them, and who's cost effective in that arena for them and not inhibiting their growth.
00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:21.440
Here's the funny part there is actually an EDI provider out there that a lot of people know and a lot of people utilize that actually bases their pricing on your average revenue that you're doing with a retailer.
00:26:21.680 --> 00:26:31.680
So imagine if you're selling a million dollars to said retailer, and the EDI provider you select takes 10% of that.
00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:38.960
So you're paying them a hundred grand to utilize their EDI platform before you ever make a profit.
00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:45.680
And these companies are out there and they're they make it, they make EDI sound like it's so much harder than what it is.
00:26:46.160 --> 00:26:49.039
EDI can't be complicated all day long.
00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:54.960
EDI needs people that know what they're doing to set you up for success.
00:26:55.519 --> 00:27:04.160
But EDI is not hard for people that live and breathe this day in, day out.
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:08.240
Not one individual knows every piece of EDI.
00:27:08.400 --> 00:27:10.240
I don't know every piece of EDI.
00:27:10.400 --> 00:27:15.440
A lot of people give me a lot more credit about my knowledge in EDI.
00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:21.119
I've just been lucky where I've seen a lot of different things, but I don't know everything.
00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:23.920
That's why I have a team of individuals behind me.
00:27:24.079 --> 00:27:25.680
Like, hey, let's figure this out.
00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:29.759
Let's brainstorm, let's go at this and let's come up with a solution.
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:32.240
Yeah, well, and you're constantly learning more every day.
00:27:32.319 --> 00:27:38.880
And and but obviously you you've your experience in the industry has has helped you, you know, stand out, and you are a great resource.
00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:54.880
And I was just thinking, speaking to the um, you know, some of the chatbots and and stuff you interact with with some um providers uh out there um where they're maybe they're maybe useful for answering some basic information and definitions, terminology, that sort of thing.
00:27:55.039 --> 00:28:05.680
But I think that having a person, a real human being to talk to and actually get a an understanding of of um you know some of the complexities involved, I think is really appealing.
00:28:05.759 --> 00:28:17.279
I mean, I can't imagine someone who's like, you know, uh a selling point would be some LLM chatbot automated tool um that's gonna get them to sign with that EDI support provider, you know?
00:28:17.680 --> 00:28:19.200
But that's the crazy thing.
00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:25.519
So um so I was at a big retail convention earlier this year.
00:28:25.920 --> 00:28:42.559
Everybody's booth was talking about their AI and how their AI is like this uh, I don't know, godsend that it's gonna answer everything in the world and it's gonna do all of these different things, and you're all gonna be taken care of.
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:47.920
And I was walking around this conference, and some people would say to me, Hey, what do you think of AI?
00:28:48.000 --> 00:28:49.839
How is it gonna work in in EDI?
00:28:50.000 --> 00:28:59.200
And I would say, Hey, listen, AI is gonna work in EDI, it's gonna work in a lot of facets throughout the industries, the world, all of those things.
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:10.400
AI is there to answer yes or no set questions for the most part, as it is today and for the next maybe five years.
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:12.319
Okay, greater than that, who knows?
00:29:12.480 --> 00:29:14.000
AI is moving fast.
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:32.559
But if you need to get a hold of somebody, what drives you nuts when you pick up that phone call and all of a sudden you have and you can tell it's an AI rendering voice that's like you have to repeat yourself 16 times to get to the department or to the person that you need to talk to.
00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:34.480
EDI is the same way.
00:29:34.640 --> 00:29:38.640
You may get select answers of, hey, where is my document?
00:29:38.880 --> 00:29:41.119
Hey, was this document sent?
00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:44.720
Not, hey, can you validate this?
00:29:44.880 --> 00:29:58.559
Look at the document, tell me when it was sent, look at the grouping of information that was done with it, and then come back and give me all of the things that were maybe missed or are data related to my ERP or my accounting system.
