edi faxinating solutions

 

Looking Ahead to IDEA eBIZ 2025

 By Steve Hatajlo

I’ve been to my share of IDEA events over the years. I’ve stood on stage, given talks, and reminded people that as much as we’d love to live in an all-EDI world, the reality is messier. (If you’ve seen my older presentation floating around on YouTube, you know what I mean.)

This year’s different. This year I’m heading to IDEA eBIZ 2025 not just as Faxinating Solutions, but as FSI, a Kleinschmidt company. And I won’t be solo — I’ll be joined by Andrew MacDonald, VP of Sales at Kleinschmidt, which means double the ears, double the questions, and probably double the coffee.

Why IDEA Matters

For anyone new to the show, IDEA — the Industry Data Exchange Association — was created back in the late ‘90s to help standardize and streamline product data and EDI across the electrical channel. They’re not just another vendor; they’re an industry-backed solution built by and for the industry itself. That’s why we’ve partnered with IDEA for years — because we believe in their mission. We don’t just show up to their events, we put our money where our mouth is and sponsor them. Why? Because cleaner, more reliable data benefits everyone, from the biggest distributor to the smallest supplier, and IDEA is still one of the strongest vehicles for making that happen.

What’s Changed, What’s New

Trade shows can blur together. Same booths, same buzzwords, same pitches. But here’s why this one feels important: The IDEA alliance is real. For several years, FSI and IDEA have held a cooperative agreement. That’s not marketing fluff. It means more companies in the electrical channel — especially the ones who don’t “speak” EDI — have a better path forward. No more portals as the only option. No more typing invoices by hand because you can’t justify a six-figure integration. IDEA + FSI levels the playing field.

New Name, Slightly New Look, Same Great Solutions

We’re wearing the Kleinschmidt badge. That matters. Kleinschmidt’s been doing integration since before APIs were cool and before EDI was “legacy.” Showing up under that umbrella signals stability and reach — the kind of backbone partners want when they’re tired of stopgap fixes.

Andrew brings backup. He and I can cover more ground, meet more people, and come back with a broader picture of where the real bottlenecks are. Plus, he’s not afraid to call out what doesn’t make sense. That’s a good thing.

When I presented in past years, my message was blunt: companies say they want automation, but they still cling to faxes, PDFs, and spreadsheets. And unless someone helps bridge the gap, nothing changes.

That hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s louder. I expect at eBIZ 2025 I’ll still hear about:

  •  Partners stuck in portals.
  • Distributors rekeying data.
  • Small suppliers priced out of “real” integrations.

But here’s the shift: now we have tools and alliances that can actually do something about it. Fax, PDF, email, API, EDI — doesn’t matter. We can take it in, clean it up, and deliver it in the format the receiver needs. That’s what IDEA + FSI is all about.

What I Want Out of eBIZ 2025

I’m not going to Nashville just to nod politely at presentations. I want to:

  • Hear what’s really holding people back from ditching manual entry.
  • Show how our document conversion services can save time, money, and sanity (especially in the order to cash process) without a total system overhaul.
  • Reinforce that Kleinschmidt + FSI is built for the messy middle — the “in-between” state where faxes and APIs coexist.
  • Bring back feedback that sharpens what we’re building next.

If you’re heading to IDEA eBIZ 2025, come find me and Andrew. Ask us about portals, about onboarding, about the ugly data that makes your team miserable. Push us on what really works, what doesn’t, and how you think it should work. We’re not there to hand out buzzwords; we’re there to have hard conversations and figure out better ways to get business done.