Testimonials

"I knew we needed to enhance our eCommerce capabilities quickly, and when I found out that IDEA and Unilog were teaming up to provide a web storefront solution pre-populated with IDW data, it was a slam dunk! I’ve been impressed with the quick turnarounds and responsiveness of the implementation team, and would definitely recommend this solution to other electrical distributors" — Barry Carden, VP and CIO, Mayer Electric Supply

"Both our business units and our customers have expressed high levels of satisfaction with the solution, which has given us the confidence to engage in the roll out of CONEXIOM to thousands of our customers worldwide." — Ian MacTavish, IT Manager and Global eBusiness Leader, 3M

"iConex enables us to convert high volume non-EDI customers to an EDI process with no capital investment, no internal resources and no data errors. The iConex process helps our customer service reps to increase productivity by reducing the time spent on data entry. We truly believe in iConex and think this is a great opportunity to reduce costs and improve customer service" — James Wilkinson, Director of Business Process Management, McNaughton-McKay

"You don't want your people to get to the job site and then find out that you didn't buy the right thing. Then you have to take it back, get credit for it, and order something else. So accurate information is important. My plate is full, and I need to find all the content I can to make my job more efficient." — Dan Poss, , Frisbee's Inc. an electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractor, who accesses IDW product data from his distributor's website

"We now utilize IDW data for price updates because of the accuracy and timeliness of IDW data compared to our previous provider. This change has allowed us to improve our own internal service levels. IDEA has helped us improve many of our vendor partnerships by providing a data bridge and we feel very strongly that our IDEA investment is providing a payback." — Rich Passmore, Viking Electric Supply

"I believe IDEA is the only way that we can be truly successful in taking the inefficiencies out of our organizations as it relates to product data and communication standards. It is the responsibility of the manufacturers to develop and administer their data, and the IDW gives them the opportunity to do that. Any third party that gets in there and messes with that data adds inefficiencies to the business relationships." — David Crum, Crum Electric Supply

"IDEA has provided a very efficient model for us to capture each of our manufacturer's data in one place right at our desktop. They have helped us build relationships with our suppliers so that we can get the data we need to keep our customers happy." — Joe Wallace, Van Meter Industrial

"IDW enables on-line catalog ordering systems, more customer self-service and faster access to information - while reducing our cost of sales and improving accuracy, efficiency and productivity for all of us." — Barry Nelson, Border States

"The IDW updates distributor systems with changes to our product and pricing information in near real-time, thanks to flexible integration features and standardized formats - much faster than other solution providers. Only IDW gives us the ability to synchronize product, pricing, packaging and marketing information in one location. By having both manufacturers and distributors on the same standardized platform, costs are cut out of the supply chain." — Stacie Braffet, IDEAL

" Think of your product information as a strategic asset that will help drive up sales. Use IDW as the means to deliver your strategic asset to your trading partners in the most cost effective way. Your distributors can read everything that is out there in the marketplace, but it makes more of an impression when it comes from you." — Tim Powers, Hubbell Inc.

"The IDW's standardized format makes it easier to get the product information we need to go-to-market effectively. We are able to develop a web presence with proper searching of products as well as have the right pricing and most up-to-date products on our system." — Marc Hurtubise, Ideal Supply

"The manufacturer certainly benefits from adoption of IDW through increased marketing support from distributors that proactively market products with tools such as on-line catalogs, printed catalogs, niche market product information brochures, etc." — Barry Nelson, Border States

"Providing clean and complete marketing data through the IDW makes it easy for our distributors to access all the information they need to promote our products. This not only helps project our brand in a consistent manner across various media, it is also the most efficient way for us to help our distributors meet their customers' needs." — Charbel H. Tagher, Specified Technologies, Inc.

"It’s a top down kind of thing; when leaders make it a priority within their company to automate sending and receiving data, then they put the resources in place. It’s important to keep pushing this issue with manufacturers and software vendors, encouraging others to implement the standards and get the software in place to make this happen." — Ron Schlader, VP Operations and Quality, Crescent Electric Supply Co.