00:29:58.960 --> 00:30:04.079
AI is gonna come back and probably give you an answer of, hey, would you like a Coke or a Pepsi?
00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.759
Because it's gonna go a little haywire.
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:09.279
It's not gonna have those answers.
00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:21.519
There's a lot of major EDI providers that are literally sending out emails that say, hey, we've just introduced this bot to respond to our customers and give our customers answers.
00:30:21.839 --> 00:30:26.880
AI from our side is where do we leverage AI at EDI support?
00:30:27.039 --> 00:30:33.200
Some people have asked me this, and I've said, listen, we leverage AI to help with our development.
00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:39.759
We still have engineers and developers that are reviewing that code, but it helps to speed up the code.
00:30:40.079 --> 00:30:40.319
Okay.
00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.759
Somebody's not having to click all of those things.
00:30:43.920 --> 00:30:46.240
It's just like a voice to text, okay?
00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:49.599
Is voice to text always correct of what you're trying to say?
00:30:49.759 --> 00:30:53.440
And then you're looking at your phone and you're going, that's not what I wanted.
00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:55.759
AI development is the same way.
00:30:56.000 --> 00:30:56.319
Okay.
00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:05.759
It's going to get a good majority of it right, but you're still going to want eyes looking at it and scrutinizing it, making sure it's it's 100% taken care of.
00:31:06.079 --> 00:31:07.440
EDI is the same way.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:15.519
AI can help with the mapping, can help with the configurations of communication, can help with those standardized things.
00:31:15.920 --> 00:31:32.880
AI can send out emails, it can do reminders, it can do all of those things because you're giving it a set schedule of sending out reminders for emails or coming in and doing mapping because you're using this retailer at many different tenants.
00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:38.400
But AI also needs to have a set of eyes looking over it.
00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:40.400
There's got to be a human and a loop.
00:31:40.480 --> 00:31:44.480
Now, does it does it reduce staff allocations?
00:31:44.640 --> 00:31:45.039
Yeah.
00:31:45.279 --> 00:31:47.440
Does it reduce staff augmenting?
00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:48.319
Yes.
00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.279
Is it the answer to everything?
00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:51.920
No.
00:31:53.039 --> 00:31:58.559
Is it going to do everything you need it to do when you're setting up EDI or an API integration?
00:31:58.880 --> 00:31:59.200
No.
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:03.519
Because it's only doing the standard things that need to be done.
00:32:03.759 --> 00:32:11.759
And for anybody that's been in EDI for a long length of period, they know, listen, we customize it to meet our business flow.
00:32:12.000 --> 00:32:17.839
You know, um, and we customize and we do things that are natural to us.
00:32:18.079 --> 00:32:23.200
So it's it's a it's an interesting thing that's going on in the marketplace.
00:32:23.359 --> 00:32:27.920
Um, do I think bots are gonna be an AI usage is gonna grow?
00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:28.880
Yeah, it is.
00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:38.720
It's gonna continually grow and it's gonna it's gonna continually get smarter and smarter, but EDI still needs a lot of human hand holding.
00:32:39.039 --> 00:32:39.680
Absolutely.
00:32:39.839 --> 00:32:49.839
Yeah, I I like you were saying, like who knows what it's what AI is gonna be like in the next five years, I mean, let alone the next one to two years um and the capabilities it's able to unlock.
00:32:49.920 --> 00:33:03.920
But I think what what's what it's able to do now and what you have utilized and incorporated, I I think is uh I think that's a very obviously good choice that's attractive to potential customers.
00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:14.319
Um like if I want to communicate with a real person and and develop sort of a business uh partnership there, I don't want to have to just be constantly delegated to these automated chatbots.
00:33:14.400 --> 00:33:18.880
I feel like you lose that human connection, you lose I don't know, you lose something there.
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:26.240
Um, I don't know if I can even put it into words exactly, but um I'm not ready to yeah, sign sign over with this completely automated company.
