EDI (Electronic Data Interchange)
| Phase | Action | Time Allocation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Write one sentence summarizing your core message and desired reader action. | 10% | | 2. DRAFT | Write bullet points, not paragraphs. Organize by logic: Problem → Analysis → Recommendation. | 20% | | 3. DISTILL | Convert bullets to prose. Cut every adjective, adverb, and passive verb. | 40% | | 4. DELIVER | Format for skimming. Add headings, bolded keywords, and white space. Proofread aloud. | 30% | Kaplan Pro Tip: If you cannot DEFINE your core message in one sentence, you are not ready to write. Go back to your data. Part III: The Three Essential MBA Documents (With Templates) Document 1: The Persuasive Memo (Internal Decision-Making) Scenario: You need approval for a new initiative or policy change.
$4,200 projected monthly savings per store with zero revenue loss.
The single greatest mistake new MBA students make is "vomit drafting"—writing as they think, resulting in dense paragraphs, passive voice, and buried conclusions. In business, your audience (professors, recruiters, C-suite executives) operates under extreme time scarcity. If your core message isn't clear within the first 15 seconds, your document fails. MBA Fundamentals Business Writing -Kaplan Test Prep-
Kaplan Test Prep The Strategic Pivot: From Student to Executive Communicator Welcome to your MBA Fundamentals module on Business Writing. In graduate school and beyond, your writing is not merely a record of your thinking—it is your thinking. Unlike academic essays that reward complexity and exploration, business writing rewards clarity, brevity, and action.
Data from 12 stores shows 8 AM – 9 AM generates only 2% of daily revenue but 15% of operating costs. I recommend delaying opening to 9 AM. | Phase | Action | Time Allocation |
"I have been analyzing the foot traffic data for the past few weeks and it seems that there might be a possibility that we are opening too early. Perhaps we could consider shifting the opening time to 9 AM from 8 AM. Let me know your thoughts when you have a moment." Kaplan-Approved Writing (A grade): SUBJECT: Recommendation: Shift store hours to 9 AM – 7 PM (starting June 1)
| | Write this (Business/Good) | | :--- | :--- | | "It is recommended by the committee that..." | "The committee recommends..." | | "Utilize" | "Use" | | "In the event that..." | "If" | | "We are currently in the process of..." | "We are..." | | "A number of issues exist regarding..." | "Three issues exist: X, Y, Z." | Organize by logic: Problem → Analysis → Recommendation
Please approve a 2-store pilot for May 15-30. I will present results at the June 2 ops review.
EDI can often be a complex and confusing concept for first-timers. It doesn't help when the commercial EDI vendors leave you dazed and confused by flooding the market place with convoluted and unnecessary sales jargon that in fact you don't actually need. So, if you're in the trucking, manufacturing, or healthcare business and you're looking for a sensible bare-bones EDI solution then by all means reach out to us at the email contact below. We will get you on the right track. The advise and conversation is free to all.
BlueSeer provides EDI software solutions for all of these by providing a free open source EDI package that can be downloaded and installed...completely free. Whether you're in the Manufacturing, Transportation, Insurance, or Health Care services, you can create your own maps for your EDI transactions and exchange EDI documents with your Trading Partners via the built-in SFTP, AS2 communication methods simply from the application you download and install with BlueSeer. The application provides you with all the tools necessary to implement an on-premise solution on your own server. There are plenty of sample maps and tutorials to get you moving in the right direction. Or, you can use our EDI mapping, consulting, and implementation services to get you started. We also offer a managed hosting solution where we host the EDI translation, configuration and communication (AS2, SFTP) within a cloud hosted enviroment. Reach out to the contact email below for more information and/or to set up a quick conversation regarding your requirements.
BlueSeer supports several high profile communication methods used in today's EDI solutions. The more predominant method is AS2. AS2 is a complex transport protocol that provides EDI trading partners the ability to exchange EDI document types in a secure and reliable manner and provide a level of transmission gaurantee per the mechanics of the exchange. AS2 is the lowest cost approach to EDI communication as it does not require middleware VAN mailboxing services. BlueSeer is one of only a few free open source AS2 packages available. BlueSeer's AS2 option provides a completely free EDI AS2 on-premise solution to engage the AS2 protocol with your EDI trading partners and bypass the costly VAN mailbox and web services. It only requires the installation of BlueSeer and an internet connection. Other EDI communication protocols include FTP as well as sFTP using the SSH File Transfer Protocol. All of these support communication methods are bundled as a free EDI communication package. For more information on the technical details of AS2 visit the specs page here.
BlueSeer has an embedded free EDI translation mapping editor that comes standard with the installation of BlueSeer. This translation tool provides the application with a method to transform EDI documents from one format to another. The mapping editor can accomodate translation for EDI X12, Edifact, CSV, JSON, XML, and flat file (IDOC, etc) formats. BlueSeer can act as a standalone EDI translator (mapping from one format to another) or as an integrated EDI / ERP solution where the inbound EDI documents are transformed into standard ERP table records (Sales Orders, Shipping documents, etc). The default installation comes with a variety of pre-built maps that can translate between the below formats. These maps are free to use and to extend/customize as necessary and can be used as examples for more complex mappings. There are plenty of examples of transaction maps that are commonly found in manufacturing/business markets such as 850, 810, 856, 855, 820, 204, etc.
BlueSeer provides convenient methods for creating Trading Partner, defining unique Flat File formats, and establishing unique input / output destination directories. Novel document types can be created and customized as well with the Document Recognition rules engine.
BlueSeer provides a variety of reporting options to track individual EDI documents as they are processed by the embedded EDI engine. Transactions can be monitored for success/failures with optional retry capability. Documents can also be tracked by key field searching options.