"The standardization of data and documents, made possible with the assistance of IDEA, aids in reduction of errors thus lowering the cost of the business transaction. This also helps improve the invoice-to-payment time cycle." — Marilee Anderson, eCommerce Manager, Kirby Risk

"If you place a glue stick vertically on the desk and ask someone for an approximate length, width and height, then place the glue stick horizontally and ask the same question, you get two different interpretations. Similar misinterpretation occurs with electrical product data when there is no industry standard implemented." — Phil Barrios, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & E-Business, Hubbell, Inc.

"I would say that the need for the attributed data and the benefits of that from a manufacturer’s standpoint is to keep our distributors happy. We have a lot of similar products and the only way we can differentiate our products is by using the Electrical Attribute Schema. We’ve seen an increase in accuracy of the data and quantity of the data attributes and our general descriptions have improved." — Peter Vient, Data Sync Coordinator, Osram Sylvania

"The better the marketing information is on a product, the easier it is to get that product line-up correct. Having standardized attributes makes the whole process from manufacturer to end customer more efficient and reliable." — Jason Archbold, Marketing Supervisor, Business Intelligence, Border States Electric

"IDEA was the first to bring manufacturers and distributors together to make collective decisions. Both parties are literally in same room voicing hardships and pain points and coming up with solutions together. It’s a very collaborative environment and any manufacturer or distributor that is not participating in the conversation is really missing out." — Stacie Braffet, eCommerce Supervisor, IDEAL

"We now know that marketing content, enriched descriptions, attributes, and multiple spec documents are becoming global standards. To do business globally, this is what is going to be a necessity. Although the GS1 initiative is mainly being driven by the retail sector, the distribution sector is not far behind. The efforts that NEMA and IDEA are making to incorporate the GS1 understanding of the new attributes is going to put us ahead of the game in the future." — Angela LiVolsi, Data Synchronization Specialist, Philips Lighting Company

"Offering standardized enriched product information is going to make you, as a manufacturer, easier to do business with; it’s going to make your products easier to find, access, and understand. And, in the fast-paced electronic environment that we live and work in today, that could be your only advantage." — Dawn Wright-Perry, Retail Services Manager, Milbank

"It’s all about giving customers a result that’s manageable and you can see by using the Attribute Schema which was developed in conjunction with the all back-fill of all the UNSPC codes, that now when someone comes to one of our sites and wants to use a key word search, we can show them a result set based on every node in our tree, then offer them the balance of the attributes to further define the product. The customer can quickly get down to a set of products to make a buying decision." — David Starr, Corporate Director of eBusiness, McNaughton-McKay

"IDEA offers top-notch support and a solid suite of services. The expertise of the IDEA staff and their willingness to listen to users and work through problems is an essential resource for Leviton. The opportunities IDEA provides for customers to collaborate make it well worth the investment." — Mark Richards, Director of eCommerce, Leviton Manufacturing

"IDEA has excellent customer service, and they’re very good at helping anyone I refer to them in a timely manner. Once affiliates are set up with EDI, the customer service continues to be great. I know that I can recommend them with confidence." — Susan Hilberts, EDI Coordinator, Affiliated Distributors

"IDEA has truly excelled in developing data standards and a communication platform into effective tools that are being widely used in our industry both by manufacturers and distributors. I believe IDEA is the only way we can successfully remove non-electronic communication and data inefficiencies from our supply chain." — Dave Crum, CEO, Crum Electric Supply

"Crescent and Hubbell became Charter IDEA customers when the company was introduced to the industry over 10 years ago. Phil and I recognized the need for standardized electronic processes and we knew IDEA was the answer. IDEA provides the resources and tools manufacturers and distributers need to synchronize data; it is our responsibility to utilize those resources effectively." — Ron Schlader, VP Operations and Quality, Crescent Electric Supply Co.

