Lowe`s Home Improvement Warehouse Joins UCCnet
Media Contacts:
Jennifer Roberts, UCCnet
(609) 620-4688, jbroberts@UCCnet.org
Chris Ahearn, Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
(336) 658-7387, chris.b.ahearn@lowes.com
World`s Second Largest Home Improvement Retailer
Calls On Suppliers to Begin Implementing UCCnet Services
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J. Embargo for December 9, 2002 – UCCnet announced today that Lowe`s Home Improvement Warehouse, the world`s second largest home improvement retailer and the 14th largest retailer in the U.S., will begin implementing the organization’s item registration and data synchronization services. Lowe’s joins more than 250 other supply and demand side trading partners as members of the UCCnet community. The company is the second major retailer in the hard lines industry to subscribe to UCCnet.
Lowe’s will begin implementation in 2003 and has issued communications requesting that its suppliers join UCCnet and prepare to synchronize item information. The company plans to provide information to its partners on the benefits of UCCnet and directions on how to subscribe via its LowesLink.com supplier portal.
"Item synchronization will enable Lowe’s and our vendor partners to reduce the amount of effort spent on introducing new items into our stores and improve the efficiency of our other collaborative supply chain initiatives," said Theresa Anderson, Lowe’s Senior Vice President for Merchandising Sales and Service. "We strongly believe in utilizing industry standards and will continue to be active in defining standards to help streamline the flow of goods into our stores."
UCCnet will enable Lowes to streamline the collection of item data from their 8,850 suppliers, thus eliminating problems associated with incorrect invoices based on incorrect item data. The company hopes to eradicate the duplicative and error-prone manual data entry process by using UCCnet’s GLOBALregistry™ as a single source to provide supplier and product information to all departments within the company.
An industry study conducted by A.T. Kearney estimated that $40 billion, or 3.5 percent, of total sales lost each year are due to supply chain information inefficiencies. Specifically, the study showed that 30 percent of items in retail catalogs have data errors, which cost between $60 and $80 each and consume 25 minutes of manual cleansing per SKU. Other findings revealed that 60 percent of all invoices generated errors and 43 percent of all invoices resulted in deductions.
To alleviate these costly errors, UCCnet enables registration and synchronization of item information, such as weight and dimensions, by providing a repository for standardized item, location and trading partner data. Suppliers load item, location and trading partner information into the UCCnet GLOBALregistry. UCCnet checks the data for compliance to industry standards and synchronizes it with demand side partners, such as Lowe’s, ensuring that all trading partners are using identical, updated, standards-compliant data.
"Lowe’s has continually proven itself as an innovative retailer that ensures its supply chain is meeting the demand of its customers," said Glenn DuBois, Vice President of Business Development for UCCnet. "Our item registry and data synchronization services will assist Lowe’s in eliminating cost from their supply chain and enabling their customers to better communicate product information with the retailer."
UCCnet services will enable suppliers and their retail partners to reduce costly administrative errors in invoice pricing, purchase orders, product delivery and scanning accuracy. In addition, the company will be able to increase the speed of getting new products to market and facilitate changes to existing item information. Synchronized data in a standard format also provides a solid foundation for realizing the true cost savings value of more advanced e-commerce tools such as scan-based trading and CPFR.
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About UCCnet
UCCnet is a not-for-profit, tax-exempt neutral organization that provides item registry and data synchronization based on industry-developed standards. UCCnet provides a foundation for electronic commerce and cost effective transaction of data among partners. Through its support of global EANoUCC standards, UCCnet delivers an open platform for collaborative commerce services, including compliance verification, synchronization of product information, registry and lifecycle management of synchronized products, user locations and user trade capabilities.
As a subsidiary of the Uniform Code Council, Inc., the global standards organization, UCCnet leverages its position to enable the rapid, clear development of industry Internet standards and practices. In addition, UCCnet certifies technology solution providers and provides implementation methodology, allowing small, medium and large enterprises to implement item registry and data synchronization services into their business in a swift and efficient manner. For more information, visit www.UCCnet.org.
About Lowe`s
With 2001 sales of $22.1 billion, Lowe`s Companies Inc. (NYSE: LOW) is a Fortune 100 company that serves more than seven million customers a week at more than 800 home improvement stores in 43 states. The 14th largest retailer in the nation, Wilkesboro, NC-based Lowe`s is the second-largest home improvement retailer in the world. For more information, visit Lowes.com.
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