Introduction

Description

World-Wide EDI is a web-based EDI service providing you with a means to send and receive EDI transactions with government agencies, commercial companies (when available) and other trading partners using only a web-browser and the World-Wide Web. As a result, you save the expense and aggravation associated with purchasing, installing, configuring and maintaining complex EDI translation and mapping software. All EDI transactions are presented to you in an easy to use, web-based form within World-Wide EDI. Information regarding the creation, sending and receipt of the various EDI transactions supported by World-Wide EDI as well as the sorting function for RFQs is detailed later in this users guide.

Overview

You must complete the registration process with World-Wide EDI, including your search profile, before you can receive and bid on any RFQs.

Once your search profile is entered and saved, you will begin receiving any new RFQs that match your search criteria. When you log in any new RFQs will be in your RFQ section which will be flagged with a "new" logo. Since the bid due date can be as short as 2 to 3 days from the day it was issued, you should log in at least once every day so you have ample time to respond with your quote.

System Requirements

World-Wide EDI is designed to work with any computer capable of running Netscape Communicator v4.04. Most functions will work fine with versions of Netscape Navigator as old as v3.01; however, the newer versions provide significant improvement in function and speed.

Logging In

At the top of the Subscriber Profile screen is your assigned Subscriber ID. You will need to enter this ID and your password each time you log into World-Wide EDI. You should also include your Subscriber ID in all communications with Loren Data.

You can go directly to the World-Wide EDI Log-In page by going to the URL https://edi.ld.com/cgi-edi/login.exe.

Search Profile

Creating and Modifying your Search Profile

1. Click on the Search Profile button which is located at the bottom of the World-Wide EDI Main Menu.
2. Select the Search type (FSC code, SIC code, Text search, etc.) The on-line help provides further information to the type of codes available.
3. Enter your code or text search in the Search Text field. Note: only one code or text search per search field.
4. Select Add Search for each additional search you need.
5. Once you have entered all your search criteria select the Save button.
6. To temporarily suspend searching of one or more of your search criteria simply deselect the Active box.

Once you have saved your search criteria all new incoming RFQs will be searched using your search criteria and any matches will be placed in your RFQs section

Hints and Tips

1. Only one search term per search.
2. * denotes wildcard, for example a FSC code search of 70* will hit on all RFQs with a FSC code of 7011, 7032, 7085, etc.
3. The text description can be very terse, so do not rely only on text searches, look up the applicable FSC and SIC codes and enter them instead of, or in addition to, text searches.
4. Most agencies are using FSC codes to code the RFQs, a few are using FSC and SIC codes and a few are using only the SIC codes, so enter all applicable FSC and SIC codes.
5. When using text searches use a wildcard so you will hit on both the singular and plural form of your search term such as computer*.

Main Menu

The World-Wide EDI Main Menu allows access to your EDI documents, transaction logs, and Subscriber Profile, and Search Profile.

Transactions are grouped into the following nine folders:

• Message - Notices from Loren Data Corp.
• RFQs - All Request for Quote Documents
• Quotes - Subscriber Quotes/Bids
• Awards - Public Award Notices
• Orders - Orders for Subscriber
• Invoices - Invoices Sent by Subscriber
• In-Box - All Other Documents Sent to Subscriber
• Out-Box - All Other Documents Sent by Subscriber
• Trans Log - A Listing of All Transactions Processed for the Account

In all cases, the listings are similarly displayed with the following columns:

• Status - Document status
• Dir - Direction (Inbound/Outbound)
• Type - EDI Document Type
• Date/Time - Document Date/Time Sent or Received
• Subject - Subject of Document; Also Key Match If Applicable
• Expires - Date document is purged from the system
• Actions - Link to Open or Delete Document

If there are related documents in the system to the primary listed document, they will be displayed directly below. Next to these related documents will be either a < or > indicating that the line is either came before or after the primary document. This allows the user to easily associate Award Notices with the original RFQ or Quote. Additionally, amendments or cancellations are grouped with the original document.

