THE ILLUMINATOR

VOLUME VI

Where do you want your catalog to take you in 2012?

ALSOINTHISEDITION
A.C.E.S.VS. P.I.E.S.XML PAGE2 WiththestartofeachNewYear,millionsof peoplearoundtheworldsetpersonalgoals tostriveforinthemonthsahead.Ifyou havealreadysetyourNewYears resoluCons,wewishyousuccessin achievingthem.Wealsoencourageyouto takeamomenttosetsimilargoalsforyour catalog. Oneofthekeysuccessfactorsinachievinga resoluConistohaveapartnerwhois equallycommiGedtothosegoals.You alreadyhavethatpartnerinIllumawarefor yourdata.Whateveryourdatagoalsarefor thecomingyear,weencourageyoutoshare thosechallengeswithus,sotogetherwe cantakeyourdataqualityandcompleteness toanewlevel. Whetheritinvolvesleveragingsomeofour addiConalpublishingfeaturessuch generaCngpapercatalogs,orbrainstorming aboutacustomprojectyouhavebeen considering,2012isagreatyeartodiscover howfaryourcatalogcantakeyou.

ENHANCEDEPICOR SUPPORTTARGETED PAGE4

Manycommongoalswesetinourpersonal livescaneasilybetranslatedintogoalsfor yourcatalog.Forexample: Personal:Learnanewlanguage. Catalog:LearnmoreaboutACESandPIES XML. Personal:Gethealthier. Catalog:Improvevehiclecoverageand accuracy. Personal:Reconnectwitholdfriends. Catalog:Askyourtradingpartnersabout theirnewiniCaCvesandhowyoucanbea partofthosechanges. Letusknowwhatwecanhelpyouachieve inthecomingyear.

Long, Short, Marketing Descriptions... Oh my!

Everwonderjusthowmanywaystherecanbetodescribeasinglepart?LongdescripCon,shortdescripCon,extendeddescripCon, invoicedescripCon,etc.ThelistjustgoesonandonunClitfeelslikeonebigmess.Whoneedsit?Yourcustomersdo. ItmayseemliketherearefarmoredescripConsavailableinEvokatthancouldpossiblybenecessary(thereareevenmoreallowed inPIES),butintruth,eachoneservesavalidpurpose.SincePIESdatacanbeusedtosupportavarietyofsystems,including: inventorymanagement,datawarehouses,pointofsalesystems,andperhapsmostimportantly,customerfacingapplicaCons.The PIESstructureallowsfordescripConsandaGributesofmulCplelengthsandtypes.Itmayfeelredundanttocompleteallthese descripContypes,butthereisonlyonewaytomakesurethatthemostimportantoneisdened.
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JAN17,2011

www.illumaware.com

THE ILLUMINATOR

VOLUME VI

A.C.E.S. vs. P.I.E.S. XML

Everysupplierhas,atsomepoint,experiencedconfusionandfrustraContryingtojugglethevariousdatarequirementsplacedon himorherbytheirtradingpartners.AtonepointinCme,majorretailersrequiredcustomizedspreadsheetsinmulCpleformatsto communicateproductandapplicaConinformaCon.KeepingmulCpleExcelandtextlesinalignmentwasadaunCng,ifnot impossibletask.TheindustryrecognizedthenegaCveimpactofhavingsomuchunsynchronizedproductdataandtookstepsto addressitwiththeintroducConofthedataexchangestandardscommonlyreferredtoasACESandPIES.Asthesestandards conCnuetoevolveandgainacceptance,thereissomeconfusionastowhatshouldbe includedineachtypeofleandwhichoneismoreimportant. Inactuality,bothlesworkintandemtoprovideacompletepictureofyourproduct oeringandshouldalwaysbeusedinconjuncCon,wheneverpossible.Hereisadigest ofourmostcommonquesConsregardingthesecriCcalles. Q:WhatisanXMLle? A:XMLstandsforEXtensibleMarkupLanguageandisnotuniquetoourindustry.Ithas beenwidelyacceptedleformatsincethe1990sandisnowthemostcommonformat fordatatransmissionsbetweenapplicaCons. Q:WhatprogramdoIusetoopenanXMLle? A:Mosttexteditors,suchasNotepadorTextMate,willopenanXMLle,althoughthesizeofsomeXMLlescanpresenta challengetomanycomputers.OtherprogramsmustbeusedtoconrmthatitisavalidXMLsubmission. Q:IopenedmyXMLle,butitdoesntmakesensetome.WhycantIreadit? A:XMLlesareintendedtocommunicateandstoredata,nottomakedataeasilyreadable.Eachdataelementintheleis idenCedbyexactlywhatitis,soalastnamemightappearas<LAST_NAME>10</LAST_NAME>.Repeatedlylabelingeachdata elementcreatesoverheadthatourmindshavetoprocess,butitdoesensurethatyouknowwhattypeofdatayouarelookingat. Q:WhatdoesACESstandfor? A:A.C.E.S.standsforAiermarketCatalogExchangeStandard. Q:WhatinformaConisincludedinanACESle? A:ACESincludesyourapplicaContmentinformaCon.UsingidenCerscommontotheindustryandyourowntmentnotes,an ACESlecommunicatesthevehiclesyourpartst.OtherthanvehicleinformaCon,theACESrecordincludesaPartType,andmay alsoincludeanaddiConalManufacturerLabeloradiagram.AnexampleofanACESrecordwasreviewedinVolumeIVofthe IlluminatorintheAnatomyofanACESApplicaConseries. Q:IsmyinterchangeinformaConincludedinanACESle? A:InterchangeinformaConwouldonlybeincludedifyouincludeditasanapplicaContmentnote.Typicallyinterchange informaConisconsideredproductinformaCon,andisthereforeincludedinaPIESle.
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JAN17,2011

