Let 1WorldSync show you how to take control of your product information by tracking product data through the supply chain.

1. 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 Information
Tracking 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. 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
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“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. 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. 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

5. 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”

6. CONNECTING TRUSTED PRODUCT DATA EVERYWHERE
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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.
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