00:33:27.200 --> 00:33:29.599
Yeah, we're not we're not at that point yet.
00:33:29.839 --> 00:33:43.200
So on the on the opposite side of things is you have to think of how many people are pushing back on AI and bot usage and all of those things because they want job security.
00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:54.240
In EDI, what you find is is if you already have existing EDI, there's typically one or two people that are in your organization that know everything about your EDI system.
00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:54.880
Okay.
00:33:55.440 --> 00:33:56.640
Enterprise level.
00:33:56.799 --> 00:34:10.239
Just literally talk to very big company, very well known by a lot of people throughout the world, and they have two people that know their EDI system inside and out.
00:34:10.559 --> 00:34:11.519
Well, guess what?
00:34:11.679 --> 00:34:13.840
There's limited documentation.
00:34:14.400 --> 00:34:21.280
When one of those two people is homesick or on vacation, they're now funneled through one person.
00:34:22.960 --> 00:34:36.800
AI is not going to come in and gather 30 years of knowledge of the homegrown conditional rules that this person has baked into their business process that EDI is handling.
00:34:37.280 --> 00:35:03.440
Over time, it can be unwound, or the layers of the onion can be peeled, and you can figure it out and you can put it into a system using AI, but you still need a human to go through and talk to all these different departments and say, Hey, let's sit down and what is your A50 or purchase order process look like?
00:35:04.320 --> 00:35:15.679
Let's sit in a meeting and let's scope this all out and see how many steps there are and how many conditional rules there are depending on who the trading partner is.
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:26.480
There's just a there's a lot for people to learn, there's a lot for AI to learn, there's a lot for everybody to be happy in this space.
00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:27.519
Okay, Jim.
00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:33.039
So I want to hit you with uh something that sort of confuses a lot of people and it it confused me a little bit.
00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:35.920
It was um EDI versus ERP.
00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:47.519
So you've got you've got EDI and then you've got your your ERP, you've got QuickBooks, Net Suite, uh whatever you're running the business on, and people kind of lump those two together or maybe assume one handles the other.
00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:49.599
How do those two actually connect?
00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:52.880
And and why does that matter on a day-to-day basis for small business?
00:35:53.840 --> 00:36:04.880
So with with small businesses, the way that I always describe it to people is this your ERP is dealing with your accounting processes.
00:36:05.119 --> 00:36:12.320
So maybe it stores your inventory, it stores your uh your financing, what did you make from a customer?
00:36:12.400 --> 00:36:15.920
What do you pay for a customer to to uh your different vendors?
00:36:16.079 --> 00:36:22.639
All of those different things are stored inside your ERP that are reporting on your company, okay?
00:36:22.880 --> 00:36:28.800
You know, EDI is just the movement of data.
00:36:29.199 --> 00:36:35.679
Now, can EDI processing be built into an ERP?
00:36:36.000 --> 00:36:51.039
Yes, there are some ERPs out there that do have EDI functionality built into them, but your ERP is really for financial inventory tracking.
00:36:51.199 --> 00:36:53.199
What ship twos are you dealing with?
00:36:53.360 --> 00:36:54.800
Who are your customers?
00:36:54.960 --> 00:36:56.239
All of those different things.
00:36:56.400 --> 00:37:09.360
You may have just say a thousand customers, but you only have five that are handling EDI processing or EDI documents that need to be processed.
00:37:09.679 --> 00:37:16.960
So it's it's exchanging data in a certain format handles your is your EDI.
00:37:17.119 --> 00:37:20.159
Your ERP is where do you hold that data?
00:37:20.320 --> 00:37:22.000
Where do you hold that information?
00:37:22.159 --> 00:37:31.360
How do you look up and do reports on what you've sold to your various customers over the year or six months or two years?
00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:42.559
How do you do a report to look at what are all the different ship to locations throughout the United States or the world that you're shipping orders with or you're manufacturing goods for?
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:48.400
So your ERP is going to handle that data and that reporting information.
