This Week in IDEA | November 28, 2007

New IDEA Customer: Black Electrical Supply, Inc.

Black Electrical Supply, Inc., an electrical and lighting distributor from Greenville, SC, became an IDEA customer on November 26, 2007. Black ES will be relying on the Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) for suppliers’ product and pricing information and taking advantage of the cost savings and reliability of the Industry Data Exchange (IDX) to exchange important business information. Black ES is a proud member of NAED and IMARK. Visit www.blackelectricalsupply.com for more information. Welcome aboard!

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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 two suppliers:

• Rain Creek Baking Company 
• Pint Size Productions

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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IDEA Announces New President, Robert E. Gaylord

IDEA is pleased to announce that Robert E. Gaylord will become the organization's president on December 3, 2007.

Gaylord, a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, is a versatile senior executive with a proven record of accomplishment as a leader, manager and communicator. He brings to IDEA in-depth expertise in leading large, complex, dispersed organizations of both military and civilian personnel. He joins IDEA after serving as president and chief executive officer of the Leader to Leader Institute in New York.

"We are incredibly lucky that Bob has accepted the presidency of IDEA. Although he is new to this particular industry, Bob has a proven track record. With his leadership, IDEA will continue its success," said IDEA Chairman, Todd Kumm.

IDEA was founded in 1998 by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). The organization has been instrumental in improving data quality in the electrical industry, overseeing industry data standards, and driving down supply chain costs for its customers.

"I know Bob Gaylord as a remarkable officer and a fantastic leader. I am confident that Bob will work with our industries to lead IDEA to new levels of service and accomplishment," said NEMA President and Chief Executive Officer, Evan R. Gaddis.

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Share Your Expertise at the E-Biz Forum 2008: Speaker Submissions Due 1.4.08!

The search process for the most remarkable speakers and topics for IDEA’s 10 year anniversary celebration at the E-Biz Forum 2008 has begun, and you are invited to submit your ideas for consideration.

What: E-Biz Forum 2008 Call for Speakers
Deadline: January 4, 2008
Where: Washington, D.C.

As a presenter at the E-Biz Forum 2008, you will have the chance to share your experiences, challenges, and fresh approaches with fellow professionals as well as benefit from the educational and professional development opportunities. In addition, all speakers receive a complimentary E-Biz Forum registration (a US $575 value) to attend the Forum networking and educational events. View the E-Biz Forum 2008 Call for Speakers to complete the submission form and to learn how you can utilize this opportunity to advance your career and become a known leader in your field.

If you have any questions, please contact the E-Biz Committee at ebiz@idea-esolutions.com.

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December IDW Training Schedule: New Inbound Mapper Training Available

This month IDEA adds a new training program to support the Inbound Mapper functionality. This training program will provide an overview of the new tool and will assist suppliers through the steps of creating a customized map to ensure a more efficient and accurate data import. Mark your calendars because all suppliers must attend the Inbound Mapper Training Session before utilizing the new tool. In addition to the new training program, IDEA continues to offer distributor and manufacturer trainings and Net Pricing sessions. The December dates for these trainings are:

IDW Distributor Training Sessions:
Wednesday, December 12: 1:30-3:00PM
Wednesday, December 26: 1:30-3:00PM

IDW Manufacturer Training Sessions:
Thursday, December 6: 1:30-3:30PM
Thursday, December 20: 1:30-3:30PM

Net Pricing Training Sessions:
Thursday, December 13: 1:30-2:00PM
Thursday, December 27: 1:30-2:00PM

Inbound Mapper Training Sessions:
Wednesday, December 5: 1:30-2:30PM
Wednesday, December 19: 1:30-2:30PM

Additional training sessions are announced each month in This Week in IDEA.

To sign up for a training session, please contact Supriya Reddy, IDW Tech and Training Representative, at (703) 562- 4616.

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Did You Know? IDW Hot Facts

When extracting data from IDW, sometimes there are superfluous or illegal characters in the description or catalog data. The Outbound Mapper has the ability to remove these characters automatically during your extraction process by using the “Replace Characters” transformation. You can do this by setting the transformation to replace each character with no value. Multiple transformations may be needed to replace multiple characters. If you need further assistance, feel free to contact anyone on the IDW team at IDEA.

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