how a value added network van works
value added networks are generally used by large companies for efficient supply chain management with their suppliers or by industry consortiums or telecommunications companies vans usually operate in a mailbox setting wherein a company sends a transaction to a van and the van places it in the receiver s mailbox the receiver contacts the van and picks up the transaction and then sends a transaction of its own the system is similar to email except that it is used for standardized structured data rather than unstructured text vans in the internet erathe ubiquity of the internet has lessened the attraction of vans largely due to cost considerations simply put it is often more cost effective to move data over the internet than to pay the minimum monthly fees and per character charges included in typical van contracts vans have countered the challenge from the internet by focusing on specific industry verticals such as healthcare retail and manufacturing these industries have unique data integrity and security concerns that make vans a true value added solution vans simplify the communications process by allowing the company to communicate with fewer parties the data being exchanged through the van can be formatted to go directly into the software application of the receiving organization an enterprise resource planning erp suite for example this direct exchange between two companies increases the speed of commerce while also reducing the chances of human errors that occur with manual data entry vans can also provide visibility tools that show the delivery status of data and some corresponding workflows allowing companies to better coordinate dependent activities through the system rather than exchanging phone calls and emails not only is using a van more efficient and more accurate but it also saves the cost of hiring human data entry professionals for the exchange of information like many pre internet technologies vans have had to reinvent themselves to remain relevant going forward today vans offer services that go above and beyond mailboxes for edi exchange and retrieval authentication of messages and archival of past transactions modern vans create value for businesses by offering automatic backups of edi data flexible access to that data via secure web portals and unlimited data pricing packages 