World Cargo home page Home | Contact Us | Site Map | Terms and Conditions
 
  homepageBusiness ToolsEDI
 

What is EDI

EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is the Application of computer and tele-communications technology to the exchange of business documents, such as air waybills, and other information.

With EDI, no paper documents are exchanged; instead, the documents are transferred, in a standard format, via a network, between your computer and your trading partner's computer. This has the advantage of speed, accuracy, and less manual effort than would be required using the conventional postal system or fax.

In short, with EDI:
  • Electronic documents replace paper ones
  • A telecommunications network replaces the postal service
  • Manual processing is reduced or eliminated The use of EDI provides some immediate benefits, these include:
  • Speed
  • Accuracy
  • Tracking Taken overall, these benefits provide an increase in business efficiency for all participants in the supply chain.


    EDI Business

    EDI Business continues to enhance the provision of customer service within the air cargo industry. At British Airways World Cargo we are using this technology to:
    • Receive and transmit air waybill data by EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
    • Receive and transmit house air waybill data by EDI to customs authorities
    • Receive and process freight
    • Deliver automated notification of the receipt of freight
    • Track and trace freight from the airport of origin to the airport of destination using barcode technology
    • Improve transparency of performance measurement to our customers
    As one of our customers, all of these services are available to you if you are connected to a Cargo Community System (CCS).


    Make EDI work

    To make EDI work for you, you will need:
    • Access to a Cargo Community System (CCS)
    • EDI Software
    • Appropriate hardware
    For further information on how to implement EDI contact the information systems team at British Airways World Cargo through the "Contact us" facility provided as part of the World Cargo web site.