For shippers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs), effective communication is central to orchestrating complex supply chains and ensuring reliable shipment lifecycle management. In today’s fast-paced logistics environment, every connection matters: whether you’re managing thousands of shipments or coordinating with a diverse network of carriers and partners, aligning different systems and protocols is essential for success. Whether it’s Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) or Application Programming Interface (API) messaging, the goal remains the same: seamless, secure and efficient data exchange.

Thinking back on the past year, there’s no disputing that the pandemic was the single most disruptive supply chain challenge we’ve seen in quite some time. At SMC³, our mission is to serve the entire industry. Providing support to every member of the supply chain is more important now than ever. Each of us at SMC³ is looking forward to the coming year.

Communication is a crucial underpinning to any supply chain, but all companies must speak the same language throughout the shipment lifecycle. Whether companies are using EDI or API protocols, when they need to connect but have disparate messaging systems, a technology provider has to transform the available data into a uniform, consumable format. This can be a complex and complicated process requiring technical expertise and experience.

Representatives from carriers, shippers and 3PLs – basically, anyone who works in the supply chain at all – knows EDI messaging has long been the standard way to communicate among logistics stakeholders. And while it is an old technology, electronic data interchange (EDI) is so entrenched in the supply chain that companies trumpeting the refrain “EDI is dead” are getting ahead of themselves.