As Data Acquisition Liaison, I work with foodservice distributors to set up electronic data transmissions for trade spend contract management. In today’s competitive economic environment, electronic data and automated file transmissions are key to maximizing trade spend billbacks that occur on the end-of-the-supply-chain.
Answers Systems has both manufacturer and operator clients so there are many opportunities to streamline data interchange for all 3 sides of the foodservice triangle.
My role in data acquisition includes manufacturer billbacks for distributor deviations, distributor earned income, and operator HQ rebates. On the operator side of the channel we receive sales reporting for our
ValuTrak service and order guide price verification. During the 28 years I’ve been in foodservice, 17 were spent in contract management so I’ve seen it all and found it just gets more interesting!
For this Blog, I am going to talk about manufacturer billbacks because of their significant revenue impact to the bottom line. Reduced paper administration, elimination of manual data entry, enhanced working capital, and increased visibility to the entire contract management lifecycle is critical for channel partners to gain a better insight to their business. It’s all about more for less.
Answers Systems has been in production with loading electronic distributor billback claim files to our proprietary application, Eclaim
SM, since 2006. Most of the Top 50 Broadline Distributors have already been implemented. Operator claimants have become our latest target for data acquisition. There are currently 60 operators submitting claims electronically that are set up to be loaded into Eclaim
SM. Over 75 operators are expected to be converted to electronic processing by Dec ’09. We know this will increase data quality at
Answers Systems.
Just to give you a glimpse of our definition of “electronic data” for trade spend contract management….the electronic claim lifecycle begins when
Answers Systems receives billback submissions invoiced to our manufacturer clients. We have technology capable of transforming several different file types. It all begins when we retrieve the claim file, standardize and translate the data capture, and load the file for processing the same day. Wow, that’s an advancement that rivals any service provider for
trade promotion management!
I’ve found creativity, flexibility and persistence to the most important skills I need to use in my job. Each company can have different formats and file types so we tailor our data capture to translate whatever the claimant can offer so the data can be synchronized to our standard file preferred layout. I am really inspired by distributors who are ready to adopt the GS1 US standards for data exchange, but just as excited when I can work with a company who wants to make any advancement toward any type of electronic billback capabilities.
My experience has been where some distributors want to invest in developing an EDI 867-Billback on their first attempt but others will take advantage of an alternative format available to those companies who have technology or resource limitations. Either way our Business Intelligence group can turn a report into electronic data without any human intervention, it’s automation at its finest!
I’ve had distributors that prioritized their development and dedicate the necessary resources to convert to electronic reporting in less than 2 weeks. Others might take 2 years before they finally decide to prioritize the project but then realize it was much easier than first anticipated. Regardless of the time it takes…they’ll hear from me. I guess that is why one distributor nicknamed me the “pleasant pest” because they knew I would be hanging in there until they determined the best solution to fit their needs.
The latest strides in trade send management come from industry leaders who take the initiative to adopt foodservice standards, maximize pricing efficiencies, and look beyond the enterprise to leverage supply chain technologies. One
Answers Systems client offers program incentives to their trading partners for customer collaboration. A required element for the program eligibility is electronic claim submission so this initiative translates to value for the manufacturer’s trade spend. They want to be recognized as the most valued supply chain partner and know the key is Electronic Contract Management. It is the critical element that will reduce costs and drive efficiencies.
In my next blog, I will explain how easy it is to convert your paper and current billback reporting into electronic data plus more on how GS1 US standards have formed the framework for the entire contract management lifecycle.
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