Plex and IBM Sterling integration

What moves between them

Purchase orders and invoices flow from IBM Sterling into Plex. ml-connector polls Sterling's mailbox API for new EDI documents (POs, invoices) every 1-5 minutes, extracts the message payload, translates EDI X.12 or EDIFACT formats into Plex API schema, and posts the orders and invoices into Plex against the matching supplier. Supplier reference data (name, address, tax ID) is aligned in both directions, so every EDI document lands on a valid Plex supplier record. Invoices and POs are read-only in Sterling (documents flow inbound), so ml-connector never writes EDI data back into the Sterling platform.

How ml-connector handles it

ml-connector stores both credential sets encrypted and polls Sterling's mailbox API at a configurable interval (default 1-5 minutes) to detect new EDI documents. On retrieval, it extracts the message payload from Sterling's dedicated extraction endpoint. Because Sterling's REST API manages configuration and workflow objects but not financial data directly, ml-connector must map EDI message contents (PO line items, invoice detail) to Plex API entities (Purchase_Order, Invoice). It handles Plex's role-based access control by assigning the integration user the correct Plex role for procurement, refreshes Plex's OAuth2 bearer token on 401 responses, and tracks Sterling's customer-specific host and port since there is no shared public endpoint. ml-connector backs off and retries on rate-limit responses (HTTP 429) from both systems, and maintains a full audit trail of every document translated and posted.

A real-world example

A mid-sized discrete manufacturer receives purchase orders and invoices from multiple suppliers via EDI into IBM Sterling B2B Integrator. Before the integration, the procurement team extracted PDF or EDI files from Sterling weekly, manually re-entered PO details and invoice line items into Plex, and then reconciled supplier master records between the two systems. With Plex and IBM Sterling B2B Integrator connected, EDI documents from trading partners flow automatically into Plex within minutes, matched to the correct supplier, and invoice details are captured without manual entry. The procurement team spends less time on data re-entry and more on supplier relationship management and exception handling.

What you can do

• •Post EDI purchase orders and invoices from IBM Sterling into Plex's procurement records within minutes, matched to the correct supplier.
• •Translate ANSI X.12 and EDIFACT EDI document formats into Plex API schema automatically.
• •Keep Plex supplier master records synchronized across both platforms so EDI documents land on valid suppliers.
• •Handle Plex's OAuth2 token refresh, role-based access control, and Plex's polling-only sync model across both systems.
• •Authenticate IBM Sterling with HTTP Basic auth on a customer-specific host and port, with automatic retries and full audit trails on every document.

Questions

Which direction does data move between Plex and IBM Sterling?

The main flow is from IBM Sterling into Plex. Purchase orders and invoices arrive as EDI messages in Sterling and are translated and posted into Plex's procurement system. Supplier reference data is kept aligned in both directions. EDI documents flow inbound only, so ml-connector does not write documents back into Sterling.

How does the integration handle Sterling's instance-specific REST endpoints and local authentication?

ml-connector accepts the customer-specific host and port for the Sterling B2Bi instance and polls the mailbox API directly at that address. It stores HTTP Basic credentials encrypted and presents them on every request. Because Sterling has no public shared SaaS endpoint, each customer's configuration is unique, and ml-connector supports that by allowing per-customer instance details in the connection setup.

How are EDI documents translated into Plex API format?

ml-connector extracts EDI message payloads from Sterling's mailbox extraction endpoint, parses X.12 or EDIFACT segments into structured data (PO header, line items, dates, amounts), and maps those segments to Plex's REST API schema for purchase orders and invoices. Supplier names and codes are matched to Plex's supplier master records so the document lands on the correct vendor.