"Each supplier has unique needs and our company does not have the capacity to collect the requested information and send it in the preferred format each time we want to conduct eCommerce with a trading partner. IDEA is the perfect middleman for us. They find out what the suppliers need and make eCommerce happen." — Roger Cleary , President, Davis Electrical Supply

"IDEA is a change agent and catalyst to the future. The success or failure of IDEA is a barometer of our industry’s ability to evolve and adapt to a new era of electronic commerce. IDEA's mission encompasses two of my passions: business processes improvement and technology utilization. It began building the foundation for future eCommerce through development of EDI standards, Internet commerce transactions, crossing over the dot-bomb era, and enabling online self-service options to data synchronization through the first Industry Data Warehouse (IDW)." — Phil Barrios, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & E-Business, Hubbell Incorporated

"For Kirby Risk, eCommerce is a high priority. We’re always looking for the best solutions out there and IDEA has risen to the top on many occasions.Through the implementation of IDEA’s B2B eCommerce and Synchronization solutions, Kirby Risk is seeing a reduction in error through a more streamlined process. We are definitely seeing more business efficiencies internally as well as in working with manufacturers." — Marilee Anderson, eCommerce Manager, Kirby Risk

"IDEA was an extremely effective liaison to our suppliers. They worked with me day-to-day and were able to facilitate the process of establishing a mutually beneficial electronic relationship with our trading partners." — Andy MacVie, IT Manager, Quermback Electric

"IDEA gets it. They are part of the electrical industry so they understand the concerns and are able to analyze our data to come up with ways to optimize our performance. I was impressed with the team that implemented our conversion to IDEA solutions. The process was laid out step-by-step for us so that we would know what to expect throughout the process." — Stacie Braffet, eCommerce Supervisor, IDEAL

"IDEA staff not only executed the project, but I felt like someone was paying attention. They didn’t just sell me a service and then walk away and hope that the conversion would go through. They were involved 100 percent, and they stayed with it until it was done. They definitely have the technical competency on hand." — Bob Shapiro, President, Franklin Empire

"The more we can do amongst ourselves to benefit the industry is a benefit to all of us. I’m not sure how many other distributors are aware of the savings they could get by switching to IDX. Once we made the move to IDX, it was one of those things we said to ourselves, ‘Why didn’t we do that earlier?’ Because it was easy, the transition was smooth, we had no downtime and the savings are exactly what IDEA told me it would be." — Tom Snyder, MIS Manager, Becker Electric Supply

"We’ve had 100% uptime on IDX. The level of service has been very good, including technical services. We’ve found that they are quick to respond with any changes to mappings. Overall, IDX offers high support levels at a competitive price point." — Timi Pieretti, IT Applications Manager, Affiliated Distributors

"eCommerce increases productivity, reduces the overall cost of sales by automating order services, and delivers accurate and real-time information to enable faster decision-making. IDEA’s Industry Data Exchange (IDX) has provided Eaton with the visibility and reliability necessary to improve customer service. Plus, the savings delivered by IDX versus our previous VAN provider enables EDI to remain a beneficial component of our eCommerce t­ool set." — Jennifer Winkelvoss, e-Commerce Integration Manager, Eaton

"No other VAN provider can compare to IDEA. The cost savings and service offering IDEA provides the electrical industry is untouchable." — David Woolley, President, L.A Woolley

"None of us really believed that EDI could financially benefit our company outside the IMARK incentive program due to our company size but the benefits of eCommerce are undeniable. We are already noticing quicker order fulfillment and we are now positioned to receive electronic price updates. Why would we stop now? EDI is just the beginning, we want to take advantage of everything eCommerce can offer." — Roger Cleary, President, Davis Electrical Supply

"We use the EDI 845 for both into-stock and ship & debit SPA agreements for over 120 locations. This method syncs our into-stock pricing with our vendors ensuring more accurate purchase orders. This then drives efficiency in the processing of EDI invoices. Receiving our SPA’s via the EDI 845 ensures precision in items picked up by our SPA system and in our dollars claimed. The EDI 845 has a multitude of benefits for both us and our vendors." — David Keck, Programmer Analyst, Crescent Electric Supply Co.

