What's at stake
We've established that every company participating in the supply chain suffers when inadequate, incorrect, or incomplete data is contained in transactions. It's been suggested that at least some information in 100% of the typical manufacturer's products is erroneous. The complexity of information systems within a supplier's organisation almost guarantees it. Different departments use different systems to house product information, and the process of compiling and reconciling the data manually is bound to produce errors.

And all that's before any attempt has been made to publish product information to the outside world.

Fixing the data and rolling it up to a single point of authority will produce benefits to suppliers only after they suffer through the painful process of cleaning their internal data. The benefit to the retailers/customers goes more to the overriding mission of retailing itself... selling more goods. And they will achieve this by having the right merchandise on the shelves when customers are ready to buy.

Leading the charge
Over the last few years, the top-tier retailers have made their intentions and plans obvious to their suppliers through mandate letters, informal memos, and phone conversations. The bottom line is that these companies are convinced that data synchronisation is good for the world's markets and are interested, if not anxious to begin to reap the benefits they expect.

Wal-Mart is the long-time obvious example of electronic data interchange (EDI) leadership. It's difficult to argue against the company's ability to take costs out of business transactions. Randy Salley, Vice President of Wal-Mart Information Systems explained the company's position on data synchronisation.

eC-BP- Does Wal-Mart now, or does the company expect to mandate the use of any synchronised database to its suppliers?

Randy Salley (RS)- We have set an expectation with our suppliers that they will communicate their item information to us electronically through either Data Synchronisation or through our own applications that reside on Retail Link. We have not mandated the use of any particular synchronised database.

eC-BP - What specifications are Wal-Mart endorsing?

RS - We are supporting the industry standards around data synchronisation that have been set by the GSMP.

eC-BP - Are there specific vendors or service providers that Wal-Mart is recommending? And if so, which ones?

RS- We have chosen UCCnet as our GS1 GDSN Certified recipient data pool. We would expect our suppliers to use any GS1 GDSN Certified Data Pool of their choice as their source data pool. There are currently 10 GS1 GDSN Certified Data Pools.

eC-BP - How many suppliers has Wal-Mart brought onboard with this initiative?

RS- Wal-Mart has over 875 suppliers in the US that we are either in production doing data synchronisation or testing. In addition, we are also working on and actively planning pilot programs with suppliers and data pools in the UK, Canada, Mexico, and Germany.

eC-BP - What issues are common when implementing these technologies?

RS- One of the key issues for many suppliers when implementing has been the time required for data cleaning of their product information from their legacy systems. Another issue that impacts many is a lack of understanding of standards for the assignment of GTINs to each level of the trade items that are compliant with the GSMP GTIN Allocation rules. Past and present misunderstandings of these rules have caused rework and some changes to existing items in order to become compliant with GDSN validation requirements. However, this clean up also has proven to be one of the key benefits of data synchronisation by providing more accurate information in a standard uniform format. These benefits can be seen in more accurate purchase orders, improved invoice matching, better replenishment, and in-stock levels.

eC-BP - Are there particular vendors of technology that have experienced quicker implementation times for Wal-Mart's suppliers?

RS- Yes. Those solution partners who have been actively participating in the Global Standards Management Process (GSMP), and especially in the GDSN task group to help develop standards for data synchronisation have been most successful in bringing suppliers on board.

Making the process easier
As Gartner Group's Andrew White, Research director of supply chain management puts it, "GDSN hits enterprise data, but product data is the most important." And is the crux of the issue with clean data. White continues, "SAP and other ERP application providers are playing in the big arena, and Trego (now IBM's Webshpere Product Center), GXS, and others are building Product Information Management (PIM) systems."

Great advances seem to be in the works as software developers, service providers, suppliers, and customers all aim at the same target.

eC-BP.org discovers and promotes innovative best practices in implementing and sustaining electronic commerce standards. The goal of EC-BP is to establish a set of standard practices that are mutually beneficial to its members and to all eCommerce practitioners. Companies that embrace these standards will benefit from the collective experience and judgment of the EC-BP membership. eCommerce Best Practices is open to companies that are dedicated to standardising eCommerce and EDI.

For more information visit Supply Chain eCommerce Research Pavilion

September 2005

By Scott Koegler, eC-BP.org