www.illumaware.com

THE ILLUMINATOR

VOLUME VI

A.C.E.S. vs. P.I.E.S. XML

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Q:WhatdoesPIESstandfor? A:P.I.E.S.standsforProductInformaConExchangeStandard. Q:WhatinformaConisincludedinaPIESle? A:ThePIESstructurerepresentsforasupersetofdataelements,orinotherwords,itallowsforjustaboutanytypeofproduct informaConthatcanbedened.Whatyouchoosetoauthorisuptoyouandyourtradingpartners.ThePIESstructureallowsfor mulCpleproductdescripCons,prices,packagedimensions,digitalassets,andmore.Forvariousbusinessreasons,suppliersand retailershaveextendedthePIESXMLstandardtorequireandrepurposeelementstheyndmostadvantageous.Pleasereviewthe documentaConavailableonlinefromtheAutomoCveAiermarketIndustryAssociaCon(hGp:// www.aiermarket.orgwww.aiermarket.org/Technology/PIES.aspx)formoreinformaConontheocialstandard,andworkwith yourtradingpartnerstounderstandtheirpreferencesandcapabiliCes. Q:WhatversionofPIESshouldIuse? A:Thatwilldependontheabilityofyourtradingpartnerstoreceiveeachtypeofle.Asthedataneedsofourindustryare rened,theXMLelddeniConsandlestructurewillconCnuetochange.Versions6.1.2and6.2.0arethemostwidelyaccepted formatscurrently,butversion6.3hasalreadybeenreleasedandfuturereleasesarealreadybeingplanned.Ifyourtrading partnerscanaccepta6.2versionle,thatisourcurrentrecommendaCon. Q:IhaveprovidedaPIESXMLle,butIambeingaskedformoreinformaCon.Why? A:WhilethePIESformatdoeshavetheabilitytoincludealmostanypossibleproductdata,therearesCllsomelegacysystems andprocessesthatrequireanonXMLbasedsubmission.CurrentindustryiniCaCves,suchasdeningProductSpecicAGributes, mayhelptoreducetheneedforsomeoftheseaddiConalsubmissions,buttheneedmayneverbetotallyeliminated. Q:IsendmyACESdataoutregularly.DoIreallyneedtosendaPIESletoo? A:ACESandPIESlesarebothnecessarytodeliveracompleteecatalog.TheACESdatatellsyourcustomerwhatpartsthey need,andthePIESdatatellsyourcustomerswhytheyshouldbuyyourpartoverthecompeCCon.Youmaynothavecontrolover howinformaConispresentedatthepointofsale,butdeliveringonlyhalfofyourdataensuresthattheotherhalfisnot presented. Q:HowdoIknowwhattolloutforaPIESle? A:Thesimpleansweristolloutwhateveryoucan,butinrealityyouwanttoprioriCzesomeeldsaboveothers.Thebest guidancecomesfromyourtradingpartners,butingeneralterms,eecCveproductdescripConsareagreatplacetostart.Ifyou useMyCarPartstopresentyourecatalog,productimagesandotherrelateddigitalassetsmakeaninstantimpactandaddpizzazz tothepresentaConofyourproducts. Q:WherecanIgetmoreinformaConaboutACES,PIESorotherdataformats? A:ThetechnologysecConoftheAAIAwebsite(hGp://aiermarket.org/Technology.aspx)providesdocumentaConaswellaslinks toaddiConalaiermarketeducaConopportuniCes.Asyourpartner,wearealwayshappytoansweryourquesConsaswell.Since everytradingpartnerhastheabilitytodenetheirownstandard,therewillneverbeasinglereferencesource.IfaddiConal informaConisnecessary,talktoyourtradingpartnersandthenletusknowhowwecanhelpmeetthoserequirements.Chances areitssomethingwevedonebefore.

