This Week in IDEA | August 29, 2007

New IRD CERICOMX® 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 six suppliers:

- J.G. Vanholten & Son, Inc.
- Dutch Valley Growers, Inc.
- Home Market Foods, Inc.
- Perfect Curve, Inc.
- Burnett & Son Meat Co., Inc.
- Polk Nursery Co., Inc.

These companies will be trained to use IRD CERICOMX®, an IDEA branded product for supporting and uploading supplier product information into the GS1 Registry® and GDSN via the 1SYNC Data Pool.

If you would like to learn more about the CERICOMX® product, please contact John Etrie, IRD Product & Customer Support Manager, at (703) 562-4624.

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Electro E-Biz Forum 2007: The Last Minute is Here, Will You be There?

If you are waiting until the last minute to make your travel arrangements, it is here. The hotel is almost booked and your industry peers are rushing to reserve the last spots. The event is less than three weeks away so make your arrangements to experience Vancouver and eCommerce first hand!

Important Links:

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IRD: Three Powers Combine to Provide Ultimate Retail Synchronization

What is IRD?

IRD is a service that bundles our CERICOMX® eCatalog software; 1SYNC™, the retail industry’s leading data pool; and the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) together in one streamlined package to help you coordinate more efficiently with your trading partners. With IRD, manufacturers and retailers come together to buy and sell electronically, using standards-based data that reduces errors and their associated costs. By bringing all the elements of data synchronization together for you in one-stop, we can help you save 40%-60% off the costs of doing it yourself. With IRD and IDEA, you’ll always have the help you need to conduct eCommerce through the industry’s leading data resources.

Why do I have to put my data online with a service like IRD?

Over the past few years, retailers have begun to require manufacturers to store their product and pricing information in a central repository online in order to simplify and streamline the transaction process. While many may view it as a requirement, it’s also important to understand that it provides significant benefits for your company. By making sure your data is clean, up-to-date, and stored in a central repository, you’ll open yourself to new business prospects, reduce transactional errors, enable faster payments, streamline the delivery process, and identify opportunities for efficiencies that could save significant costs in labor, packaging, shipping and more. So while you may be prompted to do this by your customers, in the end, you will see a return from using IRD to conduct business.

What makes IRD better than other services?

There are many data pools and options available and it may be hard to tell the difference or even know why you need a service like IRD to help you get online. The primary reason IRD is better than other services is the price you save with our bundled package. When you synchronize your data through IRD, we onboard you with the 1SYNC™ Data Pool—a standards-based collaborative community of trading partners with the highest number of customers implemented within the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). More than 4000 manufacturers and retailers count on 1SYNC™ to help streamline their transactions, including Lowe’s, Ace Hardware, Wal-Mart, Target, and other leading firms. The IRD interface is powered by CERICOMX® to bring the benefits of 1SYNC™ and GDSN together for you in one-stop, saving significant costs over other methods of data pool access.

Furthermore, IDEA’s CERICOMX® software makes it easier for you by providing a benefit no one else has—an item referencing capability that allows you to look up products via GTIN, product number, or catalog number to make searches easier for those who are referencing a catalog or other method to find your product. Finally, IRD’s interface is very user friendly to accommodate users at all levels and IDEA helps you every step of the way in getting set up and running. When you add it all up, there’s no better value than IRD.

Why should I trust IDEA over other vendors?

IDEA is the only company that offers CERICOMX® software, known throughout the industry as the leading solution for data synchronization. With hundreds of satisfied customers, more than 75,000 GTINs in production, and more than 20 years of experience in data synchronization, CERICOMX® is one of the most proven and reliable solutions out there. In addition, our entire organization is built around adhering to—and even creating—standards. You won’t find a company more committed to quality data than IDEA. Finally, IDEA focuses only on data synchronization. It has been our passion since our founding in 1998 and our only business. So while others may feature data synchronization as one of many things in their bag of tricks, it is our #1 priority and we are driven to do it better than anyone else.

Do I need to be EDI enabled to use IRD?

No. If a company is not EDI capable, XML and Flat File formats may be used. In addition, we provide web form templates based on commonly used transaction sets. Just enter your information and we’ll map it into EDI and process it.

What do I need to get connected to IRD?

To use IRD, you simply need an Internet connection (a direct connection or one provided by an Internet Service Provider) and web browser.

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September IDW Training Schedule

IDEA continues to offer distributor and manufacturer trainings and Net Pricing sessions. The September dates for these trainings are:

IDW Distributor Training Sessions:

Wednesday, September 5, 2007: 1:30 – 3:00PM
Wednesday, September 19, 2007: 1:30 – 3:00PM

IDW Manufacturer Training Sessions:

Thursday, September 13, 2007: 1:30 – 3:30PM
Thursday, September 27, 2007: 1:30 – 3:30PM

IDW Net Into Stock Training Sessions (open to all):

Thursday, September 6, 2007: 1:30 – 2:00PM
Thursday, September 20, 2007: 1:30 – 2:00PM

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Did You Know? IDW Hot Facts

IDW users can easily access contact information of trading partners through the subscriber directory. This feature allows users to directly contact the person in charge of a company’s IDW data. Follow these steps to find company contacts:

1. Click on the Subscriber Directory option located in the Main Menu
2. Search for the company
3. Click on the company name
4. Select the contact “tab” to find information on the person in charge of IDW data for that company.

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