1CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

CASE STUDY

Summary

Six companies put a magnifying glass

to what they describe as the product

information chain in the foodservice

and grocery industries. Focusing on a

single branded consumer product, they

examined how information describing

the product makes its way to consumers.

Product information flows to consumers

1. directly from the manufacturer and

2. through the supply chain via multiple

companies, channels, and information

paths.

Their conclusion: In this era of super-

savvy consumers with on-demand

information at their fingertips, companies

need to take control of their product

information. If not, they will lose control

to the complexities of the supply chain

and the whims of the ever-expanding set

of internet and mobile applications that

scour the web.

Taking control means:

·· demanding the highest levels of data quality

for all item related information.

·· executing strong data governance initiatives

based on an understanding of where and

how product information is used.·

·· Creating standardized methods to share

product information among trading

partners.

The Era of the Super-Savvy Consumer

Marketers make a great deal of fuss

about branding, becoming downright

poetic when conversations turn to brand

awareness, brand loyalty, and brand

equity. The value of brands, they say, is

such that brand owners must control

the imagery, messages, and information

presented to their consumers. This is

so the brands maintain their position

in consumers’ heads and hearts, where

brand promises can be fulfilled now and

in the future.

Much has changed, however, now that

consumers operate within a digital,

mobile and multi-channel world.

Consumers have countless tools and

applications at their disposal to search,

compare, and get advice on products.

The fact is that a product display or retail

shelf is no longer the moment of truth

for a consumer purchase decision. And

a package label, or a manufacturer’s or

retailer’s website is no longer the primary

go-to source for a consumer researching

a product. A question for marketers: Do

you know all the ways your consumers

are getting their information, and is that

information correct and complete?

Take Control of Your Product InformationTracking Product Data Through the Supply Chain

Do you know all of the ways

your consumers are getting

their information, and is

that information correct

and complete?

2

Anatomy of a Consumer Product

Kellogg Company (Kellogg) is a global,

$13 billion consumer packaged goods

company headquartered in Battle Creek,

Michigan. A notable success for the

company has been the Special K® line

of products, which has expanded from

breakfast cereals to breakfast bars, meal

bars, crackers, chips, and beverages. With

excellence in brand and supply chain

management, Special K is now a $1 billion

global brand, with numerous stock-

keeping units (SKUs) and nearly 400

case configurations.

The participants of this study agreed to

focus on a single item, the Kellogg’s®

Special K® Strawberry Protein Meal Bar,

because of its success in the foodservice

and grocery channels. The bar is also sold

successfully through mass merchandiser,

drug, convenience, and club channels. The

bar is marketed as a meal replacement

item, high in protein and fiber. It weighs

1.59 ounces, and is individually wrapped

in a foil pouch. Typically, the bar is sold

by Kellogg’s to foodservice distributors

and operators in 48-pack cases. In

turn, at operator establishments such

as at cafeterias, the item is then sold to

consumers in its individual foil package.

In the grocery channel, the bar is

typically sold in cases of six retail cartons.

Shoppers buy a carton containing six to

eight foil-wrapped bars.

Here are the eye-opening statistics

uncovered by the study participants.

Kellogg maintains a minimum of 340

pieces of attribute information describing

the Special K Strawberry Meal Bar.

Attributes provide a complete picture

of a product that needs to be produced,

marketed, sold, and distributed on a

global scale. Most of these attributes are

used for Kellogg’s internal operations,

yet many are passed along to consumers

and trade customers in the foodservice

and grocery channels. These Kellogg

customers in turn, pass along the

information to their customers or

shoppers.

Generally, the 340+ Strawberry Meal

Bar attributes can be placed into nine

categories containing the following

information:

DESCRIPTION:

information such as the GS1 Global

Trade Item Number® (GTIN®), and short

descriptions used for ordering and

marketing.

MEASUREMENTS·AND·PACKAGE·CONFIGURATIONS:

packaging configurations, weights and

measures, and logistic unit information

such as the number of cases on a pallet.

INGREDIENTS·AND·NUTRITION:

ingredient lists and nutrition information.

DIGITAL·ASSETS:

product images, nutrition labels, FAQs,

recipes, and vendor contracts.