00:37:48.719 --> 00:37:49.440
Gratcha.
00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:51.039
Okay, I appreciate that explanation.
00:37:51.119 --> 00:37:54.880
That that makes a lot of sense now that you've you've phrased it so simply.
00:37:55.039 --> 00:37:55.920
I appreciate that.
00:37:56.079 --> 00:38:03.519
Um I want to now get a little bit uh more practical in terms of uh, you know, when when somebody is um about to sign something.
00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:10.480
Like I imagine that someone listening right now is maybe about to sign um something this week, let's say.
00:38:10.559 --> 00:38:13.199
What what should they be asking before they do so?
00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:20.719
And and and maybe on the flip side too, like what are some of the red flags, the stuff that should make them sort of, you know, close the tab, keep looking.
00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:27.360
Most businesses and most organizations have no clue of what they're gonna look like in five years.
00:38:27.599 --> 00:38:27.920
Okay.
00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:32.960
If I look at my own business and I say, what did it look like five years ago?
00:38:33.280 --> 00:38:36.880
We were all five years ago strictly on consulting.
00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:41.119
Didn't matter what product you utilized, any of those types of things, just bring us the work.
00:38:41.280 --> 00:38:42.639
Now, do we still do that?
00:38:42.800 --> 00:38:51.519
Yes, but we've added all these other things, you know, elevate, we're a boomy partner, like we've added these different things that are a part of that.
00:38:51.679 --> 00:38:56.000
We still do our consulting, but we've added other functions and features.
00:38:56.159 --> 00:38:56.480
Okay.
00:38:57.199 --> 00:39:05.920
When these EDI providers, they're like, hey, I want you to sign a two-year, three-year, four-year, five-year contract, try to limit that first thing.
00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:09.519
If you've done your due diligence, the only thing that's holding you back is your contract.
00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:11.599
Again, limit that contract.
00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:17.599
Also, what do the increases look like over the next few years?
00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:19.440
Can you lock that in?
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:24.159
You know, are they going to be giving you price adjustments whenever they feel like it?
00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:27.440
And for whatever percentage they feel like.
00:39:27.840 --> 00:39:35.280
Well, you want to get that in writing if you're doing an extended period of contract because what does my renewal rate become?
00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:38.400
The next thing, what are they providing to you?
00:39:38.559 --> 00:39:40.239
What all do they cover?
00:39:40.639 --> 00:39:42.559
Do they do the implementation?
00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:45.039
Do they give you customer support?
00:39:45.199 --> 00:39:47.840
How quick does their customer support respond?
00:39:48.000 --> 00:39:50.719
How quick does it get fixes?
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:57.440
Are you able to customize their platform built for your business processes?
00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:04.239
Or do you have to deal with an off-the-shelf standard workflow?
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:15.280
There's things that are going to come into play that you want to answer for yourself, not only being longevity, being customer service, being how fast are they going to get back to you?
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:17.440
How can you customize it?
00:40:17.679 --> 00:40:24.480
Does it allow API integration to your ERP system or WMS or TMS system?
00:40:24.639 --> 00:40:26.000
What does that look like?
00:40:26.239 --> 00:40:37.599
So start thinking about those things because those are typical red flags that we run across where they're like, hey, I didn't know they didn't talk to our trading partners.
00:40:37.840 --> 00:40:39.760
And it was all routed through us.
00:40:39.920 --> 00:40:44.800
And we have to do all of the project management for implementing EDI.
00:40:44.960 --> 00:40:51.440
Well, what are the add-on costs that they may not be talking about up front?
00:40:51.679 --> 00:41:02.559
You know, some have hidden costs that are data related, where you're not only paying for their platform, but you pay for as much data as you put through it.
00:41:02.719 --> 00:41:16.559
And if you have overages or you want a higher level of support, because they have gold, silver, and and um bronze level of support, which one do you fall into?
