This Week in IDEA | April 28, 2010

New Directors and Officers for 2010-2011

The IDEA Board of Directors elected Delton D. Nickel, former president of Pentair’s Technical Products global business unit (GBU) in Anoka, Minnesota, as the IDEA Chairman of the Board for 2010-2011. He previously served on the Board as the Vice Chair from 2009-2010 and Secretary from 2008-2009.

“I’m delighted for the opportunity to work closely with the IDEA team and my fellow Board members. Electrical manufacturers and distributors are positioned to fully maximize collaborative solutions like the attribute schema and realize significant savings from their use,” said Nickel.

Outgoing IDEA Chairman, Ronald D. Schlader, vice president of operations and quality at Crescent Electric Supply Company, served in the position from 2009-2010 and will continue to serve on the 2010-2011 Board as a voting director.

“It has been a tremendous honor to serve as the IDEA Chairman during a year where we’ve seen significant progress. Under Bob’s leadership, the IDEA team has focused in on the most important needs of the supply chain. Cost savings will be realized now more than ever thanks to the efforts of many in developing standards for product categorization and attributed product data,” said Schlader.

“The 2009-2010 Board, with Ron Schlader’s leadership, demonstrated their passion for innovation and progress by creating opportunities for industry growth during a challenging economic year. I’m grateful for their thought leadership and guidance as IDEA developed new solutions and service offerings, revolutionizing the way trading partners can communicate and do business. The 2010-2011 Board that is inspired and driven by the electrical channel, will continue to leverage communities and partnerships to increase value and solve problems for the channel and individual companies,” said Bob Gaylord, president and CEO, IDEA.

The 2010-2011 IDEA Officers:

• Chairman: Del Nickel, former President (retired), Pentair’s Technical Products global business unit (GBU)
• Vice Chairman: Larry Stern, President and CEO, Standard Electric Supply Co.
• Treasurer: Stephen Sokolow, Chairman of the Board, Leviton Manufacturing Co.
• Secretary: James Tinker, Manager, Master File Maintenance Office, Rexel, Inc.
• President: Robert Gaylord, President and CEO, IDEA

The 2010-2011 IDEA Board of Directors:

• Phil Barrios, Sr. Director, Corporate Marketing and eBusiness, Hubbell, Inc.
• Valerie Jones, Vice President of Customer Service and Inside Sales, OSRAM SYLVANIA
• Greg Linder, Vice President, Sales Operations and Customer Support, Lutron Electronics
• Del Nickel, former President (retired), Pentair’s Technical Products global business unit (GBU)
• Ron Schlader, Vice President of Operations and Quality, Crescent Electric Supply Co.
• Stephen Sokolow, Chairman of the Board, Leviton Manufacturing Co.
• Larry Stern, President and CEO, Standard Electric Supply Co.
• John Teipen, Director of eBusiness, Graybar
• Greg Thrall, Sr. Vice President, Operations, Border States Electric
• James Tinker, Manager, Master File Maintenance Office, Rexel, Inc.

The 2010-2011 Non-voting Directors:

• Tom Naber, President and CEO, NAED
• Evan Gaddis, President and CEO, NEMA
• Robert Gaylord, President and CEO, IDEA

Photo Downloads:

• IDEA Board Meeting March 2010
• Schlader and Gaylord Welcome Nickel as 2010-2011 Chairman
• Schlader and Gaylord Present Departing Gift to FitzGibbon
• Schlader and Gaylord Present Departing Gift to Wallace
  

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Phil Barrios Named Recipient of the NAED Associate Service Award of Merit

Congratulations to Phil Barrios, senior director of corporate marketing and e-business at Hubbell Incorporated, for being named the 2010 recipient of the NAED Associate Service Award of Merit. NAED recognizes Barrios for his leadership on the IDEA Board of Directors, IDEA Industry Standards Committee and participation at the National Electrical Leadership Summit.

When asked his feelings about receiving this award, Barrios described it as both an honor and very humbling. "As much as I appreciate being selected for this prestigious award, I see it as a reflection of NAED’s recognition for the results of many, not just one person,” he said. “The support I receive from [Hubbell Incorporated’s] management comes from the top. Tim Powers, our chairman, president, and CEO, not only served as chair of IDEA, but fully supports these initiatives and enables me to continue service to the industry.”

Download the entire TED Magazine article to read more about Barrios and other award recipients including Tammy Miller, CEO, Border States Electric (BSE) and Eaton Corporation.

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IMCO Enters into Strategic Partnership with IDEA

IMCO (Independent Medical Co-Op), the premier Cooperative for medical supply distributors in the physician, hospital, nursing home, home health, EMS, industrial and other related markets, recently announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with IDEA. This agreement was established to help IMCO members optimize their electronic business transactions. This move commits both parties to offering members with a proven B2B eCommerce platform.

“Both companies share a common goal of enabling a new market with solutions that are proven in the electrical supply chain. IDEA will help optimize IMCO members’ operations and profitability by providing the solutions and process consulting needed to drive costs out of the business,” said Bob Gaylord, president and CEO, IDEA.

