 A smooth flow of goods is only possible when retailers and manufacturers are able to transfer and process information quickly and accurately. This is why electronic data transfer is gaining in importance. The METRO Group uses the data pool MMS-CAT in order to ensure the efficient exchange of product data with its supplier. |
Automatic Wake-Up Call Included
When the METRO Group sends master data to a supplier, it also grants a release for the processing. This means that a file is created. The supplier automatically receives an e-mail and can immediately access the data. Once he has processed the data, he grants a release and transfers the data to the METRO Group. The respective buyer receives a wake-up call that has been generated by MMS-CAT. Then the METRO Group once gain has exclusive access to the data. The buyer can ask the supplier once again to process data and send him a release and a wake-up call. He can also release the data for listing, deletion or revision. In any case the supplier receives an e-mail regarding the processing status of his product.
The Supplier Takes the First Step
When the supplier administrates his data in the data pool SA2 worldsync, the changed information is automatically transferred to MMS-CAT. The buyer of the METRO Group then receives a wake-up call. MMS-CAT verifies if the data set and its corresponding Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) are already in the system. If this is the case, then the product is in the current assortment and the buyer may have to change or delete the data. If MMS-CAT does not recognize the GTIN, the data concerns a new product that may need to be listed.
Compare, Process – Done!
The respective staff members of the METRO Group buying company can always view all product data and processing options on their computer monitors. In the case of revisions of the article master data, they can directly compare old and new data. The old data, such as packaging dimensions of a product, appears on one side of the monitor: height x width x depth: 100 x 100 x 150 cm. The new dimensions are shown on the other side of the monitor: 120 x 120 x 170 cm. The staff member only needs to click the mouse in order to accept the new dimensions. The updated master data can then be logged into MMS-CAT and the downstream databanks.
The Emergence of a Worldwide Catalog of Knowledge
Smooth data communication between the METRO Group and its suppliers requires that the participants apply standards consistently – such as the Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) and the Global Location Number (GLN). The group therefore works for the wide scale establishment of a uniform numbering system for the clear identification of products and suppliers. It is the goal of the METRO Group to display the assortments of all sales divisions worldwide in MMS-CAT – thereby making assortment creation on the basis of standards as efficient as possible.