"By using IDX, we can streamline processes, including ordering, invoicing and billing. As margins continue to shrink in our industry, we have to find ways to become more productive and remove some of these back-office expenses.  Our transition took less than a week, which is pretty cool. In today’s technology world, nothing takes less than a week." — John Hanna, President and COO, Fromm Electric Supply

"We now essentially process 80% of our invoices electronically and with the need for technology in order to improve that process in order to be 100%, that is part of what IDEA is trying to drive in the industry, getting suppliers to get good attributed data, pricing data in the system, being able to match up invoices to POs, reduces costs a big area in accounting for us." — Del Nickel, Former President, Pentair Technical Products

"The EDI processes we’ve established with our partners have definitely saved us time and money over the years. And using a solid solution such as IDX definitely helps. Even better, we’ve had very few issues and rarely need to call for support. The products we use just work." — Robert Herring, IT Director, Womack Electric & Supply Co.

"IDEA’s services have given Siemens Energy & Automation the flexibility to adapt to unique customer requirements as well as the opportunity to delay EDI development without missing a beat as far as our customers are concerned." — Liz Norman, EDI Business Systems Manager, Siemens Energy & Automation

"I knew we needed to enhance our eCommerce capabilities quickly, and when I found out that IDEA and Unilog were teaming up to provide a web storefront solution pre-populated with IDW data, it was a slam dunk! I’ve been impressed with the quick turnarounds and responsiveness of the implementation team, and would definitely recommend this solution [iCIMM2] to other electrical distributors." — Barry Carden, Vice President and CIO, Mayer Electric Supply

"The significant reduction in cost without major additional costs to convert made it an easy choice to switch to IDX from our previous VAN provider. The service IDX provides is stable—we haven’t experienced an issue since our conversion. The conversion to IDX was very transparent; we encountered no issues and experienced no business disruption. The process was very easy and only took a day or two to get things going." — Sean McKee, Director of Information Systems, Fromm Electric Supply

"The IDX document number search and tracking feature will save my staff countless hours searching for specific EDI documents. It will also give us the ability to provide better tracking of the invoices sent to our customers. Instead of building this functionality ourselves, we will be able to focus resources on enabling new customers. You have saved us time and money so we are happy customers." — Brenda Maxwell, EDI Manager, Acuity Brands Lighting

"Our EDI transmission has worked so smoothly after each vendor is tested that we really haven't had any issues related to transmission in a very long time. In general, the use of EDI for vendor orders, acknowledgments, ship notices and invoices has reduced errors and AP processing time a significant amount." — Bruce Cudmore, Purchasing Manager, Carr Sales Co.

"IDW enables on-line catalog ordering systems, more customer self-service and faster access to information - while reducing our cost of sales and improving accuracy, efficiency and productivity for all of us. The manufacturer certainly benefits from adoption of IDW through increased marketing support from distributors that proactively market products with tools such as on-line catalogs, printed catalogs, niche market product information brochures, etc." — Barry Nelson, VP of Marketing, Border States

"When Hubbell decided to seek the assistance of a vendor-managed inventory service, we requested that the VMI provider set up a data flow that originated not from Hubbell for instead from the IDEA’s industry data warehouse (IDW) to ensure timely and synchronized data with our VMI distributor partners." — John Riley, Director of E-Commerce, Hubbell Wiring

"Think of your product information as a strategic asset that will help drive up sales. Use IDW as the means to deliver your strategic asset to your trading partners in the most cost effective way. Your distributors can read everything that is out there in the marketplace, but it makes more of an impression when it comes from you." — Tim Powers, Chairman and CEO, Hubbell Inc.

"We place a high priority on providing enriched data to the IDW because we recognize the importance of data synchronization and the benefits of providing and controlling our own product data in a single secure source." — Charlie Jerabek, President and CEO, OSRAM SYLVANIA

"We see our efforts as a two-pronged approach, with IDEA helping and guiding us. First, we are automating the process of sending product updates to the IDW throughout each division. Second, we are focused on integrating key marketing information into our data sync processes to help our trading partners compete. As we move forward with automating, we’re looking at one single automated process across all Cooper divisions to enable daily product updates to automatically feed the DMP, hence populating the IDW." — Samer Shehadeh, EDI Manager, Cooper Industries

"IDEA helped Hubbell and Crescent with the heavy lifting of data synchronization – building the Industry Data Warehouse (IDW), enabling one standard format for the communication of the dataset between trading partners and automating processes related to synchronizing transactional data (product, pricing and packaging). Since then, Hubbell has increased ROI by realizing ongoing cost savings from its business units." — Phil Barrios, Senior Director, Corporate Marketing & E-Business, Hubbell Incorporated