IMCO members will have access to services from IDEA that may lower traditional EDI van services and related costs.

About IMCO

IMCO is the premier Co-Op for medical supply distributors who are a driving force in the physician, hospital, nursing home, home health, EMS, industrial and many others. Find out more at www.imcoinc.com.  

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New Resource! IRD CERICOMX® eLearning Module Available on Portal

Supply-side trading partners (e.g. manufacturers) use IDEA's IRD CERICOMX® to register product data through the GS1 Registry® and GDSN via the 1SYNC Data Pool. Supply partners also use the application to comply with global standards (GS1–GDSN), meet retail mandates from companies like Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Walmart, and publish and synchronize their online catalog with demand partners. A new interactive eLearning module is available on the IDEA Portal to walk users through the IRD CERICOMX® data synchronization process.

This course will help IRD CERICOMX® users:

• Understand the Global Data Synchronization Network, also known as GDSN, and the roles of 1SYNC and IDEA
• Summarize how product data is synchronized based on standard criteria
• Register products with the GDSN
• Use IRD CERICOMX® to successfully publish and synchronize item data with demand partners
• Identify the resources available to help maintain product catalogs

The interactive demonstrations in the module are organized under the three key data synchronization steps and functions within IRD CERICOMX®:

• Uploading and Modifying Product Data using two methods:
• • Excel template method for multiple product entries
  • IRD CERICOMX® web application method for single product entries
• Publishing and
• Retrieving Messages from Retailers

All IRD CERICOMX® customers can access the new training module by logging in to the IDEA Portal and navigating to Training>IRD>Training Modules. The new module will display at the top of the file list.

Please contact your account manager or email if you have any questions about accessing this new training resource.

The module will also be available in the IRD CERICOMX® Document Library early next week.

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Limited Forum Speaking Opportunities – Respond by April 30th!

Sign up as a Forum sponsor and/or exhibitor by this Friday, April 30th to be considered to speak at an exclusive lunch session. These speaking opportunities give you even more time to share your eBusiness expertise with an attentive audience and ignite an interactive discussion with attendees. Online registration for individual attendees, sponsors and exhibitors also opens this Friday!

To qualify for a lunch session, please return your sponsor form  and/or exhibitor form  and email your topic suggestion to  by Friday, April 30th. You can take a look at the Agenda page and the 2009 schedule to get a better idea of the topics typically covered at the Forum. The 2010 agenda will be released next month.

Hurry... spots will be filled on a first come, first serve basis.

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May Training Opportunities

This month IDEA continues to offer live training sessions for customers online in addition to on-demand eLearning modules.

UNSPSC Training and Assistance

The population of United Nations Standard Products and Services Codes (UNSPSC) is essential for the industry to begin utilizing and benefiting from the first Electrical Attribute Schema. Training will continually be offered to IDEA customers so that these codes can be appropriately maintained and utilized in the future. UNSPSC codes will be required at the commodity level in the IDW Data Synchronization Platform on July 1, 2010.

Download the UNSPSC Service Document to find out how IDEA can help you develop a custom assistance program for your company. Contact your IDEA account manager to sign up this month.

Need a refresher? You can access the Electrical Attribute Schema eLearning Module 24/7 on the Portal under Training>Standards.

Live IDW Training

IDEA offers one-on-one IDW training sessions online. The trainings are divided into two parts for manufacturers and distributors. Part one reviews the essential business elements of IDW and part two dives deeper into the application. Niche training (e.g. Utilities Workstation, Net Price, Inbound Mapping, etc.) is also available upon request.

Need a refresher? You can access the IDW eLearning Module 24/7 on the Portal under Training>IDW>Training Modules.

Customers interested in scheduling a live IDW training session should contact at .

Live IDX Tracker Training Schedule

• Tuesday, May 04 1:30 – 2:30PM EST
• Tuesday, May 11: 1:30 – 2:30PM EST
• Tuesday, May 18: 1:30 – 2:30PM EST
• Tuesday, May 25: 1:30 – 2:30PM EST

Need a refresher? You can access the IDX Tracker eLearning Module 24/7 on the Portal under Training>IDX>Training Modules.

Customers interested in scheduling a live IDX Tracker training session should contact Edwin Lopez at .

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New Synchronization Customers

 IDEA, a 1SYNC Data Pool On-Board Solution (OBS) partner, implements suppliers that subscribe to the 1SYNC data pool using IDEA's IRD CERICOMX® application. IDEA was recently assigned 13 suppliers:

• Stuckey’s Corporation
• Dairyfood USA, Inc.
• ConvaTec
• Sunrich, LLC    
• Ardmore Farms
• Liberto Specialty Co.
• CCT Global Sourcing
• Acme Food Sales
• Main Street Accessories
• Rocky Mountain Pies
•  Jack of All Games, Inc.
• The Reese Chemical Company
• Smokewood Foods Co.

These companies will be trained to use IRD CERICOMX®, an online catalog that suppliers use to register product data with the GS1 Registry® and GDSN via the 1SYNC Data Pool. Suppliers also use this solution to publish product data to demand partners including retailers like Lowe’s and Walmart.

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