Value Added Network
A Value added network or VAN is an electronic data interchange (EDI) source for companies looking to outsource their EDI needs — especially nowadays on the Web. Value added networks now offer secured e-mail accounts and protection, translation of barcodes and encryption of codes among many other services. Regardless of whether it is Web based or not, however, the primary objective of a value added network or EDI provider is to transfer data from one business to another. The main way this is done has been dramatically improved by the advent of the UCC128 label and EDIs and value added networks doing most of their information exchanges and data warehousing on the web using e-mail accounts and often even their own electronic warehouses. Just like an EDI, a value added network provides the use of HIPAA and follows other standards of the electronic data exchange industry. Companies that are simply too busy, too large or who don’t wish to train their own employees in EDI servicing education typically outsource their needs to a value added network to save time and enhance the level of information reliability for incoming as well as outgoing products via pallet or container.
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