IDEA Expands Industry Data Warehouse Standard, Mandating 43 Fields of Data

The Industry Data Exchange Association, Inc. (IDEA), Arlington, Va., announced an expansion to the Industry Data Warehouse (IDW) standard that governs the data included in the IDW database, which distributors throughout the electrical industry use to update product data from their suppliers.

IDEA is an association jointly owned by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED) to standardize and handle product data that drives distributors’ internal information systems and supports efforts to provide customers with comprehensive e-commerce capabilities.

IDEA said in a release that its management and board have mandated the population of a set of 43 critical data fields that distributors have identified as necessary to conduct business. Manufacturer compliance to this updated standard will be measured as part of IDEA’s new Data Certification Program, the first comprehensive IDW metric for data quantity and quality.

“These critical data fields and the related Data Certification Program support IDEA’s continuous goal of increasing the depth, breadth, and quality of the IDW,” said Chris Curtis, chief executive officer, IDEA. “Manufacturers and distributors alike will see an increase in the value they receive from complete, certified product data, improving the overall quality of any trading partner transaction moving forward.”

Effective Feb. 1, 2015, all new items added to the IDW must have all 43 critical fields fully populated, IDEA said, and all existing active IDW items must have all 43 critical fields fully populated by Oct. 1, 2015. Evaluation results from both metrics will be reported. A list outlining all mandatory fields can be accessed via the IDEA website, idea4industry.com.