This Week in IDEA | April 1, 2009

New IDEA IRD Customers

IDEA announces two 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 two suppliers:

• Peerless Chain Co.
• H and M International, 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 .

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IDEA Launches YouTube Channel

Most of you already experience value from standards, eCommerce and data synchronization in the electrical supply chain. IDEA makes its mark on the video world to spread the word. Visit the IDEA YouTube channel to view and comment on product videos and clips from the historical 10 year anniversary video.

How can you take advantage of this new page?

• Save the IDEA YouTube channel to your favorites. We will continue to add video clips including memorable Forum educational sessions and insights from our president and CEO, Bob Gaylord. You can add the IDEA YouTube channel to your iGoogle page along with other web 2.0 technologies like the so that you will be the first to know when we post another video.
• Forward the page to your co-workers and trading partners. The best way to gain additional value from IDEA is to spread the good news to your industry peers and superiors. The more of your trading partners who understand the value and participate in eCommerce and data sync initiatives, the more money you will save through efficiency gains.
• Share your success stories. Take the extra step to reach out to the industry - share your personal success stories by posting comments to our YouTube channel and videos.
• Make suggestions for our next video. As IDEA continually builds upon our YouTube channel, we welcome your suggestions for new video posts and topics. Visit www.highvoltageideas.com and submit your ideas today.

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IDW and EDI Make the Electrical Checklists for ‘09

Electrical Wholesaling has been working hard to help electrical manufacturers and distributors get through the economic downturn and come out on top. Their published research findings in the February and March editions recognize electronic data interchange (EDI) and Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) as ways to differentiate your company from competition.

A call to action for manufacturers and distributors based on results from a research study completed by Farmington Consulting Group can be found in the February edition. The study highlights key factors that manufacturers and distributors value most from each other.

The distributor to-do list includes a section on “distributor business processes” which highlights that a significant amount of manufacturers want to do business with electrical distributors that:

• Drive their efficiencies through technologies that mutually reduce operating and transaction costs.
• Provide compatible systems to the manufacturer through EDI and IDW.

Similarly, the manufacturer to-do list includes a section on “ease of doing business and world-class logistics”. The majority of distributors surveyed want to do business with manufacturers who provide hassle-free methods while reducing the cost of doing business by:

• Using a well-developed EDI system with all the standard and industry-accepted transaction sets for transactional excellence.
• Providing reliable, consistent supply chain support including providing best-practice order fill, order accuracy and on-time delivery rates.
• Operating user-friendly websites with reliable up-to-date information.
• View the complete “Call to Action” article

Furthermore, an excerpt from the Electrical Marketer’s Survival Guide in the March issue highlights 50 ways to add value to your company and stand out from competitors. Among the items on the checklist are a few things IDEA can help you achieve:

• Providing accurate, timely pricing information.
• Providing product information, catalogs and technical bulletins in either printed or online form (PDFs, electronic catalogs, etc).
• Providing accurate computerized information for customers.
• Taking orders through EDI to cut down on paperwork errors.
• Maintaining a website that offers 24-hour access to product information, order status, company services, etc. Give yourself an extra point if you utilize IDEA’s IDW.
• View complete list

IDEA recognizes the need to gain a competitive edge and save money in a down economy and we are ready to help you reach your goals related to data synchronization and eCommerce. Give your account manager a call to find out how we can help you check off these items from your to-do list.

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Unilog Content Solutions: Premiere Partner of the IDEA E-Biz Forum ‘09

IDEA thanks Unilog Content Solutions for their Premiere Partner level sponsorship of the IDEA E-Biz Forum 2009. This company demonstrates their dedicated support of the electrical industry’s only annual event focused on advancing the industry through eBusiness and the latest technologies. Unilog joins Activant Solutions as the exclusive Premiere Partners of the Forum. Their leadership and support is greatly appreciated by all.

Unilog is India’s leading catalog management and data cleansing company. Unilog employs over 200 people, is ISO 9001:2000 certified and supports customers in North & South America, Europe and Asia. Unilog provides Classification, Cleansing, Attribute Extraction and Enrichment services for all major industry verticals. Unilog has excellent relationships with most PIM / ERP and SCM implementation companies and can be your one-stop-shop for all data needs.

Mr. Walter Rausch, President North America, will share his expertise during a break-out session of the Forum on Wednesday, September 23. Find out more information at www.unilogcorp.com.  

Interested in joining this industry leader in their support of eBusiness advancements? Take a look at the sponsor benefits to select and confirm your company sponsorship.

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Did You Know? IDW Hot Fact

You can prevent interference with your scheduled ERP downloads by separating your company’s on-demand data requests. The best way to separate the on-demand requests is to set up an independent trading partner folder.

You can set up a new trading partner folder by creating or cloning an existing one. The difference is that cloning an existing trading partner folder will automatically populate basic presets.

• To create a new folder, go to the “Trading Partner Profiles” option and select the option to create a new trading partner folder. Once created, you will have the option to select the folder for your data requests. Note – you must use ZZ as your trading partner qualifier to create your own.
• To clone a folder, select an existing trading partner folder and change the folder name to match the data subset you want to download.

Utilizing trading partner folders to filter out data that you don’t need reduces the amount of end-user file manipulation and data parsing needed to use and apply the data within your ERP system. Find out more about trading partner profiles and folders in the Distributor IDW User Guide, Chapter 10.

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