"Now everything has the same look and feel: products on CooperIndustries.com, IDW downloads, even EDI mapping. As a result, customers who were doing EDI transactions with only one division, such as Crouse-Hinds, can now be brought live much more efficiently with other Cooper divisions." — Lorraine Mott, Project Leader of Electronic Commerce, Cooper Crouse-Hinds

"IDEA has provided a very efficient model for us to capture each of our manufacturer’s data in one place right at our desktop. They have helped us build relationships with our suppliers so that we can get the data we need to keep our customers happy." — Joe Wallace, Pricing Manager, Van Meter Industrial

"IDEA’s IDW is the fastest and most cost effective way to deliver the specific product and pricing information distributors need to sell more of our manufacturers’ products." — Robert A. Reynolds Jr., Chairman, President and CEO, Graybar Electric

"You cannot operate without data integrity and data synchronization in today’s business environment. IDEA has provided Bridgeport Fittings with an effective and economical vehicle for transacting data between trading partners since their inception in 1998." — Paul Suzio, President and COO, Bridgeport Fittings, Inc.

"IDEA’s Data Synchronization Platform updates distributor systems with changes to our product and pricing information in near real-time thanks to flexible integration features and standardized formats – much faster than other solution providers. Only IDW gives us the ability to synchronize product, pricing, packaging and marketing information in one location. By having both manufacturers and distributors on the same standardized platform, costs are cut out of the supply chain." — Stacie Braffet, eCommerce Supervisor, IDEAL

"Our data sophistication must increase as the next generation who grew up with information at their fingertips enters the workforce. Our ultimate goal is to improve the customer experience and match the right product to the right customer needs at the counter and on the web. Distributors need more than basic transactional data to keep our competitive edge in this new generation." — Ron Schlader, VP Operations and Quality, Crescent Electric Supply Co.

"So often we would get requests from our customers or our branches to have certain products in our web storefronts or certain products in a custom printed catalog and we would often times make requests to manufacturers but we were unsure who to contact. So for certain projects we would just lift content out of their PDF and online catalogs. So we would work on these projects to enhance manufacturer content without the manufacturer even knowing about what we were doing. I believe the DMP will help create awareness for that by letting them know what we’re working on, who we’re working with or what products we’re going to be using." — Jason Archbold, Marketing Catalog Supervisor, Border States Electric

"eCommerce is a growing and increasingly crucial way for how Philips conducts business and answers buyers’ needs 24/7. Philips Lighting is proud to have achieved IDEA’s demanding standards and gain the acknowledgment which further validates our customers’ buying decisions." — Steve Goldmacher, Director of Corporate Communications, Philips Lighting Company

"IDEA conducted a thorough analysis of our data foundation. They listened attentively to our biggest concerns to help prioritize our top three goals and provided multiple recommendations to ensure success. Price and data synchronization with our trading partners is essential to reduce transaction cost, and I believe future data match and sync audits will be important to accomplishing our goals." — Chris Carter, Director of Marketing Services, North Coast Electric

"For MAPEI, the IDEA Data Management Service has provided the data synchronization infrastructure that we needed. Their customer service is outstanding; the support team is very responsive which makes the data synchronization process so much easier." — Will Wooten, National Account Manager, MAPEI

"IDEA has proven to be a valuable partner for W. W. Henry through their Data Management Service. The response time from the IDEA support team exceeded my expectations and the quality of their work is second to none. They are always willing and able to answer all of my data synchronization questions -- even when they’re out of scope. I’m completely confident in the service they provide which allows me to focus on other priorities." — James Masterson, Director of Operations, W.W. Henry Company

"I knew the importance of utilizing the Schema and tried to undertake the project internally at first. However, I quickly realized that this was going to take more resources than were available, so I turned to IDEA for support. The team I’m working with is very responsive and has kept me involved throughout the process. The AFS has proven to be valuable for our company; instead of waiting at least another year to reap the benefits of the Schema, we expect to see results by the end of the summer." — Randy Shelley, Product Specialist, ILSCO