EAN South Africa, the local co-ordinating body for international identification standards, and Commerce Centre, a subsidiary of Datacentrix Holdings Limited, have formalised their alliance to provide and host the sole industry approved national product data catalogue (EAN.PDC) for the FMCG industry in SA.
This follows comprehensive testing and evaluation of the catalogue, which has been enhanced and tailored to meet South African FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) needs.
The alliance represents the completion of the first phase of the project and means that the national roll-out of the catalogue to all suppliers and retailers in the South African FMCG market can now proceed.
"The conclusion of the agreement provides the FMCG community the peace of mind that EAN South Africa, ECR South Africa, the major retailers and suppliers are confident that the EAN.PDC will produce the industry benefits it promises to deliver," says Stewart Barker, CEO of Commerce Centre. "The catalogue is pivotal for us in the SA FMCG industry if we are to realise the potential that the various ECR objectives represent," says Malcolm Leitch, Unilever director and vice chairman of EAN South Africa. "It will provide suppliers and retailers alike with the basics necessary to implement ECR practices and put SA firmly on track to be a leader in the ECR arena." The ECR board has set 28 February 2002 as the end date by which suppliers must publish their products on the EAN.PDC as a Condition of Trade for the South African FMCG industry. For suppliers this means the time to start capturing and publishing product data on the catalogue is now.
The major retailers and key suppliers have already subscribed to the EAN.PDC with many suppliers already actively publishing products on the catalogue and making product details available to retailers for backward integration into their systems
Commerce Centre has conducted regional briefings for suppliers and is actively assisting suppliers to subscribe and publish their products on the catalogue. Retailers are active in completing the necessary systems modifications to integrate the product data into their internal systems.
"Industry benefits include significant reductions in inefficiencies such as back door refusals, returns, logistics costs and administrative overheads," says Mike Lamb, Director of Commerce Centre. He further forecasts a dramatic increase in electronic data interchange and e-commerce take up, stalled in the past due to product differences between suppliers and retailers.
"The data alignment resulting from synchronisation and harmonisation of product data between supplier and retailers will lead to a sharp upturn in EDI and e-commerce in the industry."
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