SAP / SA2 Worldsync Announcement 11-23-11:

Registration for the SAP/SA2 Worldsync Share Group
Reminder of the group’s mission: We are pleased to announce a new share group that we are forming in collaboration with SAP. The SAP/SA2 Worldsync Share Group will be having a kick off meeting at the GSMP in Cologne at the end of September.
If you are a supplier/manufacturer/distributer who runs SAP ERP systems, you can find out more about their SAP GDS offering that helps master data business process for a GDS solution behind the firewall.
The long term objectives of the group are:
    * Share GDS business goals
    * Discussion of SAP roadmap for SAP GDS tool
    * Collaborate and give feedback on business process and tool functionality
    * Share successful SAP GDS implementation best practices  

We will be running a few webinars (December & January) to review the same topic that was discussed at the GSMP kick-off meeting. Even if you attended the GSMP kick-off, please register again, so that we have your contact information. Click here to register.

If you have any questions, you may contact myself srobba@sa2worldsync.com or Felix Loecher at SAP felix.loecher@sap.com  

GDS Return on Investment Tip #4:

Tip #4 New Item Set Up Process Efficiency:
This is not a hard fast ROI but what is called a "Soft" ROI. Meaning it will not save money to the bottom line but will improve the process. This allows people to spend time on other more productive items adding value to the company. There are some situations when an ROI can be measured but it is difficult to capture the instances but I will point that out later in the blog.

Old Process of New Item Introduction:
Step 1: Sales person sells a new product into a buyer
Step 2: Sales person then fills out a new item form (time, errors in data transfer) (May have to gather data)
Step 3: Retailer then has a data entry person key data from form to Retailer system (time, errors in data transfer)
Step 4: Buyer approves item, item is ready

From studies done by myself, the process to set up an item can take about 10 days, from step 1 to step 4. Also, you have 2 points of potential error that exist. Sales people tend to actually put specification data or best guess data into the New Item forms. Also, retailer data entry clerks have about a 2-9% error rate in key stroke errors.

New process with GDS
Step 1: Sales person sells a new product into a buyer
Step 2: Product Sync via GDS
Step 3: Retailer Data Analyst reviews data
Step 4: Buyer approves item, item is ready

The new process now can move from a 10 day turn around to a 24 to 48 hour process.

Soft ROI's
1) Supplier Sales person does not need to fill out full new item sheet and can dedicate time to sales call.
2) Retailer can change process from Data Entry to Data Analysis which would improve their data quality and increases their ROI.

Hard ROI's
1) One real situation I saw as a supplier, a sales person put 12.0 eaches per case. The data entry clerk put 120 eaches per case.
Very quickly the retailer ran out of stock as they were selling the item but were not ordering enough pieces. For example the retailer sold 240 pieces but only re-ordered 2 cases (24). It took 2 weeks to actually find the decimal place was off. They looked in the system multiple times and it looked correct to both retailer and supplier. 12.0 or 120 ?  
2) Another situation occurs when data gets to retailer late due to old process. If the data gets to retailer when product launches, then you will miss days of sales due to the slow data entry process. With the 8 day improvement an item can get pushed through faster, should this situation arise. As I stated it is hard to say how often this occurrence happens but it does.

How do you measure?
1) Establish Baseline: a retailer would need to establish the time it takes from data entry to system completion. Supplier would need to measure amount of time sales person takes to complete form. This would include phone calls etc to gather data.
2) Actual measurement:  progress point of data sent by GDS from supplier to retailer geting into their back end system.


Many people ask "What is the Return on Investment (ROI) for GDS"? I will create a series of areas to look for savings in order to help you calculate what your return may be. In 2004, the Global Commerce Initiative did a study with Cap Gemini, called Project Jury. For basic product data, the ROI for GDS was approximately for every 1 billion in sales would return 1 million in savings. From most of my studies and projects, this is an accurate number. This does not include processes like price sync, or some of the newer GDS capabilities. Link to Project Jury Study


Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss,
Steve  srobba@sa2worldsync

SAP / SA2 Worldsync Announcement 09-09-11:

New SAP/SA2 Worldsync Share Group
We are pleased to announce a new share group that we are forming in collaboration with SAP. The SAP/SA2 Worldsync Share Group will be having a kick off meeting at the GSMP in Cologne at the end of September.
If you are a supplier/manufacturer/distributer who runs SAP ERP systems, you can find out more about their SAP GDS offering that helps master data business process for a GDS solution behind the firewall.
The long term objectives of the group are:
    * Share GDS business goals
    * Discussion of SAP roadmap for SAP GDS tool
    * Collaborate and give feedback on business process and tool functionality
    * Share successful SAP GDS implementation best practices  
To find out more about the meeting click here. The registration for the meeting is also located there.
If you are not able to attend, you may contact myself srobba@sa2worldsync.com or Felix Loecher at SAP felix.loecher@sap.com  

Events
September 26th-30th - GS1 Industry and Standards Autumn Event –Cologne, Germany
October 4th-6th - GS1 Healthcare Conference Autumn 2011 – Amsterdam, Netherlands
October 18th-20th - GS1 EU Regional Forum 2011 - Budapest, Hungary
February 13th-17th 2012 - GS1 Global Forum 2012 - Brussels, Belgium
March 4th-6th 2012 - GS1 Healthcare Conference Spring 2012 - Sydney, Australia
March 26th-30th 2012 - GS1 Industry and Standards Spring Event –Brooklyn, NY United States
May 9th-10th 2012 - ECR Europe Forum & Marketplace - Brussels, Belgium
May 21st-24th - GS1 General Assembly - Cartagena, Colombia
June 4th-8th - UConnect Live 2012 - Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
June 20th-22nd - The Consumer Goods Forum Global Summit 2012 - Istanbul, Turkey  
October 8th-12th 2012 - GS1 Industry and Standards Autumn Event –TBD
October 23rd-25th - GS1 Healthcare Conference Autumn 2012 – Lisbon, Portugal

Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss,
Steve  srobba@sa2worldsync

GSMP Weekly Update 26-08-11:

If you have an opinion or would like us to provide feedback on your behalf, please feel free to contact me. srobba@sa2worldsync.com

GDSN
Sustainability: GDS walked through some change requests concerning sustainability. Many are up for discussion as the way we use recyclable and sustainability attributes are becoming a hot topic with many change request submissions. The Consumer Goods Forum will be releasing their version 2 of the standard metrics for trading partners on sustainability. Version 2 should be released soon and a Mission Specific Work Group will kick off to help define all attributes to exchange these standard metrics.  If you have not looked at these as of yet, you can find version 1 of the metrics plus the work CGF is doing here. Global Packaging Project

Food is a delicate balance of exchange of information between supplier and retailer due to regulations and actual packaging statements. With the group looking at Nutrient information on packaging, to Nutritional labeling, to the number of servings, to product specific attributes, growing methods, and certification labels, the Food and Beverage extension is growing. With the onset of more and more food safety concerns, trading partners are requesting more information, not only for the consumer education and food choices, but also for food safety.

Foodservice is also a very big trend in some markets already exchanging information via GDS. This allows suppliers to utilize the same GDS network for their foodservice business. This is very big in the US right now. We are beginning to see trends in the EU following the same programs.

MAJOR RELEASE 3 Work Group
The Major Release 3 work group is forming. This group will help drive the mod item plan, roadmap, GSMP process and such. We are need of more trading partners Retailers and Suppliers. This is a very important work group as this will help improve some of the length of time it takes between releases. It will be a whole new model and come help us define the plan and process. We will be looking at communication plan, executive summaries to help you sell into your business, etc. Click here for more information.
 

Digital Coupons
This group continues to define the business process, and requirements for digital coupons. The group is multi-regional which will lead to a successful standard. When you think about the process what changes: who the right players are, what the current process is, changes that need to be made to accept, redeem, authorize and payment for digital coupons. Once again I do recommend suppliers and retailers join this group as I will not be able to share the actual workings in the group and suggest you join. Click here for more information on how to join.

Level Below the Each
We are currently going through the business requirements on what are the actual business needs by the community. What data is important when you are speaking about the items within an each. Are attributes might prove business value when looking at 1 Pencil out of a package of 4 vs. 1 pill out of a bottle of 100. Are there different data requirements? What improvements and benefits would business processes, or patient safety, food safety, etc, gain by the exchange of information, identification, and barcoding the items? The scope for this project is Consumer Package Goods, Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices. Once again I do recommend suppliers and retailers join this group as I will not be able to share the actual workings in the group and suggest you join. Click here for more information on how to join.

Events
September 26th-30th -- GS1 Industry and Standards Autumn Event –Cologne, Germany
October 4th-6th - GS1 Healthcare Conference Autumn 2011 – Amsterdam, Netherlands

Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss,
Steve  srobba@sa2worldsync

GDS Return on Investment Tip #3:

Many people ask "What is the Return on Investment (ROI) for GDS"? I will create a series of areas to look for savings in order to help you calculate what your return may be. In 2004, the Global Commerce Initiative did a study with Cap Gemini, called Project Jury. For basic product data, the ROI for GDS was approximately for every 1 billion in sales would return 1 million in savings. From most of my studies and projects, this is an accurate number. This does not include processes like price sync, or some of the newer GDS capabilities. Link to Project Jury Study

Tip #3 Transportation Costs:
This is actual 2 step issue to drive the transportation costs down.

Old Process of New Item Introduction:
Step 1: Sales person sells a case of a new product the actual information shared with the retailer is a product specification and not actual measurements and weights
Step 2: Retailer creates inventory for stores and warehouse based upon this information
Step 3: Supplier begins making product. While producing product supplier has to make modifications to the package.
Step 4: These changes are never communicated back to the retailer
Step 5: Supplier most likely never even updates their internal system

What is the impact?
1) The supplier may have to re-measure all of the weights and pallet as the warehouse plan may not match.
2) On shipping out pallet and truck plan may not be optimized and underutilized truck space available.
3) The truck on the shipment route may be stopped or delayed due to overweight.
4) The retailer upon receipt may have to re-measure all of the weights and pallet as the warehouse plan may not match.
5) Then the retailer must re-enter the data into their system to receipt.

2 Process changes need to occur in order to achieve benefit
1) Data Accuracy program. When a product comes off the production line, weights and measurements should be updated in the suppliers internal system, or if they prefer to use a 3rd party to do this, the supplier still needs to update their systems. (if this is the only step completed, the retailer does not gain the benefit)
2) GDS - It is important for the retailer to understand the information the first receive is preliminary data. GDS by itself will only communicate the preliminary information. If the data accuracy program and GDS both are in place, once the data is update in supplier system and resent to retailer, then and only then do both parties gain benefits.

How do you measure?
1) Examine key skus and capture preliminary data and final data and determine amount changed.
2) Then determine based upon truck capacity the impact of the incorrect measurements have on truck utilization.
3) Some trading partners use truck tolerances to avoid over weight penalties and delays. These could be potentially removed.

In my studies I have seen a benefit of approximately 0.5% of total sales. So for 100 Million in sales, you could expect a return of 50,000 in reduced transportation costs.

Feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss,
Steve  srobba@sa2worldsync