00:41:16.960 --> 00:41:22.480
Do big companies get weighed heavier than little companies?
00:41:22.719 --> 00:41:27.039
So if they're if they're if everybody's getting treated the same, that's okay.
00:41:27.280 --> 00:41:41.840
But if your business, because you're$200 a month compared to somebody that's$200,000 a month, gets a slower response or only gets bots that you can talk to, there's an issue.
00:41:42.079 --> 00:41:44.159
So start to look at all those different things.
00:41:44.239 --> 00:41:48.400
And again, if you have questions, and this is always my big thing.
00:41:48.559 --> 00:41:51.119
If you have questions, don't hesitate to reach out.
00:41:51.280 --> 00:41:53.360
We do this stuff on a daily basis.
00:41:53.519 --> 00:41:59.039
Phone calls with me and meetings, they're free until we actually start doing work.
00:41:59.760 --> 00:42:06.719
Well, I hope, I hope prospective, you know, uh customers are taking notes here because those are all very, very important things you listed.
00:42:06.800 --> 00:42:14.880
And um, it sounds like a lot of the sort of red flags are are things that you've obviously um you know really worked to uh uh address.
00:42:14.960 --> 00:42:25.840
Like it's like the opposite of of how you guys really set up Elevate with your transparent pricing, the lack of contracts, actual humans um instead of uh of bots.
00:42:25.920 --> 00:42:32.880
Um that sounds like it it should just be the standard, like the bare minimum, but obviously it's sounds like it's not.
00:42:33.360 --> 00:42:37.760
The fun part is is when I got into this, that was the standard.
00:42:37.920 --> 00:42:40.159
So I'm not reinventing the wheel.
00:42:40.320 --> 00:42:47.519
I'm just bringing back what I was used to when I got into EDI at the ripe age of 19.
00:42:48.000 --> 00:42:51.119
Why why why do you think it's those things are so rare?
00:42:51.199 --> 00:42:56.000
Is it the sort of insidification that's happening or or you know something else?
00:42:56.400 --> 00:43:07.440
So it the the way that I look at it is um you're larger, so in the EDI world, when it comes to providers, there's typically you're either falling on one side of the spectrum or the other.
00:43:07.519 --> 00:43:12.159
You're either a small business that's an EDI provider, which we are.
00:43:12.480 --> 00:43:22.000
You have either small players or very large organizations that have been in this space for decades upon decades.
00:43:22.239 --> 00:43:28.719
Typically, those larger organizations in the EDI world, they also answer to investors.
00:43:29.039 --> 00:43:29.360
Okay.
00:43:29.760 --> 00:43:31.519
So investors, what do they want?
00:43:31.679 --> 00:43:33.280
Investors want money.
00:43:33.440 --> 00:43:38.079
They want, if they're gonna give you money, they want to get something in return.
00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:42.559
And typically that's a payout or some type of monetary thing.
00:43:43.199 --> 00:43:52.719
So all along these years, these large corporations that had many technical people on their teams keep reducing.
00:43:52.960 --> 00:44:02.880
They're not slowing down the number of customers they're adding, but they're actually the weird thing is they're they tout, oh, I've I we deal with 50,000 customers.
00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:08.480
And I'm like, okay, what's your ratio of customers to actual employees?
00:44:08.960 --> 00:44:12.320
And what does it look like it's done over the last 10 years?
00:44:12.800 --> 00:44:15.679
Well, that divide has become greater and greater.
00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:26.079
So maybe they have 30 companies supported by one person, or every thousand companies supported by one person.
00:44:26.880 --> 00:44:29.360
That's that's not sustainable.
00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:31.519
That's not sustainable at all.
00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:35.199
I don't care how much AI and the bots take over.
00:44:35.440 --> 00:44:43.599
Um, you still need individuals that are going to be there to project manage, to work on things, to be responsive to people.
00:44:44.000 --> 00:44:56.400
Um, so that's really where the great divide has happened is a lot of these larger organizations that have been around for a very long period of time have reduced their staff as they've increased their customer load.
