Intermidiate EDI--UCCnet

UCCnet

What is UCCnet?

UCCnet's GLOBALregistry? has been endorsed by many standards groups, including UCC, EAN International, GCI, VICS, GMA, and FMI, as the central item registry for our industry. Many other retailers including Ace Hardware, Lowe's, Ahold USA Inc, Food Lion, Shaw's Supermarkets Inc, SUPERVALU Inc, and Wegmans Food Markets have subscribed to UCCnet and are encouraging supplier participation.

Current Calendar of Compliance dates:

• Ace Suppliers to subscribe to UCCnet by May 1st, 2003
• Lowe's Supplies to subscribe to UCCnet by December 2003
• Wal-Mart Suppliers to subscribe to UCCnet by January 2004
• Kroger will roll out the GLOBALregistry to selected suppliers throughout 2003

  UCCnet is an Internet-based electronic commerce service that allows companies to dramatically improve supply chain efficiency. This industry-endorsed utility was built for the industry at the request of the industry. In brief, UCCnet is: A not-for-profit, tax-exempt, neutral organization that implements global EAN.UCC standards

  The most dramatic industry-wide movement since the U.P.C. (universal product code) Essential to resolving product data inaccuracies among trading partners

  What are the Core UCCnet Services?
  

  The GLOBALregistry is the UCCnet service that contains product and partner information. Any company can store its own product information in the registry, and there are many ways for a trading partner to enter registry information. It can be done manually at the UCCnet Web site, electronically between two computers, or through a third party, e.g., a certified UCCnet alliance partner organization working on your behalf.

  The GLOBALhub is the engine that provides the processing of data to and from the GLOBALregistry. Product information is synchronized simultaneously in near-real time with any number of trading partners that subscribe to UCCnet.

  In terms of standards compliance, UCCnet's foundation services validate all trading information to certify compliance with global EAN.UCC standards. This maintains the data integrity across the entire supply chain.

  UCCnet Benefits:
  

  	Substantial direct cost savings through the elimination of data errors, accelerated time-to-market, and unprecedented market visibility for products in the industry
  	New top-line revenue opportunities through the simplified and streamlined set-up of new vendor or buyer relationships, more visibility, and more customer sales time
  	Enhanced speed to market for new products through automated processes
  	Unprecedented data integrity, which forms the basis for advanced, collaborative business strategies such as CPFR, VMI, and Scan-Based Trading
  	Suppliers have the ability to send data one time in one place to enable transactions with all of their retailers; speed to market and increased market penetration; and reduction of supply chain and administrative costs to increase collaborative focus on consumers.

  UCCnet's Benefits - from A. T. Kearney Industry Study

  UCCnet can greatly reduce the unnecessary costs associated with incorrect product data, which have been estimated at $40 billion* across the retail industry. An estimated 60% of all invoices generated have errors and each error carries a cost of $40 - $400*. An estimated 30% error of item data in retail catalogs where each error carries a cost of $60 - $80*.

  *Source - June 8, 2002 A.T. Kearney Study for GMA Executive Conference Forum

  UCCnet Subscribers Continue to Grow

  Industry leading retailers and manufacturers include: Ace Hardware, Ahold USA, Inc., Food Lion, Hy-Vee, Lowe's, Meijer, Wal-Mart Stores, Procter & Gamble, Wegmans Food Markets and over 300 other companies. These companies have endorsed the adoption of UCCnet to all of their supply chain partners.

  Please visit UCCnet

  UCCnet has certified solution providers in five different solution categories including:

  	Implementation (Consultants)
  	Enterprise Application Integration (EAI)
  	Catalog Alliance Partners
  	Message Translation
  	Communications Alliance Partners