CONSUMER·USAGE:

serving size and storage

temperature ranges.

PRICING·AND·COST:

trade customer list and promotional

pricing, as well as cost accounting.

ORDERING·INFORMATION:

ordering quantities and configurations

provided for trade customers.

MATERIAL·PURCHASING:

vendor identification and

material specifications.

MANUFACTURING,·WAREHOUSING,··AND·LOGISTICS:

manufacturing locations, and full

truckload (FTL) and less-than-truckload

(LTL) shipping specifications.

CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

“High data quality cannot

be assumed to exist. It’s

important that control

systems are in place,

and data is continually

audited and measured for

accuracy.”

—MICHAEL DURNING,

Manager of Data Integrity

Wakefern Food Corp.

3

Kellogg maintains disciplined, centralized

processes to set up product information

in its material master databases that

use SAP software. Through these

databases, Kellogg is able to support the

manufacturing and marketing of a global

branded product such as the Special K

Meal Bar. “Managing the complexity and

size of Kellogg’s operations demands that

we have a strong sense of governance

over our product data,” says Ryan Zima,

Master Data Manager at Kellogg. “For

food products in particular, we need

to get the right information to our

consumers and trade customers.”

All told, inputs for any product within

Kellogg can come from as many as 200

people within the company. Through the

management of the Kellogg Customer

Logistics Services Group, the product

attributes of the Strawberry Meal Bar

were gathered in a New Item Form,

requiring detailed inputs from Food

Developers (RQT), Engineers, Finance,

Nutrition Labeling, Packaging Technology,

Quality, and Marketing groups. The

Master Data group is then responsible

for normalizing the data for the required

enterprise applications including data

synchronization.

Tracking Through the Foodservice Channel

The foodservice channel supplies food

products to be consumed outside of

the home by millions of consumers.

Technomics, a research and consulting

firm servicing the foodservice industry,

estimates the industry to be about $600

billion in sales, where food is sold through

full service restaurants, limited service

restaurants, hotels, schools, hospitals,

institutional cafeterias, and more.

Primary players in the foodservice supply

chain include manufacturers such as

Kellogg’s, redistributors such as Dot

Foods, distributors that carry a full line of

products and/or specialty products, and

operators that manage and run a service

establishment, such as a restaurant or

cafeteria. Manufacturers may sell its

products directly to operators, or via a

redistributor or distributor. It can certainly

be a complex supply chain as well as an

intricate information chain.

Dot Foods (Dot) is the largest

redistributor in the country, serving more

than 3,000 small and medium-sized

foodservice distributors. The company

buys food products in full truckload

quantities from over 680 manufacturers,

and then sells the products to its

distributors in less-than-truckload

quantities.

An important service provided by Dot

Foods is the Dot Expressway, a Web-

based catalogue, containing over 102,000

SKUs for its distributor customers to

choose from. It is a robust database that

contains important and relevant product

information. One important trend is the

request to distributors by their operator

customers to provide more information

about the products they carry, such

as nutritionals, ingredients, allergens,

product details, child nutrition, cooking

instructions, pictures, and more. Dot

Foods has aggressively responded to

these requests. A strong proponent of the

Global Data Synchronization Network™

(GDSN®), Dot has been a leading driver

of working with manufacturers to provide

more, standardized, consumer-oriented

attributes of their food items.

CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

“The Dot Expressway,

powered with deeper,

standardized information

from manufacturers, gives

us the edge to provide

better service to our

distributors, that can, in

turn, better serve the

operators.”

—DICK TRACEY,

Executive Vice President,

Foodservice Dot Foods

4

Kellogg has responded to Dot’s request.

Kellogg now synchronizes 104 attributes

of the Special K Bar with Dot, being

one of the leading manufacturers to

provide rich product data through the

GDSN. Dot Foods is now able to carry

these attributes on the Dot Expressway,

including the more comprehensive set of

consumer attributes that are requested

by operators and distributors. “The

need for robust, consumer-friendly food

product information is coming through

all channels, with foodservice the most

pronounced,” says Dick Tracy, Executive

Vice President, Foodservice of Dot

Foods. “The Dot Expressway, powered

with deeper, standardized information

from manufacturers, gives us the edge to

provide better service to our distributors,

that can, in turn, better serve the

operators.”

