This Week in IDEA | February 18, 2009

New IDEA, IDW and IDEA IRD Customers

IDEA announces one new IDEA customer, one new IDW customer and three new IDEA IRD customers. Read more about these companies and how you can begin trading with them electronically to expand your business.

New IDEA Customer

Sequel Electrical Supply from Meridian, MS, became an IDEA customer on February 13, 2009. They will take advantage of the cost savings and reliability of Industry Data Exchange (IDX). Sequel Electrical Supply is a proud member of IMARK Group and a new member of NAED. Welcome aboard!

New IDW Customer

Andersen Electric Supply, from Niagara Falls, NY, recently expanded their eCommerce services. They will rely on Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) for their core/transactional product and pricing information.

Andersen Electric Supply has over 100 years of experience serving the Niagara Frontier in the distribution of electrical supplies and proudly distributes brands such as Square D, Pass & Seymour and Thomas & Betts.

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 three suppliers:

• Acushnet Company
• Dynasol
• Waggin’ Train, LLC

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 President Shares Insights on Attributed Data

IDEA continues to listen to your ideas and comments about IDEA’s eCommerce and data synchronization services. This month IDEA’s President responds to a question from an electrical distributor from Fargo, ND regarding efforts to increase manufacturer population of attributed/catalog data (e.g. images, material specs) in Industry Data Warehouse (IDW).

In this month’s submission, Barry Nelson, VP Marketing, Border States Electric Supply (Fargo, ND) emphasizes the necessity for manufacturers to efficiently provide attributed/catalog data to enable distributors to build online catalogs and to conduct eCommerce. He asks, “How can distributors impress upon manufacturers how important the initiative of attributed data is for doing B2B today?”

In response, Bob Gaylord, President and CEO, reiterates the importance of distributor and manufacturer trading partner relationships and discusses IDEA initiatives to provide the foundation and tools for manufacturers to send distributors attributed/catalog data in an efficient and standardized format.

Listen to Bob’s response and submit your comments at www.highvoltageideas.com.  

You can read more about the benefits of attributed data in the case study – A Journey through Data Discovery.

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DATAgility and Crescent Electric Supply: Sponsors of the IDEA E-Biz Forum ‘09

IDEA would like to thank DATAgility for their Platinum level sponsorship and Crescent Electric Supply for their Bronze level sponsorship of the IDEA E-Biz Forum 2009. These companies demonstrate their dedicated support of the electrical industry’s only annual event focused on advancing the industry through eBusiness and the latest technologies. Their leadership and support is greatly appreciated by all.

DATAgility, the premier provider of data services, helps suppliers and their distributors achieve and maintain quality data. Our Electrical Data Sync process is designed to measure how a distributor and manufacturer product data is aligned, and offers recommendations for correcting and avoiding data discrepancies. We provide synchronization & data validation tools, and guide the implementation of data governance. Suppliers have exceeded their distributors’ data quality expectations with our guidance, and achieve increased sales as a direct result. Find out more information at www.datagility.com.  

Crescent Electric Supply Company was founded in 1919 in Dubuque, Iowa by Titus B. Schmid. Starting with a single distribution facility in Dubuque, the company has experienced strong and steady growth over the years until there are now more than 125 Crescent Electric Supply Company distribution facilities located in 27 states.

Representing most major brands and hundreds of other manufacturers, Crescent Electric Supply serves an extremely broad market that includes Contractor, Commercial, Institutional, Industrial, and Utility customers. Products they represent range from lamps, lighting fixtures, switchgear, distribution and control. They also stock all related construction materials. Crescent represents a complete offering of industrial automation products and a huge selection of data communications and networking equipment. Find out more at www.cesco.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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“Lead the Change” in ’09 – Forum Deadlines this Friday

Your last chance to “Lead the Change” ends this Friday, February 20, with the early sponsor and speaker submission deadline. Don’t miss these opportunities to position your company as a strong supporter and trendsetter of eBusiness.

This year IDEA will incorporate user-group sessions into the Forum agenda to boost attendance and to provide attendees maximum benefits for their valuable time and resources.

Top early sponsor and speaker benefits:

• Complimentary registration(s) (a US $575 value/each)!
• Recognition in pre-event promotions
• Earlier and longer visibility on Forum and IDEA website
• First choice of sponsored event
• And most importantly, a chance to educate our audience

Find out more about sponsorship and speaker prospect today.

Only one Premiere level sponsor slot left!

Sponsorship questions? Please contact at .
Speaker questions? Please contact Steve Horton at .

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Customer Spotlight: ILSCO Introduces SureCrimp® Copper Compression Connectors

ILSCO has reinvented the compression category with a new ClearChoice® solution.

SureCrimp® copper compression connectors reduce inventory requirements; the connectors accept multiple conductor classes including fine stranded and building wire. This new ClearChoice® solution is UL Listed and CSA Certified with ILSCO’s and major competitor’s compression tools. The connectors are range taking when installed with approved tools and dies. They are also manufactured from high strength seamless copper tubing and electro-tin plated which offers corrosion resistance and improved connector longevity.

Circumferential dies produce strong, long-lasting crimps with a tight crimp profile for greater pull-out strength. The increased contact area reduces resistance and eliminates the potential for flash.

For additional information on SureCrimp® copper compression connectors, please visit www.ilsco.com or contact the Manager, Marketing Communications at .

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IDW and IDX March ‘09 Training Schedule

This month IDEA continues to offer focused training sessions for Industry Data Exchange (IDX) and Industry Data Warehouse (IDW). The March dates for these trainings are now available.

IDX Tracker Training Sessions:
Tuesday, March 03: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, March 10: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, March 17: 1:30-2:30PM
Tuesday, March 24: 1:30-2:30PM

IDW Distributor Training Sessions:
Wednesday, March 4: 1:30-3:00PM
Wednesday, March 18: 1:30-3:00PM

IDW Manufacturer Training Sessions:
Thursday, March 12: 1:30-3:30PM
Thursday, March 26: 1:30-3:30PM

Net Pricing Training Sessions:
Thursday, March 5: 1:30-2:00PM
Thursday, March 19: 1:30-2:00PM

Inbound Mapping Sessions:
Wednesday, March 11: 1:30-2:30PM
Wednesday, March 25: 1:30-2:30PM

Times don’t work for your schedule? Contact our flexible training experts to schedule a time that works for you.

IDX Training Sessions: Contact at
IDW Training Sessions: Contact at

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

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Did You Know? IDW Hot Fact

Effective March 1, 2009, IDEA will purge all expired price sheets over 36 months old. The purging of outdated expired pricing will free up significant space on the system and will help reduce the query time for specific price sheet information. All deleted price sheets will be archived at IDEA and will be accessible upon request.

IDEA will purge non-required and outdated IDW records daily in a batch process to prevent downtime. This clean-up is one step in the initial phase of an IDW server upgrade that will be implemented by IDEA, partnered by Activant, during the next several months. The server upgrade will improve IDW’s overall system performance.

Questions about IDW enhancements? Contact the Data Synchronization Program (DSP) Support Administrator, at .

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