New IDX and IRD CERICOMX Customers

New IDX Customer

Habitat for Humanity International, of Atlanta, GA, became an IDX customer on January 20, 2010. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian ministry dedicated to the cause of eliminating poverty housing. Since its founding in 1976, Habitat has built, rehabilitated, repaired or improved more than 350,000 houses worldwide, providing simple, decent and affordable shelter for more than 1.75 million people. They will be taking advantage of the cost savings and reliability of Industry Data Exchange (IDX) to exchange their B2B documents. Find out more at www.habitat.org. Welcome aboard!

New IRD CERICOMX 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 39 suppliers:

• Fredericksburg Lockers, Inc
• Celebrity International, Inc
• Double R Brand Foods, LLC
• Little Lady Foods
• Dennington Foods , Inc
• Platinum Disc, LLC
• Triton Products, LLC
• Precision Data Systems, Inc. 
• Pompeian, Inc.
• Zinus, Inc.
• Swany Corporation
• Tworogers Associates
• Ink Trax, Inc.
• Curtis International, Ltd.
• Autom Church Supply Company
• America’s Catch, Inc.
• Crème Curls Bakery, Inc.
• White Packing Company
• Nassau Candy
• GiiNii International
• Atkinson Milling Company
• Walex ProductsCompany
• Farm Fresh Direct, LLC
• RMH Foods, LLC
• RP Foods
• U-Bild
• Diamond Storage Concepts
• Sparrer Sausage Company
• Claxton Bakery
• JTM Foods, Inc
• Evans Food Group, LTD
• MyWorld, Inc
• Sanderson Specialty Foods
• Benson Mills
• Rhino Toys, Inc.
• Kowalski Companies, Inc
• Marut Enterprises, LLC
• Gessner Products, Co
• Italian Rose Garlic Products

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.

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New Resource! IDX Tracker eLearning Module Available on Portal

Whether you are new to the Industry Data Exchange (IDX) Tracker application or you are an experienced user in need of a refresher on a feature in the application, you can benefit from the new interactive eLearning tool that’s now available on the IDEA Portal.

The new training course gives you an overview of IDX Tracker benefits and walks you through the most frequently used screens and features in the application. You can explore at your own pace and view the module 24/7 on the web. The module gives you the option to complete the entire training course or jump ahead to a topic of interest using the contents menu bar (see screenshot below for an example).

A few of the course objectives:

• Usage and navigation of the IDX Tracker functions
• How to search for incoming and outgoing transactions
• How to search by specific document type
• How to track and view all documents on and off the network
• Using the Tracker for all documents
• Determining your IDX invoice kilocharacter charges
• Downloading transaction information for creating metrics or performing data analysis
• And much more…

All IDX customers can access the new eLearning module by logging in to the IDEA Portal and navigating to Training>IDX>Training Modules. The new module will display at the top of the file list.

Please contact your account manager or email if you have any questions about accessing this new resource.

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Standards Committee Releases Digital Image Guidelines

In the age of “Generation Y” and digital technology, the Internet has become the predominant method for obtaining product information. Paper catalogs are no longer the main source for buying and selling of products - in fact, they are environmentally unfriendly and becoming obsolete.

Most manufacturers host digital marketing data on their websites and have experienced sales growth from doing so. Just think of how product sales could multiply if that same marketing data was found on all the websites of the companies that distribute the products. More distributors are developing and enhancing online catalogs to meet consumer demand and they need product attributes, digital images, and electronic marketing documents in a standardized format to fuel their efforts. The growing demand of digital product information is trickling up the supply chain to the manufacturers because standardized formats are imperative to reduce the costs associated with managing this electronic information. IDEA has been working with distributors and manufacturers to reach a consensus on the guidelines.

The IDEA Industry Standards Committee (ISC) recently approved a standard format for digital images and released a white paper on how to provide standardized digital images to distributors for electronic use through the IDW Data Synchronization Platform.

Download the new white paper titled “Enhanced Attributes - Digital Images Guideline” now or access it later on the IDEA Portal under Training>Standards.

The ISC is currently working to establish a standardized format for additional digital marketing information including Specification Sheets, MSDS Sheets, Warranty Information, etc. and will release the next white paper this spring. Please contact , Standards Director, if you have any questions about the standardization of digital marketing data.

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Don’t Forget to Add IDEA to Your ARRA Check-list

Manufacturers, distributors and industry associations are collaborating to make sure the funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) are spent appropriately. One of the most challenging steps in the process is to identify products that are qualified for ARRA funded projects. IDEA continues to help with this effort through the incorporation of ARRA-specific data in the IDW Data Synchronization Platform.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and various IDEA customers were recognized for their successful ARRA efforts in the article “Cashing in on the ARRA”, featured in the January edition of Electrical Wholesaling. Some companies that are implementing effective strategies include Hubbell Lighting and Eaton Corp. on the manufacturer side and distributors such as Graybar, W.W. Grainger, WESCO, Border States, Frost Electric Supply and Shealy Electrical Wholesalers. 

IDEA added ARRA-specific data to IDW last year to help manufacturers efficiently communicate ARRA-eligible products to distributors. The “ARRA Eligible” flag in IDW is a quick and easy way to identify these products and the “Country of Origin” field can be used to identify products that were made in the U.S. Both of these fields can be extracted during the normal download process.

Get a refresher on how to utilize these helpful tools in IDW and enhance your ARRA efforts.

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February Training Opportunities

This month IDEA continues to offer live training sessions for customers online in addition to on-demand eLearning modules.

UNSPSC Training and Assistance

The population of United Nations Standard Products and Services Codes (UNSPSC) is essential for the industry to begin utilizing and benefiting from the first Electrical Attribute Schema. Training will continually be offered to IDEA customers so that these codes can be appropriately maintained and utilized in the future.

Download the UNSPSC Service Document to find out how IDEA can help you develop a custom assistance program for your company.

Contact your IDEA account manager or email to sign up this month.

Live IDW Training

IDEA offers one-on-one IDW training sessions online. The trainings are divided into two parts for manufacturers and distributors. Part one reviews the essential business elements of IDW and part two dives deeper into the application. Niche training (e.g. Utilities Workstation, Net Price, Inbound Mapping, etc.) is also available upon request.

Need a refresher? You can access the IDW eLearning Module 24/7 on the Portal under Training>IDW>Training Modules.

Customers interested in scheduling a live IDW training session should contact at .

Live IDX Tracker Training Schedule

• Tuesday, February 9: 1:30-2:30PM
• Tuesday, February 16: 1:30-2:30PM
• Tuesday, February 23: 1:30-2:30PM

Download the complete 2010 IDX Tracker Training Schedule

Need a refresher? You can access the IDX Tracker eLearning Module 24/7 on the Portal under Training>IDX>Training Modules.

Customers interested in scheduling a live IDX Tracker training session should contact at .

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