Both Kellogg and Dot Foods use Aligntrac

Solutions and the 1WorldSync® Data Pool

to send and receive item information

through the GDSN. For Kellogg, item

information stored in SAP is merged with

marketing and nutritional information

stored in other databases using

Aligntrac’s solution and sent through

the 1WorldSync Data Pool to recipients

like Dot Foods. For Dot Foods, item

information is received from 1WorldSync

through Aligntrac’s software solution,

and then provided to Dot Foods internal

systems for logistics purposes and for

the Dot Expressway. Dot Foods also

“redistributes” the item information to its

customers through the GDSN using the

1WorldSync and Aligntrac solutions. Data

accuracy and completeness are enforced

by rules and validations present in both

1WorldSync and Aligntrac solutions.

Tracking Through the Grocery Channel

Wakefern Food Corp. is a $13 billion

grocery cooperative headquartered

in Keasbey, New Jersey. The company

operates 297 stores under the ShopRite

and PriceRite banners, with stores located

on the East Coast of the United States.

The company also acts as a wholesaler

for several smaller regional grocery

chains and international customers. The

company is set up to carry 75,000 to

100,000 seasonal and non-seasonal

items sourced from over 3,000 vendors;

a typical ShopRite store may carry more

than 40,000 items. ShopRite carries the

Special K Strawberry Protein Meal bar

in a six-bar carton.

“Maintaining the highest levels of data

quality is extremely important for a

company such as Wakefern,” says

Christine McMaster, Director of Product

Management at Wakefern Food Corp.

“We have a responsibility to provide the

right information to our shoppers, and to

maintain efficient operations so we have

the right product available on the shelf.

Clean, accurate data is a requirement for

us to manage through the complexity.”

To do this, Wakefern developed its

own Master Data Management (MDM)

system to house its product information.

The robust system is fully integrated

to support logistics, store operations,

replenishment, advertising and promotion

management, and management of the

Wakefern wholesale centers.

CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

“We have a responsibility

to provide the right

information to our

shoppers, and to maintain

efficient operations so

we have the right product

available at the shelf.

Clean accurate data is

a requirement for to us

to manage through the

complexity.”

—CHRISTINE MCMASTER,

Director of Product Management,

Wakefern Food Corp

5CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

The operative term for Wakefern to

process the informational attributes of a

given product is to “set up” the item in

its MDM system. With an item properly

set up, Wakefern can then manage

transactions with its vendors, including

EDI transmissions, as well as operate a

range of store operations and marketing

activities. Wakefern uses a combination

of the GDSN with items synchronized

through 1WorldSync, and a new item

vendor portal that was launched in

2010, to receive the bulk of its product

information.

When setting up data for the Special K

Strawberry Meal Bar, Wakefern uses the

following information and attributes:

·· Kellogg’s currently synchronizes 97

attributes with Wakefern through the GDSN

and 1WorldSync Data Pool. This includes

description, measurement, ingredients,

usage, and ordering unit information. The

need for additional logistical and consumer

information continues to grow for Wakefern;

it expects to receive more attributes from

Kellogg and other manufacturers through

the GDSN moving forward.

·· Kellogg personnel enter additional

information into Wakefern’s vendor item

portal. This includes promotional and

list pricing, promotion details, and

product images.

·· Wakefern personnel enter further internal

information into the item portal database,

including merchant, merchandiser, and

nutritional designations.

·· Wakefern receives product images

(advertising and plan-o-gram) and nutrient

panel images through a third-party provider.

The totality of the Special K Bar product

information supports key processes in

Wakefern’s grocery operations.

This includes:

·· MERCHANDISING, including proper

category management,

shelf planning, and shelf descriptions.

·· BUYING, including accounts payable.

·· STORE·OPERATIONS, including

replenishment, shelf maintenance, and

checkout.

·· LOGISTICS, including pick & pack, and

trucking operations.

·· MARKETING, including displaying products

on the ShopRite at Home website, circulars,

and loyalty programs.

