This Week in IDEA | June 24, 2009

New IDEA IRD Customers

IDEA announces three new IDEA IRD customers. Read more about these companies and how you can begin trading with them electronically to expand your business.

New IDEA IRD 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 three suppliers:

• Century Industries, Inc.
• Silstar Corporation of America, Inc.
• BSafe Electrix, 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 find out more about the CERICOMX® product, please contact , IRD Product & Customer Support Manager, at .

Tags for this post: customers ird

Back To Top

Map Your Way to Higher Profits

An Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) document may seem like a foreign language at first glance. Although the data is human readable, the structure and format are not easily interpreted. That is why it is essential for computers to interpret that data and communicate its meaning to your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, also known as ‘mapping’.

There are several different ERP systems used in the electrical industry that import and export EDI data in a variety of formats (i.e. EDI X12, EDIFACT, XML, Flat File). It would be a full-time job just to track and translate all the combinations of data formats coming and going. Luckily, custom mapping facilitates the any-to-any data format requirements for you.

It is recommended to build a custom inbound and outbound map for each of the EDI documents you send and receive. The inbound map matches EDI data to the format your ERP system requires to communicate important, human-readable sales information directly to your staff. The outbound map takes the data you enter in your ERP system and transforms it to an EDI document that can be transported and interpreted by your trading partners. The maps can tell your ERP system who the document is from, what it is and whether it is an inbound or outbound document.

You can use these maps to increase your automated sales processes with more EDI capable trading partners. The mapping process is a one-time set-up for each EDI document type when trading partners follow the EDIPro guidelines. Once you map the EDI document to your ERP system, you can trade that document type as frequently as you’d like without any human intervention. The more maps you utilize, the more revenue you’ll gain from the investments you have already made to become EDI capable.

Unfortunately, the mapping process is sometimes considered a roadblock to growing electronic activity for small- to mid-size manufacturers and distributors that have limited in-house programming resources. Once they become EDI capable and set-up their first few EDI documents with a handful of their top trading partners, they put their eCommerce initiatives on hold because of the fees associated with building custom maps. This roadblock could be hindering their sales and competitive edge in an already uncertain economy. IDEA offers EDIPro map templates and can be your one-stop shop for custom maps. All you need to do is contact your account manager and ask them how we can help you keep your eCommerce program running strong.

Independence Day Mapping Promotion Coming Soon!

IDEA will be extending a promotion on our custom mapping service during the month of July to help you pick up where you left off with your eCommerce initiatives and position your company for future success. Our Independence Day promotion will offer custom maps within your budget so that you can increase your electronic activity with more trading partners.

Check your inbox next week to find out the promotion in which your company qualifies.

Tags for this post: edi b2b ecommerce erp mapping

Back To Top

Christine Arczynski Joins the IDEA Team

Christine Arczynski, formerly the Assistant Media Buying Manager for InvestorPlace Media, LLC, has joined the Account Management team as an Account Manager & Business Services Representative. Arczynski will provide technical support and eCommerce service consultation to IDEA customers.

She will work in collaboration with Nick Manzo, Director of Account Management & Business Services and Account Managers: Ricky Montoya, Edwin Lopez and Fahad Shamshad, to act as the single point-of-contact and primary interface for all customer engagements.

Christine can be reached at or Welcome to the IDEA team!

Tags for this post: employees christine arczynski

Back To Top

IDEA Consultant Awarded Lifetime Achievement Award

John Wilson, IDEA consultant and active IDEA Standards Committee (ISC) member, was awarded the Equity/EDN Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Annual Meeting in Dallas Texas. Wilson is a former employee of OSRAM SYLVANIA where he served for over 30 years before retiring as the Manager, eCommerce & Business Development.

Wilson thanked Equity/EDN and management team Bob Snyder, Dick Noel, Matt Roos and Ted Havel in his acceptance speech. He also thanked IDEA and encouraged manufacturers and distributors to make data completeness and accuracy a priority.

“To all the manufacturers, you need to supply all of the transactional, extended and catalog data that you have on your products to Industry Data Warehouse (IDW). To all Distributors, be resilient in your demand for data from your manufacturer trading partners so that you can better serve your customers. Extended and catalog data will help everyone expand sales opportunities both in person and electronically,” said Wilson.