JAN17,2011

www.illumaware.com

THE ILLUMINATOR

VOLUME VI

Long, Short, Marketing Descriptions... Oh my!

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ThesinglemostimportantdescripConeldistheonethat getsyourcustomertobuyyourproduct.Thechallengeisto knowwhichofthemanydescripConsavailableistheonethat willclosethesale. Forexample,aneloquentMarkeCngDescripConmaybe justwhatthecustomerneededforanonlineapplicaCon,but ithasnoimpactonapointofsalesystemthatcanonly display20characters.AnabbreviatedShortDescripCon maybeaperfecttforonetradingpartner,buthavingaliGle moreinformaConinaLongDescripConmaymakea dierenceinanotherenvironment.PopulaCngallofthe descripContypeswiththemostappropriatedescripCons possibleistheonlywaytoensurethatyourproductsare

presentedthewayyouwantthemtobe.Thisisalotofhard workiniCally,butitcanreallypayoinincreasedsales. InaddiContothemanytypesofproductdescripConsthatare speciedinthePIESstructure,recentaddiConstothePIES XMLstandardallowfortheinclusionofMarketCopy Contentaswell.Asyoudetermineyourcorporatestrategy regardingwhattoincludeinproductdescripCons,anynon productspecicinformaConisacandidateforyourbrands MarketCopyContent.Usingthisnewdataelementisa greatwaytoavoidduplicaCnginformaConandimprove consistency.MarketCopyelementswillbeaddedtoEvokat laterthisyear.

Enhanced EPICOR Support Targeted

IllumawarehasalonghistoryofextendingfuncConalityto beGerservetheneedsofitsusers.WhetheritistheaddiCon ofcustomreportstomatchtherequirementsofakeytrading partner,oraddingaddiConalelementswithinEvokattomake managingyourecatalogeasier,weconCnueto strivetobethebestpartnerpossible. ThattradiConwillconCnuewithasoontobe releasedenhancementinsupportofEPICORspecicLabel DescripCons.TobeGerservetheircustomers,EPICOR convertsapplicaConstoasetofcustomparttypes.This conversiontypicallygoesunnoCced,asthetypesareeither idenCcalorverysimilartoAAIAdescripCons.Onrare occasionshowever,dataincludedintheLabelDescripCon, whichisalsoincludedinanACESrecord,complicatesthis process. Contact Information Bruce Speicher
Managing Partner

IllumawarewillempoweruserstobeGermeetEPICOR'sdata requirementsbyprovidinganEPICORspecicLabel DescripConwithinEvokat.ThisnewdescripConeldwill appearoneachpartsDescripConstabinthenextfewweeks, allowingyoutopopulatetheinformaCon neededtobestrepresentyourdatainthe EPICOREcatalog.Thiseldwillonlybeusedin EPICORspecicACESandPIESXMLreports. WeconCnuetolookfor,andwelcome,opportuniCesto extendEvokatfuncConalityinwaysthatcanprovidea beGermenttomulCpleusers.Donothesitatetoaskifyouare strugglingwithanexternalprocessorhaveanew requirementfromatradingpartnerthatcanbeaddressedin thisway.

800.880.4964 Adrian Klingel

Founder and CTO

Ralph Bowen

Evokat Subscription Sales

Brenda Heinitz

Director of Cataloging

Brian Williams

Director of Operations

Richelle Powell

Director of Finance

JAN17,2011

www.illumaware.com