Inventory synchronization between warehouse management and external ERP shows 2-hour lag

ERP Workday
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1

Our warehouse management module syncs inventory data with an external ERP system via EDI. We’re experiencing a consistent 2-hour delay in stock level updates, causing fulfillment issues.

The EDI integration runs every 30 minutes according to configuration, but actual stock quantities in Workday lag behind the external system by approximately 2 hours. When I check EDI transaction logs, I see successful 850/856 transaction exchanges, but the data doesn’t reflect in Workday immediately.

Has anyone dealt with similar batch job timing issues? We need real-time or near-real-time synchronization for accurate order fulfillment. Our external database mapping appears correct, but something is delaying the actual data commit in Workday.

2

Good point. Where do I find the batch job processing schedule? I’ve only been looking at the EDI integration setup under Integration System.

3

The 30-minute schedule you’re seeing is probably just the EDI message exchange frequency, not the actual data processing time. Check your batch job configuration in Workday - there’s usually a separate processing schedule that handles the actual inventory updates after EDI messages are received.

4

Navigate to Business Process > Integration System > Batch Jobs. Look for jobs related to inventory updates - they’re typically named something like “Process Inventory Transactions” or “Update Stock Levels from External Source”. Check the schedule and also look at the execution history to see if there are any delays or queuing issues. In R2 2023, these batch jobs sometimes have dependencies on other processes that need to complete first, which could explain your 2-hour lag even with 30-minute EDI exchanges.

5

Found the batch job - it’s called “Process Warehouse Inventory Updates” and it’s scheduled to run every 2 hours! That explains the lag. The EDI messages arrive every 30 minutes but sit in a queue until the batch job processes them. How can I change this to run more frequently?

6

Be careful changing that frequency. The 2-hour schedule might be intentional to batch multiple EDI transactions together for performance reasons. If you change it to run every 30 minutes, you might create system load issues. Consider the trade-off between near-real-time data and system performance.

7

I’ll provide a complete solution addressing the three key areas causing your synchronization delay:

1. EDI Transaction Logs Analysis and Optimization

First, let’s properly diagnose the transaction flow:

  • Navigate to Integration System > EDI Monitor > Transaction Logs
  • Filter for your 850/856 transactions from the past 24 hours
  • Export the log and create a timeline analysis with these columns:
    • Message Received Time
    • Staging Write Time
    • Processing Start Time
    • Production Commit Time

You’ll likely see three distinct stages:


Received: 10:00 AM → Staged: 10:02 AM → Processed: 12:00 PM → Committed: 12:05 PM

The gap between “Staged” and “Processed” is your bottleneck. This confirms the batch job timing issue you discovered.

Solution for EDI Processing:

  • Enable “Priority Processing” flag for inventory-related EDI messages
  • In Integration System > EDI Configuration, locate your 850/856 message definitions
  • Add attribute: priority="high" and `immediate_staging=“true”
  • This ensures inventory messages bypass the standard queue

2. Batch Job Timing Reconfiguration

You found the “Process Warehouse Inventory Updates” job running every 2 hours. Here’s how to optimize it:

Approach 1: Increase Frequency (Recommended)

  • Navigate to Business Process > Batch Job Definitions
  • Locate “Process Warehouse Inventory Updates”
  • Current schedule: Every 2 hours (00:00, 02:00, 04:00…)
  • Change to: Every 30 minutes to match EDI frequency
  • Click “Edit Schedule” > Set interval to 30 minutes
  • Add condition: “Only run if messages pending” to avoid unnecessary executions

Approach 2: Event-Driven Processing (Better for R2 2023)

  • Instead of time-based scheduling, configure event-driven triggers
  • In Integration System > Event Notifications
  • Create new event: “On EDI Inventory Message Received”
  • Action: Trigger “Process Warehouse Inventory Updates” batch job
  • This processes transactions immediately after EDI receipt

Performance Considerations: As mentioned by others, frequent batch jobs can impact performance. Mitigate this by:

  • Setting maximum concurrent executions to 2
  • Adding a 5-minute minimum gap between runs
  • Implementing batch size limits (process max 500 records per run)

3. External Database Mapping and Staging Optimization

The staging table architecture is causing delays. Here’s the complete mapping flow:

Current Architecture (causing delays):


External ERP → EDI Message → Staging Table → Batch Job → Production Tables → Workday UI

Optimized Architecture:


External ERP → EDI Message → Direct Write → Production Tables → Workday UI
             (with validation)

Implementation steps:

  1. Review your external database mapping:

    • Integration System > External Connections > [Your ERP Connection]
    • Check the “Data Mapping” tab
    • Look for mapping entries pointing to staging tables (usually prefixed with STG_ or TEMP_)

  2. Modify mapping to write directly to production:

    • Change target table from STG_INVENTORY_UPDATES to `INVENTORY_LEVELS
    • Enable “Immediate Commit” option
    • Add validation rules to ensure data quality without staging

  3. Configure validation in the EDI message definition:

    • Add business rules for inventory validation
    • Check: Quantity > 0, Location exists, Item exists
    • Only valid records write directly; invalid ones go to error queue

  4. Update your batch job to handle errors only:

    • Rename job to “Process Inventory Errors and Reconciliation”
    • Change purpose: Process failed transactions and run hourly reconciliation
    • This can remain on 2-hour schedule since it’s exception handling

Validation and Testing:

Before implementing in production:

  1. Test in sandbox environment first
  2. Process 100 test transactions with new configuration
  3. Measure actual lag time - should reduce from 2 hours to under 5 minutes
  4. Monitor system performance during peak EDI volume
  5. Verify no duplicate inventory updates occur

Monitoring After Implementation:

  • Set up alerts for EDI processing delays > 10 minutes
  • Create dashboard tracking: Message Received to UI Update time
  • Daily reconciliation report comparing external ERP vs. Workday stock levels
  • Weekly review of error queue to ensure validation rules aren’t too strict

This comprehensive approach addresses your EDI transaction flow, optimizes batch job timing, and streamlines the external database mapping to eliminate the staging delay. You should see synchronization improve from 2 hours to under 5 minutes.