Inspired by the many predictions for 2012 you can find right now in the I thought to write down my own assumptions and predictions for 2012. Maybe it is a little bit unstructured but this is how it came to my mind.
I hope you will enjoy them a little bit and maybe enrich them with your own thoughts and comments!
Here we go:
1. GDSN will overcome the national Data Synchronization standards and become the real global Datasync standard
Especially in Europe Data Synchronization started long before the rise of the GDSN – and already was successfully implemented before. With the rise of the GDSN and the adoption by the large, global manufacturers the European communities were urged to build bridges from their national, proprietary data synchronization standards into the GDSN. This happened the last couple of years for example in Germany, Sweden, France, Spain and other European countries. By now many of those communities have learned that using one single, global standard is really beneficial and therefore they are in the process of switching from their national, proprietary program to the global GDSN. One good example here is the German community which has decided to switch from their former SINFOS standard to the GDSN. This initiative is led by GS1 Germany and backed by all major players in the German retail marketplace.
2. Master Data Management also gets implemented by European retailers
My observation is that MDM as a discipline was for quite some time much more adopted by US retailers than in European retailers. Therefore European retailers had much more difficulties in adopting automated data synchronization and getting rid of paper or email based new item forms and the manual processes attached to it.
What I am seeing now is that meanwhile also many European retailers are looking into MDM as a discipline or a business process and that many of them really have already started their MDM program or are at least right now preparing to start one.
3. Retailers build their own portals to gather item master data on top of GDSN to have a free solution for suppliers and to collect data beyond the standards – and this will burst the usage of GDSN
GDSN on its own is not sufficient for retailers. The goal for retailers regarding data synchronization is to get the data of ALL their suppliers in a reasonable time frame electronically in an automated process instead of getting only a part of it through data synchronization and sticking with the rest to manual processes.
To overcome the chicken and egg problem (“only a ‘small’ amount of suppliers are doing GDSN, therefore retailers are not implementing GDSN” versus “retailers are not implementing GDSN and therefore suppliers are not participating in the GDSN”) retailers are more and more implementing their own web portals where suppliers can maintain their item data manually at no charge additionally to implementing GDSN. By offering a free option to suppliers retailers really can mandate electronic delivery of item data – either via GDSN or via their own portal.
Why this will burst the usage of GDSN? Because retailers are implementing GDSN and suppliers are only getting any benefits from electronic delivery of item data if they implement GDSN themselves instead of manually feeding the retailer portals.
4. E-Commerce in Europe becomes the driver for MDM and GDSN in retailers
E-Commerce is THE driver for electronic product information par excellence. This is how suppliers can advertise and promote their products and directly impact their sales through the different online channels.
Electronic product information is the equivalent to the packaging in the store!
To manage the product information on the supplier and the retailer side you absolutely need to implement MDM for product information otherwise you will not be able to control the data.
But why will it also drive the adoption of GDSN? GDSN is an established infrastructure between suppliers and retailers to exchange product information and absolutely capable to exchange the more sales oriented product information for E-Commerce also. Why try to establish something else?
5. B2C item information will become integral part of GDSN
As E-Commerce is one of the key drivers sales oriented product information (aka ‘B2C item information’) has to become integral part of GDSN.
Do we need ‘Modular Item’ for this? Probably not short term, because we could easily live with some more extensions or even with using the ‘Specifics Technical Characteristics’ Extension.
Key is to regard GDSN as the means to receive “trusted data” from suppliers.
Btw. what is your understanding of “B2C data”? Mine is all data on a product that comes from the business and the targeted audience is the consumer. This includes all product feature information, every kind of marketing information, manufacturers images and such stuff. It excludes explicitly all kind of consumer generated content (e.g. recommendations) or 3rd party content (e.g. test reports etc.).
6. Stationary retailers will learn from Amazon that the electronic supply-chain is key for success
Working a lot for stationary retailers, my observation is, that those retailers have a lot challenges to adopt electronic processes for their key business processes. Mainly because they have well established (manual) processes and their business is up and running. It is obviously a huge change task (mental wise but also just from the huge amount of employees impacted) for them to switch from the manual processes which are working for decades to automated, electronic processes.
But as Amazon meanwhile is very well established globally and is competing more and more with stationary retailers, the latter ones have to really investigate how they can stay competitive. Full adaption of the electronic supply-chain is one of the must haves.
7. The GS1 system demands an integrated solution for supplier data, item master data and transactional data
You implement GDSN and then you are going to start your first rollout / onboarding program. And you will have your first failure because you learn that your supplier address data is too poor. This can be repaired with a huge manual effort (contact each and every supplier and collect their GLN, the correct contact person and probably some more address information).
But why is there no viable GS1 solution which provides supplier address information to retailers?
Each and every retailer has the same challenges here. By the way suppliers have similar problems because where can they get all the DC and store addresses from retailers?
As a retailer you first need correct supplier information, then you need the item information and based on that you want to do the electronic business processes like orders, invoices, etc.
Why is there no integrated solution for this?
Will this solution emerge in 2012? Probably not. But the more the GDSN is used the more people will recognize that there are some other puzzle pieces still missing.
8. Gepir will be abandoned
I have to admit – I am not seriously predicting that this service will be shut down. But I still have not got the intention of the Gepir service. You could think that it is a wonderful service where you can find for each and every GLN and GTIN GS1 has ever issued some detail information.
But the data quality there is even worse than what I have seen at most retailers databases. And this just does not help.
From my perspective one of the key issues is the way how GLN’s and GTIN’s are distributed / sold where it is not mandatory to give a feedback what you are using a GLN or GTIN for.
9. GDSN at the tipping point - Not for profit vs. commercial services
The two largest GDSN datapools are meanwhile owned by the two largest GS1 organizations (SA2 Worldsync by GS1 Germany and 1sync by GS1 US). Many smaller GS1 organizations are offering also GDSN services to their community either based on 3rd party technology (many use either SA2 Worldsync or 1sync) or based on their own developments (e.g. GS1 Sweden or GS1 Hungary).
Where are the commercial players in the GDSN area? They are either bought by GS1’s (1sync was formerly Transora which was a commercial company, SA2 Worldsync was majority owned by Pironet NDH, a public company) or they are stepping slowly out of this business like GXS for example. In US there are still some commercial companies engaged in the GDSN market and there are also new players arising like lately FSEnet and others.
What does that mean for 2012? It will be very interesting to see how “not for profit” vs. “commercial” performs.
Regarding an integrated GS1 platform as described above I would think that commercial vendors are in a better position because GS1 in certain areas has to be sensitive to not make to much competition to their own solution providers. For example GS1 probably will not be willing to enter the field of transactional data (EDI) because there are well established, commercial offerings available.
So 2012 will become very interesting in the areas of MDM and GDSN!
Happy New Year!