00:44:56.719 --> 00:45:19.360
Well, I just love that, you know, going back to what you said earlier, and you're explaining sort of the questions to ask about weighing your options of um EDI providers and and whatnot, is it's it's just kind of wild that you know the the sort of like we'll we'll tell you the price and let you leave if you're unhappy is is basically a differentiator that you guys are are setting for yourself versus the kind of competition.
00:45:19.519 --> 00:45:20.800
But you know, here we are.
00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.360
That's kind of the the way things are, it seems like.
00:45:23.760 --> 00:45:29.599
Well, and that's and that's the thing is you're not gonna, you know, typically think of your your own world, though.
00:45:29.760 --> 00:45:34.320
When you're when you're going out and you're shopping for a car, you want to know what that car is gonna cost you.
00:45:34.480 --> 00:45:44.320
Like you're you're not just gonna go and go, oh, I want a I want a high-end luxury vehicle, and I can't afford it because I only make X.
00:45:44.800 --> 00:45:46.719
Well, you want to see what the pricing looks like.
00:45:46.880 --> 00:45:53.199
You want to understand what is the pricing because that's what you can spend, or that's what you can factor in for your business.
00:45:53.280 --> 00:45:58.800
Whether that's your small, medium, or large, everybody wants to know what's the price.
00:45:58.960 --> 00:46:04.880
I don't I don't need to talk to your salesperson to just get an understanding of what your pricing is.
00:46:05.280 --> 00:46:06.079
Totally, 100%.
00:46:06.320 --> 00:46:12.480
Yeah, now I just wish the principles you are based off of that your company is based off of is applied to the healthcare industry.
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:14.480
That would be uh that would be great.
00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:18.159
That's another realm of you know, healthcare EDI.
00:46:18.400 --> 00:46:22.480
Um, there's a lot of there's a lot of movements that are that are going on there.
00:46:22.639 --> 00:46:33.199
There's a lot of things that people are are doing in that space that are speeding things up and making things easier, but they're still not at the level that they need to be.
00:46:33.360 --> 00:46:35.760
Um, you still need human interaction.
00:46:36.079 --> 00:46:44.960
And listen, there's only so many insurance providers out there, not compared to what we have in like the retail realm.
00:46:45.280 --> 00:46:57.039
The retail realm, you're talking tens of thousands, hundreds, millions of organizations that are out there in the retail space that all do it a certain way.
00:46:57.760 --> 00:47:18.800
And that's where like I have to tell people listen, if if healthcare is not there yet, and that has less EDI documents that are being sent back and forth, less companies that are involved in it, retail, transportation, logistics, they're not gonna catch up quite yet.
00:47:19.199 --> 00:47:34.079
Well, um, I I want to capitalize on the the the value proposition you offer here and and give you a chance to uh direct viewers and listeners to um your website and and where they can get in contact with you and your team.
00:47:34.159 --> 00:47:36.000
Where's the best place to go?
00:47:36.320 --> 00:47:39.840
So again, we'll go back to our funny little domain.
00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.639
You know, hop out there, check out www.ihateedi.com.
00:47:44.800 --> 00:47:46.400
Pretty easy to do.
00:47:46.719 --> 00:47:48.480
Um, it'll lead you.
00:47:48.719 --> 00:47:51.280
Again, we do EDI consulting.
00:47:51.519 --> 00:47:54.400
We have our own platform in of Elevate.
00:47:54.559 --> 00:47:56.480
You know, you don't have to use Elevate.
00:47:56.639 --> 00:48:07.920
We can do consulting and talk about all the different companies that are out there, their different platforms, what they bring to the table and and help you to do your due diligence of figuring out what truly makes sense.
00:48:08.159 --> 00:48:12.960
Um, we're also, for the last coming up on seven years, a boomy partner.