Please note that in the event that the related documents are of the same type (e.g. an original RFQ and its amendments), the same document can be listed several times on the same page, once as the original and one or more times as a related document.

Request for Quotes

All RFQs are be listed under RFQs in the index. When you open an RFQ you are actually opening a quote form containing all the relevant information from the RFQ. There are two "views" of the RFQ, a brief view which is the default and a full view which provides additional information and the ability to send a more detailed quote. You can toggle between the two views by using the View button at the bottom of the RFQ.

Applicable clauses for the RFQ (if included) are accessed by the Clauses link located in the index to the left of the opened RFQ. Any free form notes are accessible through the Notes link. Always be sure to check both of these links as they may include special requirements regarding the bid. In some cases it is the only way to know that the RFQ has actually been canceled.

To bid on an RFQ, simply fill in the blanks and select the Bid button at the bottom of the RFQ. If you have any questions regarding the content of a particular RFQ you must contact the agency who submitted the RFQ; the contact information is included in the RFQ itself.

RFQs will expire 45 days after receipt and automatically deleted from your folder unless placed on hold by using the Hold button at the bottom of the opened RFQ. RFQs placed on hold will have their expiration date extended for 30 days each time they are held.

Quotes

You will have a quote any time you bid on an RFQ. You cannot bid on any RFQs that are not received through World-Wide EDI as your quote is created from the RFQ which needs to be processed and received through World-Wide EDI..

All your submitted quotes will be listed in your quotes section which is accessed through the quotes link located in the main index.

IMPORTANT!! The government does not guarantee immediate delivery of your quote to the issuing agency once they receive it from us. Therefore, you should always submit your quotes as soon as possible and never wait until the last minute.

You will receive a functional acknowledgment from the agency when they receive your quote. It is your responsibility to make sure you have received a functional acknowledgment in a timely manner. If you do not, you must resend your quote and/or call the issuing agency.

Award notices

Award notices serve to inform you of who won an award and the value of the award. However, the description is very terse and of little value without the capability to refer back to the RFQ which the award was based on. With World-Wide EDI this is very easy, as we match the award notices to the originating RFQ for you.

You will automatically receive the award notices for every RFQ you have. The award notice will be linked to the RFQ and can be accessed through the RFQ listing or the award listing.

IMPORTANT!! If you want to receive the award notice for a particular RFQ when it is awarded you must save the RFQ. If you delete the RFQ you will not receive the award notice.

Orders

If you receive a purchase order or delivery order it will be placed in your Order section. Most only require you fulfill the order. In some cases, you will need to send an Order Confirmation in which case a button will be available to automatically generate a reply to the issuing agency.

Invoices

Only a few government agencies are currently supporting invoices via EDI. More information will be provided shortly.

In-Box & Out-Box

The in-box and out-box are for all EDI transactions other than RFQs, Quotes, Awards, Orders and Invoices.

Transaction Log

Your transaction log simply provides a chronological list of all the transactions which have been performed in the account while in World-Wide EDI.

Getting Support

The primary means of support for World-Wide EDI is through e-mail. This helps keep the cost of the system down and provides for easier follow-up across time zones. The e-mail address for customer support is Customer.Service@LD.com.

The secondary means of support is by fax. Only use this if your e-mail is not functioning as turnaround time for faxes is slower. The fax number for customer support is 310-574-6840.

Whenever sending messages to customer support always include the following items in every message:

• Subscriber ID
• Your Name
• Company Name
• Phone Number

Please be as detailed as possible in your message to customer support. This will save time and help resolve your problems more quickly. If the problem is an issue with your browser, please include the version of your browser, type of computer, operating system, amount of RAM and the name of your Internet service provider.

Phone calls should not be used for customer support. If necessary, a support technician will contact you back by phone. Most people prefer e-mail support once they get used to it. We appreciate your assistance in helping keep the cost of World-Wide EDI down.

World-Wide EDI is a growing and evolving system. We appreciate your feedback and suggestions. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to improve the system and help make you more competitive.