ÿþ<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD><TITLE>EDI Center News, September, 2006</TITLE> <meta name="description" content="EDI news from second half of 2006 including version migrations, retailer mergers, and technology updates."> <meta name="keywords" content="EDI, RFID, AS2, electronic data interchange, training, jobs, education, los angeles, california, consultant, consulting"> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=unicode"> <STYLE> body { font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;} a:link { color: #0302B8; text-decoration:none} a:visited { color: #0302B8;text-decoration:none} a:active { color: #0302B8} a:hover { color: #C69800; text-decoration:underline} </STYLE> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2963" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#fbfbff> <DIV align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="100%" bgColor=#fbfbff><A name=top></A> <DIV align=center> <TABLE style="BORDER-RIGHT: #020169 1px solid; BORDER-TOP: #020169 1px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #020169 1px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #020169 1px solid" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=600 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="100%" bgColor=#ffffff> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=center bgColor=#355581 height=100> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=bottom width=7>&nbsp;</TD> <TD vAlign=bottom>&nbsp;</TD> <TD>&nbsp;</TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=bottom width=7>&nbsp;</TD> <TD vAlign=bottom> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> &nbsp;&nbsp;<EM style="FONT-STYLE: normal"><FONT size=4>Welcome To</FONT></EM> </P> <P style="MARGIN-TOP: -28px; FONT-SIZE: 34pt; COLOR: #c69800; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma" align=center><B>&nbsp;<FONT face=Arial>EDI Center News</FONT></B></P></TD> <TD> <P align=right>&nbsp;</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=center noWrap bgColor=#000000> <P style="PADDING-RIGHT: 2pt; FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 2pt; COLOR: #a47e00; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma; LETTER-SPACING: 7pt" align=center>EDI Education, Jobs, and Support</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top align=middle width=150 bgColor=#fffcf2> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD bgColor=#355581><A name=Training> <P style="FONT-SIZE: 13pt; COLOR: #ffffff; FONT-FAMILY: Arial" align=center><STRONG>Upcoming EDI Training</STRONG>&nbsp; </P></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD align=middle> <P><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2><BR></FONT><FONT face=Verdana>EDI Fundamentals Class<BR>Sep&nbsp;28, 2006</FONT></B></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2><B>&nbsp;</B>Whether you are new to EDI or have been working in the field, this is a great opportunity to network with other EDI professionals and brush up on your EDI knowledge.</FONT></P> <P><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2><A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-class-registration.htm"> Sign Up Now</A> for Early Registration Discount</FONT></B></P> <P><STRONG><FONT size=2>Coming Soon - Online Classes!</FONT></STRONG></P> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD bgColor=#355581> <P align=center><B><FONT face=Arial color=#ffffff size=2><A name=05></A>Staffing &amp; Support</FONT></B></P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> <P align=center><FONT size=2><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2><A name=Jobs>EDI Job Opportunities</FONT></B></A></P> <P><FONT size=2>We currently have&nbsp;opportunities posted for positions in&nbsp;San Francisco, CA and Dallas, TX. <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-jobs.htm"> View the positions</A>.</FONT>&nbsp;</P></FONT> <HR color=#020169 SIZE=1> <P align=center><STRONG><FONT size=2>Employers</FONT></STRONG></P> <P align=left>If you are looking to fill an EDI position or find short term staffing, we can post a job opening on our site for a minimal monthly fee. </P> <P align=left>Find out more about <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-staffing.htm"> EDI staffing</A>.</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <P align=right><FONT face=Verdana size=1><A href="#top">Back to top</A>&nbsp;</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE id=table1 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD bgColor=#355581> <P align=center><B><FONT face=Arial color=#ffffff size=2><A name=04></A>Upcoming Industry Meetings</FONT></B></P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE id=table2 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana"> <P align=left>This is the quiet time of the year as we all focus on the holidays. The National Retail Federation sponsors their major trade show <A href="http://www.nrf.com/">Setting Retail In Motion</A>, January 14-17.</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <P align=right><FONT face=Verdana size=1><A href="#top">Back to top</A>&nbsp;</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><FONT face=Verdana size=1><STRONG> <HR color=#020169 SIZE=1> </STRONG><BR> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=1><STRONG>We try to cover the highlights of the industry but if we have missed something, let us know and we will try to incorporate it in an upcoming edition.