00:48:13.280 --> 00:48:15.679
It's an iPass, a platform that we believe in.
00:48:15.760 --> 00:48:19.119
We do a lot of consulting on that product for a lot of companies.
00:48:19.440 --> 00:48:21.840
And really, we're just here for conversation.
00:48:22.000 --> 00:48:22.960
We're here to help.
00:48:23.119 --> 00:48:26.159
I have a YouTube channel that has over 300 videos.
00:48:26.320 --> 00:48:33.360
We also have a Discord server that gives you information from leading EDI and API people around the world.
00:48:33.440 --> 00:48:35.599
We have over 1,200 members there.
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:37.840
Um, you can even find me on LinkedIn.
00:48:38.000 --> 00:48:39.119
We're on LinkedIn.
00:48:39.199 --> 00:48:41.679
I have like 10,000 followers on there.
00:48:41.840 --> 00:48:44.159
Um, again, I'm not touting these numbers.
00:48:44.320 --> 00:49:01.119
I'm just allowing you to understand the connections that I've made over these years and the people that are in my sphere of influence that I can talk to or reach out to and have a conversation with to find you and help you build an answer for what your need is.
00:49:01.360 --> 00:49:02.960
You know, where are your pain points?
00:49:03.039 --> 00:49:04.960
What can we figure out and help you through?
00:49:05.119 --> 00:49:07.119
It's again, it's all about education.
00:49:07.360 --> 00:49:12.719
I sing the kid around with people and tell them, listen, my wife and my daughters are happy.
00:49:12.880 --> 00:49:16.559
And as long as they're happy financially, I'm okay financially.
00:49:16.719 --> 00:49:20.320
So I don't have to get more and more customers.
00:49:20.480 --> 00:49:23.119
I enjoy helping more customers.
00:49:23.599 --> 00:49:27.440
Well, I wish everyone had your attitude because I think the world would be a better place.
00:49:27.519 --> 00:49:51.920
I love that you're just a resource for uh this industry and this um the EDI support, and you're you're just open to um, you know, communication in all forms and working with uh whoever might be uh interested in working with you, partnering, uh, you know, taking advantage using elevate, but also just you're you're open to helping answer any questions and clear concerns and things up like that.
00:49:52.000 --> 00:49:55.840
And I I can attest to the EDI support LLC YouTube channel.
00:49:55.920 --> 00:50:04.000
It's it's a great resource for those interested in learning more about this industry and and and sort of behind the scenes um things going on there.
00:50:04.239 --> 00:50:06.159
Jim, thank you so much for everything you shared with us.
00:50:06.239 --> 00:50:07.440
This has really been great.
00:50:07.840 --> 00:50:08.960
Oh no, thank you.
00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:10.639
Thank you for the conversation.
00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:15.440
Um, like I said, I I look forward to always having conversations like this.
00:50:15.679 --> 00:50:18.960
And hopefully we can have another conversation again in the future.
00:50:19.280 --> 00:50:20.000
I would love to.
00:50:20.079 --> 00:50:28.880
I mean, yeah, with us, and we can continue to drill into AI and what's what it what it falls short and uh and tackling and handling because there's a lot to get into there.
00:50:29.119 --> 00:50:32.400
Um, but yeah, we'll have you back and hopefully soon.
00:50:32.639 --> 00:50:33.280
All right, Bo.
00:50:33.440 --> 00:50:33.599
All right.
00:50:33.760 --> 00:50:35.920
Well, you have your you have yourself a great day.
00:50:36.159 --> 00:50:37.440
Thank you so much, you too.
00:50:37.519 --> 00:50:40.239
And thank you all for listening to the SourceForge podcast.
00:50:40.320 --> 00:50:41.840
I am your host, Bo Hamilton.
00:50:41.920 --> 00:50:46.559
Make sure to subscribe to stay up to date with all of our upcoming B2B software related podcasts.
00:50:46.719 --> 00:50:48.880
I will talk to you in the next one.