While at SYLVANIA, Wilson grew electronic orders for the Industrial Commercial channel from < 30% to 85% and electronic claims (ship & debits) to 88% via EDI, Flat Files and the web. He also represented OSRAM SYLVANIA for the IDEA initiative, which helped form Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) and Industry Data Exchange (IDX). OSRAM SYLVANIA is a Founding Member of IDEA.

Wilson accepted past industry awards including the Richard Buzun Award for Leadership and Innovation in eCommerce (2007) and the TED Magazine Best of the Best Award for company website (2003, 2004, 2005) on behalf of SYLVANIA and received Electrical Wholesaling GEM Rising Star Award (1994).

He received his bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University and MBA from Northeastern University. He is also a graduate of the US Army Non-Commissioned Officers Academy and is a decorated veteran having served our country in Vietnam. Congratulations!

Tags for this post: employees john wilson awards equity edn

Back To Top

2009 Forum Raffle Giveaway – Save $ While Learning

IDEA is raffling off a discounted hotel room rate for the IDEA E-Biz Forum 2009 for a limited time only. One lucky guest who registers for the Forum by June 30th will be randomly selected to receive 25% off their room rate at the Westin La Paloma Resort & Spa for the Forum. The winner’s hotel room will be changed from an already discounted $195 a night to $149!

Don’t forget the Forum Early Bird rates also end on June 30. These rates save you $100 per registration and $500 off your exhibitor booth - in addition to the buy two registrations, get one free promotion. IDEA is committed to providing you with money saving opportunities to advocate the importance of eBusiness education in an unsteady economy. Here are a few benefits you will take back from the Forum:

• New ideas on how to grow sales from industry experts
• Hands-on experience from industry training sessions and user groups
• New technologies and services to improve efficiencies

Don’t miss your chance for big savings - register today!

Tags for this post: ebiz forum news

Back To Top

Upcoming IDW and IDX Training Opportunities

This month IDEA continues to offer training sessions for Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) and Industry Data Exchange (IDX). Get the July schedule and more details.

On-Demand IDW Training

IDEA offers on-demand one-on-one IDW training sessions. 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. net price, inbound mapping, etc.) is also available upon request.

Customers interested in scheduling an IDW one-on-one training session should contact , Data Sync Platform (DSP) Support Administrator, at .

IDX Tracker Training Schedule

Tuesday, July 07: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, July 14: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, July 21: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, July 28: 1:30-2:30PM

Times don’t work for your schedule? Contact our flexible IDX training expert, at to schedule a one-on-one training at a time that works for you.

In addition to these trainings, we encourage you to attend the IDW and IDX User Groups at the IDEA E-Biz Forum 2009. These new sessions will provide hands on training and the opportunity for you to share ideas with our IDW and IDX experts. Topics covered in these user groups will be determined by your feedback - please submit topic suggestions to the IDW and IDX training contacts listed above.

Tags for this post: idw idx training

Back To Top

Standards Hot Fact: Exchange Special Pricing with the 845

The EDI 845 document (Price Authorization Acknowledgment/Status) is used by the supplier to provide specific data for pre-authorized special pricing agreements (quotations/contracts) to their trading partners. Manufacturers and distributors that use maps to import and export 845 data to their ERP system facilitate the most efficient and effective way to exchange special pricing. Trading partners can use the 845 alone or with other EDI documents to:

• Clarify and automate the contract/quote process
• Improve response rates to special price requests
• Acknowledge the authorization of the contract
• Facilitate a quick process for requesting and approving a credit associated with the contract

Business case examples:

Net Into-Stock (Stock Sale) – the 845 would be used to provide the distributor with a Net Into-stock price, distributor and/or branch specific. The distributor would purchase the product at the Net Price and stock it for resale in their market and to their customers.

Ship and Debit (customer rebate) process - the 845 would be used to confirm a contract/quote price for an item or a discount group. Then the 844 transaction (Product Transfer Account Adjustment) would be used to request the credit, followed by an 849 confirmation transaction (Response to Product Transfer Account Adjustment).

Quote and bidding process - the 840 (Request for Quotation) would be used by the buyer to request quotes from one or more sellers. Then the 843 (Response to Request for Quotation) would be used by the seller to bid on the contract. This process could be repeated in an attempt to win the bid. Optionally, the 836 (Procurement Notice) could be used by the buyer to confirm the awarding of a contract.

Quote/contract confirmation (Contract Sale) - the 845 may be used to confirm an already agreed upon quote for a job-specific contract, customer and/or special promotion.

Tags for this post: standards hot facts net price

Back To Top