Thousands of companies,

thousands of products, each

with hundreds of attributes

Thousands of

distribution

channels,

thousands

of retailers,

redistributors,

distributors

and operators

Hundreds of

thousands of

restaurants,

cafeterias,

stores,

websites

Hundreds of millions

of consumers

The Data Quality “Butterfly Effect”

CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE

1WorldSync 1009 Lenox Drive, Suite 202, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 USA T +1 866 280 4013 F +1 609 620 1200 E info@1worldsync.com 1worldsync.com © 1WorldSync 2012

Connect With Us:

Industry Call to Action: Take Control!

Dot Foods and Wakefern are just two of

the thousands of trading partners that

Kellogg provides product information

about its Special K Strawberry Protein

Meal Bar. The Bar is part of a much larger

group of products sold by Kellogg’s. In

turn, the Kellogg offerings are just a small

portion of the total product offerings

carried by Dot Foods, Wakefern and other

redistributors, distributors, operators,

retailers and e-tailers. A “butterfly effect”

is in place: with such a complex network

of moving parts, a missing or wrong

piece of product data upstream will have

dramatic effects downstream, disrupting

the supply chain at many points, and

ultimately affecting the consumer.

Adding to this is the growth of Web and

mobile applications that “scrape” all areas

of the internet to present a myriad of

product information to consumers.

This is like the “telephone” game young

children play: one person says something

to someone else, who says what he or

she heard to the next person, and so

on and so on. What is relayed at the

end may not bear a resemblance to the

original message! Such could be the case

with product information. A question

for marketers: Is it acceptable that third-

party applications have incomplete or

wrong information about your products?

Participants in the study provide insights

into best practices when it comes to

exchanging quality product information

and practices that circumvent the

“butterfly effect.”

DEMAND·THE·HIGHEST·LEVELS·OF·DATA·QUALITY·FOR·ALL·ITEM·INFORMATION

Leading companies like Kellogg, Dot

Foods, and Wakefern demand the

highest levels of data quality because

they understand the downstream

business impacts of poor data quality.

They understand that companies with a

centralized “single source of truth’’ can

better manage through the complex

twists and turns of the supply chain.

Tactically significant is the practice to

ensure accuracy in weights, dimensions,

and package configurations that have

direct impacts on logistics and store

operations. Here, the quality of data

can be measured, score-carded, and

compared against industry averages.

Product Data Management providers such

as 1WorldSync offer a suite of services in

this area. As important, manufacturers

should place a solid system of checks and

balances to help ensure accuracy. Use of

third-party measurement services is one

recommended solution. “High data quality

cannot be assumed to exist,” says Michael

Durning, Manager of Data Integrity at

Wakefern Food Corp. “It’s important that

control systems are in place, and data is

continually audited and measured

for accuracy.”

EXECUTE·STRONG·DATA·GOVERNANCE·WITH·AN·UNDERSTANDING·OF·HOW·PRODUCT·INFORMATION·IS·USED.

“Data governance” is a catchphrase in the

field of Master Data Management. Kellogg,

Dot Foods, and Wakefern have each taken

a deep dive to understand how product

information is used – who uses it, when

is it used, for what process, for what

processes, and for what end purpose.

With this understanding, these companies

can assign ownership of different types of

information to the right people, and put in

place the control mechanisms to protect

and maintain data quality.

CREATE·STANDARDIZED·METHODS·TO·SHARE·PRODUCT·INFORMATION·AMONG·TRADING·PARTNERS.

Kellogg, Dot Foods, and Wakefern are

strong believers in the GS1 Global Data

Synchronization Network. This system

of electronic information exchange

has helped them to eliminate paper

as a process component between

manufacturers and recipients. “The

electronic, standardized, one-to-many

communications enables a faster speed

to market through our many channels of

distribution,” says Rich Borrasso, Business

Development Manager of Kellogg.

More than 20,000 companies strong,

the GDSN has brought forward nearly

2,000 standardized product attributes

appropriate for the foodservice, grocery,

general merchandise, hardlines, and

healthcare industries, among others.

Product data in the GDSN is owned by the

manufacturer, ultimately the only trusted

source of product data available.

1

2

3