| Click here to access pdf version of the Data Sync article RIS News – September 2007 The Case for Data Sync Why data synchronization is a key piece in the supply chain puzzle By Julie Ritzer Ross Increasingly, retailers are discovering that real-time collaboration with their suppliers, fueled by powerful data synchronization tools that afford all trading partners real-time, simultaneous access to the same information, is key to improving supply chain efficiencies. "Global data synchronization (GDS) is no longer a concept," states the study, "Global Data Synchronization: At Work In The Real World," which was released last year by Capgemini, a global IT consulting company. "The pieces of the GDS puzzle are defmed and are increasingly coming together." And merchants are utilizing a variety of packaged systems, as well as the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) of certified data pools to foster collaboration. For retailers, the benefits of data synchronization start with enhanced data accuracy because working from one repository of real-time information eliminates many types of errors and discrepancies, ranging from inaccurate product descriptions to outdated case dimensions. Supply Chain Efficiency Dillard's ranks among merchants gaining significant supply chain ground as a result of data synchronization and collaboration, notes Bill Holder, CIO. Since last summer, the department store chain has been testing a Web-based extranet platform developed by Inovis and afterBOT. The system, which runs on an IBM/DB2 Websphere platform, integrates the Inovis Catalogue, a centralized repository of price, color, style and size information for more than 110 million unique products; a customer self-service network portal that routes millions of transactions in various formats between Dillard's and approximately 20 vendors; and afterBOT's TransAccess platform, which permits real-time POS data to be linked with item attribute information in the Inovis Catalogue data synchronization tool. Each day, the afterBOT component extracts a common set of granular (store and department level) SKU data from Dillard's systems. A flat file containing the standardized data is auto-loaded into the extranet, then matched with data from the Inovis Catalogue. Once the data is synchronized, it moves into a centralized database. "The greatest advantage of the system is that because (participating) vendors have only this one place to go to find our data, they can easily spot trends well in advance, and we can act on them," Holder says. "For example, they can crunch our data against theirs and tell us a particular dress in a particular size and color is trending down too fast in one store and too slowly in another. Our buyers can then work proactively to handle things. At the same time, suppliers can manage fulfIllment activities based on real-time, store level data, keeping inventory levels where they·should be." Holder believes Dillard's will be able to truly maximize the value of the system when more suppliers come aboard (participation is voluntary) and other retailers agree to use it to share the same data with those suppliers. "When this happens, vendors, in return for the information we share with them, will be able to tell us how we're stacking up against the competition saleswise, at a store and item level," he explains. Collaborative Efforts While Best Buy has no plans to follow Dillard's lead in encouraging other merchants to cooperate on a data synchronization project, it is faring well on its own in that regard. The retailer supports its collaborative efforts via two Agentrics systems: Agentrics GenSync and Agentrics GenShare. The former enables standards- based synchronization of item data and meets GDSN requirements while addressing country-level and retailer-specific needs for product attribute sharing, while the latter serves as a platform through which Best Buy and its trading partners execute collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment. Nearly half of Best Buy's $30 billion in annual sales involve the data synchronization and collaboration forged by the two applications, states Todd Schilling, director of CPFR. Schilling cites Best Buy's synchronization effons with Panasonic as one ofits most successful collaborative initiatives. He notes that the chain has seen particularly marked improvements through the use of synched data to cooperatively formulate forecasts at the distribution center level. In analyzing forecasting enhancements for four SKUs, the retailer found that data synchronization increased forecasting accuracy from 70 percent to 76 percent in one case, from 41 percent to 83 percent in a second case, from 46 percent to 7S percent in a third case, and from 57 percent to 72 percent in a third case. The benefits of implementing data synchronization tools are best realized when retailers have methods in place of cleansing and alignment to ensure the integrity of internal data as well as its consistency from channel to channel (brick-and-mortar stores versus an e-commerce site). Also tequired is a viable system for internal item management and external synchronization, including business process support. According to the Capgemini report, most existing back-end systems do not yet adequately support data synchronization requirements, but successful back-end integration is a must to deliver a closed loop of synchronized item, SKU and price data. The Army & Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES) utilizes GXS' Product Information Manager (PIM) Retailer Edition to integrate inbound product information pertaining to more than 1.S million active SKUs from more than 9,000 suppliers into its customer-facing systems. AAFES selected the system, which is linked to the GDSN, in part because it includes a mechanism for performing internal cleansing and alignment. Without such capability, it would be unable to sufficiently streamline product information management and, in turn, sufficiently lower operating costs to attain a payback on synchronization. Agentrics is a trademark of Agentrics LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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