This Week in IDEA | July 11, 2013

3 Ways Distributors Can Access Generic UPC’s through the IDW

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As previously announced in this press release, IDEA purchased the license to the 98-series UPC’s to support the industry’s need for generic product UPC numbers. These numbers are available to the industry through the Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) and can be added to a distributor’s business system in three different ways:

1. Within the “non-Specific Manufacturer” dataset: This dataset provides you with ~8000 products identified with the generic UPC, along with a basic set of product information, such as catalog number and description, for each.
   
   To access this information, add the manufacturer labeled “non-Specific Manufacturer” to your data extracts request list in the IDW. All distributors have been pre-authorized for the “non-Specific Manufacturer” dataset, so just add this manufacturer to your extract request. This information will be available in the next manufacturer data extract you run.
2. Within IDEA’s “Benchmark Pricing” dataset: This dataset provides you with the same generic product information as the “non-Specific Manufacturer” dataset (e.g. UPC, catalog number, description ) as well as the benchmark price for each product. The benchmark prices found in this dataset provide the general market price for each product, regardless of the manufacturer.
   
   To access this information, send an authorization request through the IDW for the manufacturer labeled “Benchmark Pricing.” Once authorized, add this dataset to your data extracts request list in the IDW, and it will be available in the next manufacturer data extract you run.
3. Within the “non-Specific Manufacturer UPC” field: This SKU-level IDW field is available for manufacturers to populate just as they would any other IDW field (e.g. price group, package quantity, country of origin) when sending regular item updates to the IDW. If a manufacturer populates this new “non-Specific Manufacturer UPC” field, the unique product UPC numbers they use in their own systems can easily be cross-referenced and linked with the corresponding generic product UPC numbers used by your contractor customers in their systems. Both the manufacturer-unique UPC and the non-specific UPC can be stored in your business system simultaneously. This is the method expanded upon in the April 30th announcement “IDEA Licenses the 98-Series UPC Numbers from GS1.”
   
   If a manufacturer populates the “non-Specific Manufacturer UPC” field in the IDW, the information in this field will automatically appear when you extract their product data. No extra steps are required.

If you have any additional questions about how to access the generic UPC’s from the IDW, please contact your Data Quality Analyst and they will be happy to help you set up the data download that works best for you.

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