CUSTOMER CASE
Wehkamp is one of the Netherlands’ largest online retailers, operating a complex supplier ecosystem with high transaction volumes, diverse partner capabilities, and strict operational requirements. As the business scaled, Wehkamp needed a more robust and flexible way to manage how business documents move between its internal systems and hundreds of suppliers.
To support this, Wehkamp partnered with iEDI to modernise and fully operate its external document exchange layer.
The Challenge
Wehkamp’s primary challenge was not internal systems, but supplier diversity.
Some suppliers were highly EDI-mature, others had partial capabilities, and many required special handling due to system or format limitations. Onboarding new suppliers, handling edge cases, and maintaining consistency across purchase orders, confirmations, logistics data, and invoices became increasingly complex.
At the same time, Wehkamp needed to:
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Scale document volumes reliably
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Reduce manual handling and errors
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Standardise workflows without excluding suppliers
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Prepare for a full migration away from a legacy EDI setup
The Solution: Fully Managed Document Exchange with iEDI
iEDI implemented a fully managed enterprise document automation setup for Wehkamp, handling the complete exchange of transactional business documents between Wehkamp and its suppliers.
This includes:
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Automated purchase order transmission
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Order responses and delivery details
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Invoice processing for finance operations
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Logistics identifiers such as SSCC
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Sales and returns data exchange
iEDI operates this as managed infrastructure, ensuring that documents are structured, validated, routed correctly, and monitored in real time.
Faster and More Flexible Supplier Onboarding
A key outcome of the partnership has been significantly faster and more flexible supplier onboarding.
“iEDI helped us onboard suppliers faster than before. With their support, we became much more flexible in getting suppliers connected.”
- Jeroen Eppink, Wehkamp
Rather than enforcing a single technical model, iEDI enabled supplier onboarding across different maturity levels, formats, and constraints without compromising Wehkamp’s internal standards.
Handling Real-World Complexity
Wehkamp’s supplier landscape includes many real-world exceptions that standard EDI implementations struggle with. iEDI addressed these through document transformation and enablement, not brittle custom projects.
Examples include:
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Handling mixed SSCC capabilities (pallet vs package level)
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Adapting order responses when suppliers cannot report unavailable items in standard formats
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Ensuring consistent downstream data despite upstream limitations
These adaptations allowed Wehkamp to maintain clean, standardised internal workflows while still working effectively with all suppliers.
Full Platform Migration and Increased Scalability
After operating iEDI in parallel with a legacy provider, Wehkamp completed a full transition to the iEDI platform ahead of a fixed contract deadline.
The migration involved:
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Moving all active document streams
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Onboarding remaining suppliers
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Decommissioning the legacy setup
The result was a single, scalable platform that supports higher volumes, improved performance, and measurable cost savings.
“The transition increased our flexibility, improved scalability, and enabled us to handle larger volumes more efficiently. We also gained better data insights for both internal teams and suppliers.”
- Jeroen Eppink, Wehkamp
Supplier Enablement via Portal Access
Not all suppliers were able to integrate directly. To ensure full coverage, iEDI provided a supplier portal for partners without EDI systems.
Through this portal, suppliers can:
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Receive and respond to orders
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Exchange delivery and invoice data
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Participate in structured document exchange without ERP integrations
This ensured that no supplier was excluded during the migration.
The Result
After more than four years of collaboration, Wehkamp operates a stable, scalable, and standardised external document infrastructure.
Key outcomes:
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Faster supplier onboarding
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Reduced errors and manual handling
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Full visibility across document flows
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A single platform replacing fragmented legacy systems
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Improved collaboration with suppliers of all sizes
“Besides the technical improvements, iEDI is always helpful when we have questions. It’s a strong partnership.”
- Jeroen Eppink, Wehkamp
Why This Matters
Wehkamp’s case demonstrates that modern enterprise document automation is not about adding more tools, but about owning the space between systems.
By outsourcing responsibility for document exchange to iEDI, Wehkamp ensured that complexity stayed contained, scalability remained predictable, and supplier diversity became an advantage rather than a risk.
