The Alcohol Beverage Industry (ABI), following the lead of the consumer packaged goods and hardlines industries, has successfully completed its first pilot project with the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). Following a call by the ABI Electronic Commerce Council (ABI EC) to begin a GDS project, Glazer’s Wholesale Drug Company, based in Dallas, Texas, became one of the first in the ABI to meet GDS standards compliancy by implementing LANSA Data Sync Direct with two of its trading partners. ABI EC is a not-for-profit organization founded to further supply chain efficiency by endorsing and implementing industry standards for electronic commerce and product identification.

The ABI is unique in that it follows a government regulated three-tiered system of manufacturer, distributor and retailer. As a distributor, Glazer’s needs its supplier partners to post clean product data to the GS1 Global Registry, which Glazer’s then synchronizes with its own systems and in turn republishes for their retailer customers. To achieve efficiencies and reduce supply chain errors, Glazer’s now uses LANSA Data Sync Direct and the GS1 Global Registry to communicate product data from its suppliers to its retailers for those brands that were part of the pilot project.

Raj Chopra, 1Sync’s vice president of customer relations, said, "Glazer's project has proven that Global Data Synchronization is a viable business process for the 3-tier distribution supply-chain. The fact that Glazer's was able to implement both sender and recipient GDS functionality successfully and quickly is in a large part due the capabilities of the LANSA Data Sync Direct solution. Both Glazer's and LANSA provide a successful model for distributors, brokers and agents of all types of products engaged in data synchronization."

To keep Glazer’s on the leading edge of e-commerce, Mike Adams, vice president and chief information officer, knew that they needed a robust, proven solution to participate in the GDSN project. Adams explained their approach, “We set about our GDS project with two business partners — a supplier and another wholesaler — which meant that any solution we chose would have to scale to three different systems. We discovered that LANSA Data Sync Direct had that scalability at a competitive price. When we learned that LANSA had more customer references than other vendors and a high level of knowledge about GDS and the Global Registry, we were sold.”

LANSA Professional Services worked with Glazer’s IT team to install and implement LANSA Data Sync Direct and train end users over a period of three months. Glazer’s successfully published its first data to the Global Registry in July 2005, ahead of schedule and within budget.

Jeff Holzman, sales director for solutions products for LANSA, said, “LANSA worked closely with Glazer’s and its business partners to help identify industry specific requirements for the Alcohol Beverage Industry, such as Alcohol By Volume, that are critical for ABI. At the same time, we also worked with 1SYNC to ensure that the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN) and 1SYNC can handle the specific requirements of ABI so that all members of the ABI community can benefit from the first foray into GDS.”

About LANSA
LANSA is the leading provider of application development software for companies looking to extend the value of their IT infrastructure and create new pathways to grow their business. The company’s core offering, LANSA 2005, is a powerful suite of cross-platform development and integration products that enables software delivery organizations to overcome the complexity inherent in creating today’s applications and the costs associated with maintaining them. LANSA 2005 also serves as the technology foundation for a wide range of applications from LANSA and its 300 Solution Partners. For nearly two decades, more than 7,000 customers around the world have relied on LANSA products and services to help them move to the next level of business performance. For more information, please visit www.lansa.com