EDI in the sanitary industry

EDI - Electronic Data Interchange - is the generic term for the automated electronic exchange of data or documents such as invoices, orders, etc. in a structured format.

EDIFACT, in turn, is a standard format based on EDI and one of the most widely used standards for exchanging data across industries and internationally. The abbreviation stands for Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport. EDIFACT is divided into several industry-specific standards, which are also known as subsets.

EDITEC is one such subset and serves as a format for exchanging messages in the sanitary industry. The standard was developed by DG Haustechnik and ARGE Neue Medien in collaboration with ITEK specifically for the sanitary industry in order to fulfil the specific requirements of all market participants.

This is because the three-stage distribution channel in the sanitary industry results in a constant exchange of data between manufacturers, wholesalers and tradespeople. Manufacturers sell their products via centralised regulators and associations to wholesalers, who in turn supply tradesmen in their region. All of these processes generate a large number of business documents that need to be exchanged between all market participants. Manufacturers receive orders and send invoices. Central regulators receive sales reports from their affiliated wholesalers and then send orders to the manufacturers.