Make.com: Automate EDI Setup & NWA Portal Entry for Suppliers

Map Your Data Flow

Before you build anything, understand where your data lives and where it needs to go. Is your PO data in QuickBooks Online or an ERP like NetSuite? Does your ASN data come from a warehouse management system, or are you pulling it from a spreadsheet? Identify the exact fields needed for your EDI 850 (PO), 856 (ASN), and 810 (Invoice) documents, as well as any specific fields for Retail Link or Supplier Center. This blueprint is crucial. Don't skip it; a clear map prevents headaches down the road. You need to know your Item Numbers, GTINs, quantities, and ship-to addresses cold.

Connect Your Systems to Make.com

First, get your applications talking to Make.com. This usually means using Make.com's built-in connectors. For EDI, you'll likely connect to your EDI provider like SPS Commerce or TrueCommerce. For internal data, link up your accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero), ERP, or even Google Sheets if that's where you track things. Make.com has hundreds of pre-built integrations. If there isn't a direct connector for something custom, you can often use HTTP modules to connect via APIs, or simply upload CSV files. The goal is to get all relevant data accessible within a Make.com scenario.

Build the EDI Document Generation Scenario

For outbound EDI documents like the 856 (ASN) or 810 (Invoice), you'll construct a scenario. Start with a trigger: maybe a new shipment record in your WMS, or an invoice marked 'paid' in QuickBooks. Then, use Make.com modules to pull the necessary data, transform it into the correct EDI format (often a flat file or XML structure your EDI provider expects), and send it to your EDI VAN. This is where you ensure every field, from carton count to carrier info, is accurate before it hits Walmart's system. Get this right, and chargebacks for incorrect ASNs drop significantly.

Example Make.com JSON transform for ASN:
[
  {
    "Segment": "BSN",
    "Elements": [
      { "Name": "TransactionSetPurposeCode", "Value": "00" },
      { "Name": "ShipmentIdentification", "Value": "{{1.shipmentId}}" },
      { "Name": "Date", "Value": "{{formatDate(now; 'YYYYMMDD')}}" }
    ]
  }
]

Automate Retail Link/Supplier Center Entry

This is where you tackle the portal grunt work. For tasks like acknowledging POs or checking compliance, you can set up scenarios that interact directly with the web portals. This often involves using Make.com's HTTP modules or even web scraping tools within a scenario to 'read' portal data or 'click' buttons and 'type' information. For example, when an 850 PO comes in via EDI, Make.com can extract key data and then, using HTTP requests, programmatically log into Retail Link and acknowledge that PO, updating its status without a human touching a keyboard. This cuts out hours of manual keying.

Set Up Error Handling and Notifications

Automation is powerful, but things can go wrong. A supplier portal might change its layout, or an API might return an error. Build robust error handling into your Make.com scenarios. Use error routes to catch issues and send notifications via email, Slack, or Microsoft Teams. This ensures you're immediately aware if a PO wasn't acknowledged or an ASN failed to transmit. Don't just let processes run blind; set up alerts so you can jump in and fix problems before they become costly chargebacks or shipping delays. Proactive monitoring keeps your supply chain humming.

Test Rigorously and Deploy

You wouldn't send a product to Walmart without testing it, right? The same goes for your automation. Run your Make.com scenarios with test data first. Work with your EDI provider to send test 856s and 810s. Verify that data lands correctly in Retail Link or Supplier Center. Check every field, every date, every quantity. Once you're confident it's working as expected, deploy it to live production. Start small, maybe with one specific EDI document type or one portal entry task, and then expand. Monitor closely in the initial weeks to catch any unforeseen issues.