Associated Wholesale Grocers Gets in Synch
KANSAS CITY, KAN. -- Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) plans to implement a collaborative data synchronization solution in all six of the retailer-owned wholesaler's divisions, beginning this month.
AWG contracted with Chicago-based AquiTec Inc. to install the solution, and will use UCCnet as its data pool for data synchronization. The system will be integrated with AquiTec's operational and collaborative supply chain management software currently in place at AWG.
The AquiTec Data Sync solution includes a collaborative price and promotion portal called Pavilion, which allows data synchronization of new item/price information that has been accepted by the category managers to be automatically synchronized with the item information from the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), and automatically and electronically input into AWG's procurement/billing system.
"I challenged my entire team, as well as AquiTec, to show me the hard-dollar ROI that we would generate with this solution, and we even hosted sessions with key suppliers for their view on the solution," said AWG c.i.o. Keith Martin. "The results of implementing item data synchronization alone are large, but when you combine them with all the efficiencies of collaborative trade promotion management, the ROI potential is huge."
AquiTec's Data Sync solution includes a workflow engine from LANSA, Inc., which has the capability of recognizing the item attributes coming from AquiTec's Category Manager portal, and of ensuring that AWG's required data attributes are accurate before electronically passing them into AWG's procurement/billing systems. This saves labor that would otherwise be needed to manually input data, and provides an immediate reduction in invoice deductions, or short pays, due to input of erroneous data from the retailer or manufacturer side.
AWG contracted with Chicago-based AquiTec Inc. to install the solution, and will use UCCnet as its data pool for data synchronization. The system will be integrated with AquiTec's operational and collaborative supply chain management software currently in place at AWG.
The AquiTec Data Sync solution includes a collaborative price and promotion portal called Pavilion, which allows data synchronization of new item/price information that has been accepted by the category managers to be automatically synchronized with the item information from the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN), and automatically and electronically input into AWG's procurement/billing system.
"I challenged my entire team, as well as AquiTec, to show me the hard-dollar ROI that we would generate with this solution, and we even hosted sessions with key suppliers for their view on the solution," said AWG c.i.o. Keith Martin. "The results of implementing item data synchronization alone are large, but when you combine them with all the efficiencies of collaborative trade promotion management, the ROI potential is huge."
AquiTec's Data Sync solution includes a workflow engine from LANSA, Inc., which has the capability of recognizing the item attributes coming from AquiTec's Category Manager portal, and of ensuring that AWG's required data attributes are accurate before electronically passing them into AWG's procurement/billing systems. This saves labor that would otherwise be needed to manually input data, and provides an immediate reduction in invoice deductions, or short pays, due to input of erroneous data from the retailer or manufacturer side.