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FAX/OCR/EDI
There has been some great info posted and you should take heed.
By the way, you are actually looking to implement a FAX-to-EDI
solution rather than an EDI-to-FAX (which typically is an automated
process) solution.
We have been in the business of accepting faxed documents on and
translating them using OCR and ICR (handprint recognition)
technologies for over 10 years. We have implemented many types of
forms including purchase order, invoicing, sales analysis, catalogue
information, psychological evaluations, surveys and other documents
that are typically found in business.
You can spend a lot of time any money in trying to implement this
solution (we have spent over 3 million dollars and about 5 years
perfecting our workflow).
If you do it in house, unless you get it right the first time, I am
almost certain that you will never see the benefit from implementing
an OCR solution. It will be problematic and you will be expecting
too much.
Our success stems from the fact that we look for the lowest common
denominator from the business application and try to standardize a
solution based on the minimum amount of information required.
We have been accepting faxed documents and have been succesful at
capturing the data and translating the information into processable
transactions. We have implemented EDI mapping tools, XML mapping
tools, Peoplesoft and SAP mapping tools and many proprietary
interfaces for our clients.
Jeff Mick and Scott Lewin had the most accurate information that you
should consider before trying this and I agree with their assesment.
Look for other alternatives to get to these SME's without having to
change anything in the way business is currently conducted.
We have many interfaces including fax (inbound and outbound), email,
FTP and WEB data capture and translation. We also have unique
desktop solutions that work with the SME back end allowing direct
import and export of data without having to rekey information. Once
the data is exported and sent to us (typically be email or FTP) we
translate the for the particular trading partner. The transaction is
logged and sent to its final destination.
One of the more unique solutions we have implemented is something
that Jeff Mick mentioned regarding evaluating the current technology
available.
Typically, purchase orders are printed out on a pre-formatted form
and sent to the supplier. What we have done with this is sat down
with the SME and said, can you print this information to a file and
email the file as an attachment. If the answer is yes, (and using
Windows technology that answer should be yes), we get the file and
build a demapping facility extracting the data using a positional
algortithm. Once the data is extracted, it is then logged and
reconstructed into the required EDI format and sent to the supplier.
You may spend more time looking at these kinds of scenarios for a
solution but you will reap more benefits if the solution ends up
being simple, less intrusive and makes business sense.
I hope that the information you find in these posts are helpful and
aid in your decision.
Steve Hatajlo
President - CEO
Faxinating Solutions Inc.
185 Dorval Avenue Suite 204
Dorval, Quebec Canada
H9S 5J9
+1 800 282-6283 ext 231
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