EDI candidate calculator
Paste order counts per customer or vendor from your ERP and see which ones place enough orders to put on EDI: 40 or more a month and 1,000 or more in total.
- Paste from Excel or CSV
- Same rule as our EDI Candidate Analysis
- Runs in your browser
Your order counts
Copy the columns from Excel, or paste CSV text. Tabs, commas or semicolons between columns; a header row is fine; 1,234 and 1.234 are read as one number.
For rows without their own months column. Two years or more works best.
The rule
An EDI candidate places at least 40 orders a month on average and at least 1,000 orders in total. Both must be met.
Runs in your browser. What you paste or open is not sent anywhere and not stored.
Your results
Paste your order counts or load the sample data to see which customers and vendors are EDI candidates.
How it is decided
Orders a month
Total orders ÷ months of history, rounded to one decimal. Months come from the row, or from the setting above.
EDI candidate
Orders a month at least 40 and total orders at least 1,000.
Order of the list
EDI candidates first, then everyone else; within each group, most orders a month first.
Your data
How to get your numbers
One count per customer or vendor is enough. Most ERPs can list orders by customer or by vendor for a date range and export the list to Excel.
| What | How |
|---|---|
| Customers | Count the sales orders each customer placed over the period, for example from a sales order report grouped by customer and exported to Excel. |
| Vendors | Count the purchase orders you sent each vendor over the same period. |
| Period | As much order history as your ERP holds, two years or more if you can. 40 orders a month only add up to 1,000 after 25 months, so with a shorter period the 1,000 total decides on its own. |
| Columns | Name, then total orders. Add a third column with the months of history for partners who started trading with you during the period; every other row uses the months setting. |
| Format | Copy the cells from Excel, or paste CSV text with commas or semicolons between columns. A header row is fine. 1,234 and 1.234 are read as one number; in comma-separated text, put such numbers in quotes. |
| Already on EDI | Leave out partners who already send or receive EDI with you. The calculator only sees the names and numbers you paste. |
The thresholds
What makes a good EDI candidate
The two thresholds are the ones Comparatio’s EDI Candidate Analysis report uses. Together they pick the partners whose orders are both frequent and lasting.
40+ orders a month
Orders arrive steadily, nearly two every working day. Every order keyed by hand takes staff time and can carry a typing error, and at this volume that repeats all month.
1,000+ orders in total
The volume has lasted and is not a one-off project. Putting a partner on EDI is work on both sides, with go-live in 4–8 weeks, so it should cover many orders.
Then look at the partner
The counts are a starting point. Also check whether the partner already trades EDI with others, how many lines a typical order has and how often their orders need correcting.
For Prophet 21 distributors
On Prophet 21, this runs as a report
Comparatio’s EDI Candidate Analysis applies the same rule to your Prophet 21 order history and lists the customers and vendors with 40+ orders a month and 1,000+ in total who are not on EDI yet. It is one of the scheduled Excel reports Comparatio delivers by email from your live EDI and ERP data.
FAQ
Questions about the calculator
Why 40 orders a month and 1,000 in total?
They are the thresholds of Comparatio’s EDI Candidate Analysis report. 40 a month means orders arrive steadily, nearly two every working day. 1,000 in total means the volume has lasted. A partner that meets both sends enough orders to make the setup on both sides worthwhile.
Which period should I export?
As much order history as your ERP holds, two years or more if you can. 40 orders a month only add up to 1,000 after 25 months, so with a shorter period the 1,000 total decides on its own: over 12 months, it takes about 84 orders a month.
Does it work for vendors as well as customers?
Yes. For customers, count the sales orders they place with you; for vendors, the purchase orders you send them. Paste them in one list or check them one group at a time.
Does the calculator know who is already on EDI?
No. It only sees the names and numbers you paste, so leave out partners who already trade EDI with you. On Prophet 21, the EDI Candidate Analysis report lists only the customers and vendors who are not on EDI yet.
Why is a line marked as not read?
Each line needs a name followed by the total orders, and optionally the months. Lines without a number, with more than two numbers after the name, or with numbers that can be read more than one way are listed with the reason, so you can fix them and paste again.
Does Comparatio see the data I paste?
No. The calculator runs in your browser. What you paste or open is not sent anywhere and not stored; reload the page and it is gone. Copy results puts a summary and a table on your clipboard for a spreadsheet or an email.
Want to go through your list with us?
Comparatio runs managed EDI for distributors on Epicor Prophet 21, NetSuite and Infor CloudSuite Distribution. Bring your candidates and we can talk through which partners to put on EDI first.