This Week in IDEA | August 25, 2011

Follow IDEA on Twitter

IDEA is now tweeting to provide up-to-date news and education for our customers, partners, media, and others in the electrical supply chain. Through our Twitter page, we’ll announce product updates and special Twitter promotions, share eBusiness educational tools and tips, gather the latest industry and technology news, and much more!

During the 2011 E-Biz Forum, Twitter will be integrated into the event so you’ll be able to interact with speakers, find out what’s happening at other sessions, and network with other attendees. Mention IDEA @IDEAeSolutions and use the hashtag #ebizforum to get involved or share your opinions about the event.

Our Twitter page is a channel through which you can reach us whenever and wherever you want so we hope you’ll join the conversation! Give us feedback about our products and services, ask questions about the Forum, or just drop by to say “Hi!”

Be the first to comment on this article.

Tags for this post: ebiz forum social media twitter

Back To Top

Updates and Predictions on Epicor and Infor Acquisitions

Content courtesy of Electrical Wholesaling

According to Electrical Wholesaling, the overall prognosis is positive. In the aftermath of the Epicor and Infor acquisitions, electrical distributors may be concerned that the ERP giants won’t be able to focus time and resources to develop the customized functionality needed by the industry. However, both companies have groups that are vested in the electrical market. Activant Solutions has been a strong presence in the electrical industry for many years, partnering with IDEA to work on the IDW and acquiring several electrical distributor ERP systems. Since its acquisition of NxTrend, Infor has also been actively involved in the electrical industry. The electrical industry will probably continue to be identified as a valuable target market.

For Epicor and Infor, the acquisitions mean a larger suite of services, economies of scale, and expanded market reach. Although opinions differ on how the acquisitions will affect distributors, perhaps it’s not too naive to be optimistic. By capitalizing on the economies of scale, large ERP providers are able to better support their systems and dedicate more resources to research. Development of mobile applications, eCommerce services, and cloud computing software are just some of the things that Electrical Wholesaling predicts will blossom as a result of the acquisition.

For more information about the resulting advantages of software giants for these two ERP providers and customers, read the article “The Big Grid for Battle” in the August 2011 issue of Electrical Wholesaling.

Be the first to comment on this article.

Tags for this post: electrical wholesaling activant erp epicor infor

Back To Top

Congratulations to tED magazine’s "Best of the Best Overall" Marketing Award Winners

The 2011 tED magazine “Best of the Best” marketing awardswere presented at a reception hosted by the magazine during the NAED AdVenture Electrical Marketing Conference in Chicago on August 15. In a commendable effort to promote a greener process, tED magazine had all entries submitted completely digitally. Congratulations to IDEA customer, Warshauer Electric Supply, and to Madison Electric Products for being awarded the “Best of the Best Overall” winners as well as to the 47 winners of the other categories. The awards recognize the best electrical marketing campaigns fielded in 2010.

View all of the 2011 “Best of the Best” winners and take a look at their work. Congratulations to all!

Be the first to comment on this article.

Tags for this post: ted magazine madison electric products warshauer electric supply

Back To Top

Using SaaS Systems to Overcome EDI Challenges

Content courtesy of EBN

Scott Koegler, an EDI guru with 15 years experience as CIO for midsized companies and nearly 20 years writing about technology, shares his perspective on the challenges of modified EDI documents and the advantages of a SaaS system in his blog post, “Managing Business Relationships in the Cloud.” According to Koegler, EDI documents are subject to translation from each entity and there’s usually only one specialist in a company who juggles this process with their other responsibilities. Coupled with a constant interchange of updates and subsequent translation, changes are often delayed or completed incorrectly, resulting in wasted time and cost. Koegler shares some benefits of adopting a SaaS system to overcome these challenges.

Read the complete blog post on ebnonline.com>

Be the first to comment on this article.

Tags for this post: edi ebn

Back To Top

New Synchronization Customers

New IRD CERICOMX Customers

As a 1SYNC Data Pool On-Board Solution (OBS) partner, IDEA implements suppliers that subscribe to the 1SYNC data pool using the IRD CERICOMX® Data Synchronization Platform. IDEA was recently assigned 25 suppliers:

• Bantry Bay America
• Yummy Earth
•
• Purely Enterprises
• Adesso
• Pounds Lost
• Bar B Que Specialists
• TRIUNFO-MEX
• Clearly Fun Products
• Gaspar’s Sausage
• Bailey Nurseries, Inc.
• TruBamboo, LLC
• Elegant Lighting, Inc.
• Curtis International
• Vantage Point Concepts, LLC
• Good Ideas, Inc.
• IMS
• Do Outdoors, Inc.
• Hold-It, Inc.
• Rinnai America Corporation
• Uni-King of Hawaii
• Rugs America Corporation
• TADgreen, Inc.
• LesserEvil, Inc.
• Plantation Patterns Furniture Co.

These companies will be trained to use IRD CERICOMX®, an online catalog that suppliers use to register product data with the GS1 Registry® and GDSN via the 1SYNC Data Pool. Suppliers also use this solution to publish product data to demand partners including retailers such as Lowe’s and Walmart.

Be the first to comment on this article.

Tags for this post: customers

Back To Top