Uitleg
An EDI alternative
EDI pays off with the few customers that have real volume. For the other dozens the setup is too expensive, so their orders keep coming by email. Those orders can run automatically too, without asking the shipper for anything. EDI and LaneDesk do not rule each other out; they cover different customers.
Written by the LaneDesk team · Last reviewed on 20 September 2026
EDI pays off with the few customers that have real volume. For the other dozens the setup is too expensive, so their orders keep coming by email. Those orders can run automatically too, without asking the shipper for anything.
What exactly does EDI do?
EDI is an agreement between two companies about what orders look like digitally. Both parties build that agreement into their system, and after that orders move from one system to the other without a person. Where it works, it works excellently: no email, no typos, no doubt.
Why does EDI stop at your three biggest customers?
Because the setup costs money and time on both sides. For a shipper that sends hundreds of orders a month, that investment pays for itself. For a shipper that sends twenty, it does not. That one says no politely and keeps emailing.
The result: the orders that give the most work, the varied, small and messy ones, are exactly the orders that never come via EDI.
What is the difference between EDI, a portal and AI order entry?
All three put orders into your system, but they ask something different of the shipper.
| EDI | Customer portal | LaneDesk | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it asks of the shipper | A project in its own system | An account and a habit | Nothing, it keeps emailing |
| Setup per shipper | Weeks to months | Days, plus convincing | Days |
| Works with varying formats | No, the format is fixed | No, the screen is fixed | Yes, that is the starting point |
| Pays off from | High volume per shipper | Shippers willing to play along | Any volume you retype today |
| Who maintains it | Both parties | You | We do |
So do you have to choose?
No. Keep EDI for the customers where it already runs; there is nothing to improve there. Put LaneDesk on the rest. In practice that is the majority of your shippers and a large share of the retyping.
Frequently asked questions
- Does LaneDesk replace our EDI connections?
- No, and there is no need to. Where EDI runs, you let it run. LaneDesk picks up the orders that do not come through it.
- Is this cheaper than setting up EDI?
- Per shipper, yes, because nothing has to be built on the shipper's side. With one big shipper with high volume, EDI can work out cheaper in the long run.
- What if a shipper wants EDI later after all?
- Then you set that up and take it away from us. There is no lock on it: the orders come in the way they always came in.
Free, no obligation, 30 minutes
See it on your toughest orders.
Pick a time and send along the orders that cause the most work today. In the call you see what LaneDesk does with them.
Book a demoWith your own orders · No preparation needed