Connect IndiCater to EDI instantly
Join thousands of businesses moving EDI orders, invoices and fulfilment updates between IndiCater and their trading partners on XEDI, no manual re-keying.
No credit card needed ✦ Free EDI mailbox included
Getting started with IndiCater EDI
XEDI connects IndiCater with EDI trading, whether you are the hospitality operator ordering through it or the supplier receiving those orders, so purchase orders, deliveries and invoices move without anyone re-keying them.
One managed platform, no custom code
XEDI maps IndiCater to your trading partners and validates every document, so data flows straight into the systems your teams already use.
IndiCater sits between kitchens and suppliers, so both sides may be reading this
IndiCater runs stock, recipes, menus and ordering across pubs, contract catering, care homes, schools and hotels. It is built to place purchase orders with suppliers rather than to sit in isolation, which means an EDI connection has two possible customers.
If you operate sites, you want orders reaching suppliers and their invoices coming back matched. If you supply hospitality, you want orders arriving from operators' systems in a form your own can use. The work differs, so the first thing we settle is which of those you are.
Pack size is where hospitality ordering goes wrong
A kitchen thinks in portions, a recipe thinks in grams, a supplier sells in cases and a delivery arrives in outers. IndiCater holds those relationships because it has to cost a menu, and a trading connection has to respect them exactly.
When it does not, the symptom is not an error message. It is an order for ten when somebody meant ten cases, a delivery that looks wrong at the door, and an invoice nobody can reconcile against what was received. The mapping of units and pack sizes is therefore agreed before anything is exchanged, not inferred from the first order.
What your team sees day to day
You get an EDI mailbox and a portal that behaves like an inbox, so orders and their responses are visible without opening several supplier portals.
Where you supply hospitality, the order becomes the despatch advice from what genuinely went out with SSCC labels where required, and the invoice follows delivery with its arrival confirmed in the dashboard.
IndiCater carries on doing what it does. The EDI capability is bolted onto it, because we connect to any platform offering an API or file import and export.
Documents you can exchange
- Purchase orders raised in IndiCater and sent to suppliers
- Order confirmations returned by those suppliers
- Delivery notes and despatch confirmations against orders
- Supplier invoices matched to what was ordered and received
- Catalogue and price files keeping IndiCater current
Built for IndiCater teams
Whoever owns IndiCater in your business, XEDI keeps EDI accurate and hands-off.
- Pub and restaurant groups
- Contract caterers
- Care homes, schools and hotels
- Food and drink suppliers to hospitality
- Finance teams reconciling supplier invoices
IndiCater EDI document types
Direction depends on whether you operate sites or supply them, which is settled at the start.
| Document | What it carries | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Purchase orders | Demand raised in IndiCater against the supplier, site and delivery date it belongs to. | IndiCater to supplier |
| Order confirmations | What the supplier will actually deliver, including substitutions and shortages. | Supplier to IndiCater |
| Delivery notes | What is arriving, so goods can be received against the order rather than counted blind. | Supplier to IndiCater |
| Invoices | Supplier billing matched to the order and the delivery before it reaches finance. | Supplier to IndiCater |
| Catalogue and price files | Products, pack sizes and current prices keeping recipe costing accurate. | Supplier to IndiCater |
| Credit notes | Adjustments for short or rejected deliveries, referenced to the invoice concerned. | Supplier to IndiCater |
How to connect IndiCater with EDI using XEDI
The route depends on how your IndiCater setup already exchanges data with suppliers. The sequence below is what onboarding looks like from your side.
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01
We establish which side you are on, because operator and supplier need different things.
-
02
We confirm how IndiCater exchanges data in your setup, since it is designed to connect to suppliers already.
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03
We map units, pack sizes and product codes between IndiCater and each trading partner.
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04
We prove the order, delivery and invoice flows against what each partner requires.
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05
You get ordering and invoicing that match, without the pack size arguments that usually follow.
Ready to connect IndiCater?
Talk through documents, mapping, testing and go-live with XEDI.
Everything about IndiCater EDI
Common requirements
- Whether you operate sites or supply them
- IndiCater access and how it exchanges data
- Product codes, pack sizes and units
- Site and delivery point structure
- The suppliers or customers involved
What we need from you to build it
Only what we cannot hold for you. Supplier and customer requirements are already ours to maintain.
- Which side you are on
- Operator or supplier, since the documents run in opposite directions and the work is different.
- IndiCater access
- How your instance exchanges data today, given it is built to reach suppliers already.
- Product codes and pack sizes
- How items are identified and the relationship between portions, packs and cases, because this is where ordering errors originate.
- Sites and delivery points
- Which sites order and where deliveries go, so orders reach the right place.
- The suppliers or customers involved
- Who is on the other side, now and next. Their requirements are already held by us.
Why suppliers choose XEDI for IndiCater
- Units and pack sizes are mapped deliberately, which is where hospitality ordering usually goes wrong.
- Invoices are matched against what was ordered and received before they reach finance.
- Operators stop working across several supplier portals, and suppliers stop re-keying orders from them.
- Catalogue and price files keep recipe costing accurate rather than quietly drifting.
- If a supplier or customer raises a problem, it comes to us rather than to a site manager.
We run sites. Can our suppliers receive orders electronically?
Yes, and many already can. We hold connections to an extensive list of suppliers and connect on your behalf, so a purchase order raised in IndiCater reaches them without anybody sending an email.
We supply hospitality. Can we receive orders from operators' systems?
Yes. Orders arrive in a form your own system can use, with pack sizes and product codes resolved to yours rather than left as the operator's.
Why do pack sizes matter so much?
Because a kitchen thinks in portions and a supplier sells in cases. When that relationship is wrong the order looks plausible, the delivery looks wrong at the door, and the invoice cannot be reconciled.
Plan your IndiCater EDI setup
Everything you need to scope, map and go live with IndiCater, in one place.