</STRONG></FONT></P><STRONG> <HR color=#020169 SIZE=1> </STRONG> <P><STRONG></STRONG></FONT>&nbsp;</P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P></P></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=10 background=http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i05.gif> <P>&nbsp;</P></TD> <TD vAlign=top> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD width="50%"></TD> <TD width="50%"> <P style="PADDING-RIGHT: 2pt; PADDING-LEFT: 2pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 2pt; PADDING-TOP: 2pt" align=right><B><FONT face=Verdana size=1>September&nbsp;5, 2006 Volume&nbsp;V</FONT></B></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD height=30> <P><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2>IN THIS ISSUE:</FONT></B></P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD> <DIV align=right> <TABLE cellSpacing=4 cellPadding=0 width="95%" border=0><TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><FONT face=Verdana size=2><A href="#Training">Upcoming EDI Training Classes</A></FONT></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><FONT face=Verdana size=2><A href="#Jobs">EDI Job Opportunities </A></FONT></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><A href="#01"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Retail EDI News</FONT></A></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><A href="#02"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>EDI Standards Service Provider News</FONT></A></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><FONT face=Verdana size=2><A href="#03">Technology News - RFID Updates</A> </FONT></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top width=10><FONT face=Wingdings color=#0302b8 size=3>Ø</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top width=351><A href="#04"><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Upcoming Industry Meetings and Conferences</FONT></A></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <DIV align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i07.gif> <P align=right><IMG height=24 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i02.gif" width=24 border=0></P></TD> <CENTER> <TD noWrap width="5%" bgColor=#c69800> <P align=right><B><FONT face=Arial color=#ffffff size=2><A name=01></A>Retail EDI News&nbsp;</FONT></B> </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="97%" border=0><TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top><FONT face=Wingdings color=#020169 size=1>l</FONT> </TD> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><IMG height=59 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/Retail.gif" width=170 align=right border=0></FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Version Migrations&nbsp;- A Thing of the Past?<BR></STRONG> Ever wonder where the EDI version numbers came from and why they change so infrequently? </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>If you have been around EDI for a while, you might remember that throughout the 1990&#39;s we spent lots of time and effort upgrading EDI versions. When the EDI standards were new, they naturally evolved more quickly as we understood and implemented new&nbsp;business requirements. In order for the enhancements to take place in an orderly fashion, the ANSI X12 committees review the requested changes and once approved they are held for an annual update to the X12 EDI standards. </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>During the mid 1990&#39;s we were on version X12&nbsp;3010 and each year the standards were upgraded and the last two digits incremented by 10.&nbsp; In other words, we migrated from 3010&nbsp;to version 3020, then 3030 the next year, and so on. The version migration for the year 2000 (released in 1999) was a major change in structure by expanding the date fields and we then jumped to a new series starting with version 4010. The EDI standards continue to be&nbsp;enhanced this decade and&nbsp;we&nbsp;have moved&nbsp;to 4020, 4030, and finally this past year to&nbsp;5010. </FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>We&nbsp;have&nbsp;not seen too many retailers and hubs using the newer versions of EDI. Why is this?&nbsp;The hub&nbsp;must look at the&nbsp;effort required to migrate&nbsp;versus the benefits of&nbsp;a new version.&nbsp; Most large hubs have thousands of trading partners communicating via EDI.&nbsp; When they do decide to upgrade, they either must decide to continue to support older versions or require all trading partners to upgrade.&nbsp; Either choice is costly. During a version migration each&nbsp;trading partner being migrated&nbsp;must be tested. </FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>So why upgrade to version 5010? There has not been a mad rush to upgrade. In fact a quick survey (based on the retailers&#39; publicly available EDI guidelines) showed only one major grocery retailer that is currently supporting 5010. They are doing so for implementation of GTIN (Global Trade Identification Numbers). Here&#39;s the current&nbsp;EDI version&nbsp;of 35 major retailers:</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2><STRONG>Version</STRONG>&nbsp;&nbsp; <STRONG>Number of Retailers</STRONG></FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>4010&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 25</FONT><BR><FONT size=2>4030&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 7</FONT><BR><FONT size=2>4050&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1</FONT><BR><FONT size=2>4060&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1</FONT><BR><FONT size=2>5010&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;1</FONT></P> <P><FONT size=2>We may see some migrations next year as the retailers release their updates for 2007.</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <HR color=#e6e6e6 SIZE=1> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="97%" border=0><TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top><FONT face=Wingdings color=#020169 size=1>l</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2>New EDI Documents and Related Requirements </FONT></B></P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top>&nbsp;</TD> <TD vAlign=top> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The retailers try to avoid making changes during the busy holiday season.&nbsp; If they are making changes, most will post their updated guidelines during the first half of 2007. The following are highlights of ongoing retailer programs.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>VICS&nbsp;Bill of Lading&nbsp;</STRONG>is gaining adoption&nbsp;with several major retailers including Dillards and JCPenney&nbsp;endorsing the 17 digit Bill of Lading.&nbsp;The VICS Bill of Lading uses the manufacturers block ID (the one that is also used in UPC codes) as the first&nbsp;several digits of the BOL number. The benefit of using this standardized format is that no two vendors can inadvertantly use the same bill of lading number on their documents.</FONT></P> <P><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Global Data Synchronization (GDS)&nbsp;</STRONG>is starting to show&nbsp;more&nbsp;utilization as the systems mature&nbsp;and studies show improvement in supply chain efficiencies.&nbsp; Much of the&nbsp;research&nbsp;is driven by the Grocery Manufacturers Association and in depth&nbsp;information can be found on the <A href="http://www.gmabrands.com/industryaffairs/drctr.cfm"> GMA website</A>.</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <HR color=#e6e6e6 SIZE=1> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="97%" border=0><TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top><FONT face=Wingdings color=#020169 size=1>l</FONT></TD> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><B><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Retail Mergers and Acquisitions</FONT></B></P></TD></TR> <TR> <TD vAlign=top>&nbsp;</TD> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><FONT size=2><STRONG>The Bon Ton Stores</STRONG>&nbsp;<!--StartFragment -->acquired the Sak&#39;s Northern Department Store Group consisting of Carson Pirie Scott, Bergner&#39;s, Herberger&#39;s, Younker&#39;s and Boston Stores. During the fall of 2006, they are consolidating systems by migrating to a new mainframe. They will be using the Carson Pirie&nbsp;EDI systems&nbsp;and migrating Bon Ton and Elder Beerman vendors to that format.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT size=2><B>Federated Department Stores</B>&nbsp;has completed most of their changes from the acquisition of the May Company stores. Changes to routing guides should slow down some now.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT size=2>For&nbsp;additional EDI in Retail news and information, visit<A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-news.htm"> the EDI Center website.</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=1><A href="#top">Back to top</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <DIV align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i07.gif> <P align=right><IMG height=24 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i02.gif" width=24 border=0></P></TD> <CENTER> <TD noWrap width="5%" bgColor=#c69800> <P align=right><B><FONT face=Arial color=#ffffff size=2><A name=02></A>EDI Standards News&nbsp;</FONT></B> </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG><IMG height=140 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/supply_chain.jpg" width=155 align=left border=0></STRONG></FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG></STRONG></FONT>&nbsp;</P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>X12 Version 5010</STRONG> was released last year. The first retail implementations we have seen is at Kroger. For Kroger vendors that want to utilize the 14 digit GTIN code, they will need to upgrade to version 5010.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=1><A href="#top">Back to top</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <DIV align=center> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD background=http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i07.gif> <P align=right><IMG height=24 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/Tabular_Navy-Gold_Newsletter_i02.gif" width=24 border=0></P></TD> <CENTER> <TD noWrap width="5%" bgColor=#c69800> <P align=right><B><FONT face=Arial color=#ffffff size=2><A name=03></A>Technology News&nbsp;</FONT></B> </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=4 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><IMG height=103 src="http://www.edi-center.com/images/rfid_scanner_tags.jpg" width=63 align=right border=0></FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2><STRONG>Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)</STRONG></FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>The military and Wal-Mart have mandated RFID for tracking goods in the supply chain. &nbsp;Earlier this year Wal-Mart had over 300 suppliers tagging products with RFID. Wal-Mart&#39;s first initiatives&nbsp;were for marking carton and pallet level information. They have also prototyped other applications including marking perishable items. To give an idea of how widespread adoption is likely to be,&nbsp;a recent blurb by the <A href="http://www.alaskareport.com/fr10041.htm"><U> fishing industry</U> </A>in Alaska indicates that they are making plans for RFID.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT size=2>Privacy issues remain a concern for RFID implementations whether it be tracking codes in garments or embedded chips&nbsp;in humans. Wisconsin recently passed a law barring the forcible implantation of RFID tags into humans.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=2>Additional information on RFID applications can be found <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/rfid.htm">here</A>.</FONT></P> <P align=left><FONT face=Verdana size=1><A href="#top">Back to top</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <DIV align=center> <CENTER></CENTER></DIV> <P align=left><FONT size=2>For information on EDI training and staffing services, please&nbsp;visit<A href="http://www.edi-center.com/"> the EDI Center website.</A></FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> <TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width="100%" border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD vAlign=top align=left bgColor=#355581> <P align=center><FONT face=Verdana color=#ffffff size=1>The EDI Center is a resource for education, jobs, and support.</FONT></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV> <DIV align=center> <CENTER> <TABLE style="BORDER-TOP: #d0c0a0 1px solid" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=10 width=600 border=0> <TBODY> <TR> <TD style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana" width="100%"> <P align=center>You are subscribed as &lt;E-mail Address:200&gt;. To be removed from this email list, please reply with <FONT face=Verdana>REMOVE in the subject line.<BR>&nbsp;<A href="http://www.edi-center.com"><BR>EDI Center</A> | <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-training.htm">EDI Training</A> | <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-jobs.htm">EDI Jobs</A> | <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-staffing.htm">Staffing</A> | <A href="http://www.edi-center.com/edi-resources/edi-directory.htm"> Additional Resources</A></FONT></P> <P align=center><B>EDI Center<BR></B>&nbsp; <BR>Phone: 310-356-7618<BR> <P align=center><MPCT_FOOTER></P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER></DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>