Categorization, Attributes and Reporting
Current to Future State
Canadian Office Products Association
December 12, 2012
Topics
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Categorization & Attribute Benefits
Learning
Strategic versus Tactical Data
Existing Reports Summary
Current to Future State
Future State
Benefits
Data Collection & Costs
Benefits of Categorization
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Important business decisions are made daily based on uncertain information. Categorization
of products is an essential step to enable business to properly analyze and classify
transactions and activities related to inventory and the sale/purchase of goods and services.
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Categorization systems should be “universal” providing a common language for
manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, resellers, retailers and dealers. COPA will not only
provide the OP Category and Sub Category for each product but also the UNSPSC and GPC
commodity codes. Future plans will include the addition of NAICS and MCC codes.
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The costs related to providing the COPA members with a comprehensive categorization
system are minimal versus the gains which can be made in areas related to inventory, sales,
and marketing.
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Categorization coupled with product attributes will enable COPA members to make rational
business cases or decisions based on market, cultural and competitive trends.
Benefits of Attributes
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Product description enhancement
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Migration of correct data to internal systems and customer sites
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Product market and trend analysis by OP category and sub category, by vendor brand and sub
brand name, by attribute definition and product attributes, by recycled products and recycle
content, by certifications, by packaging, by description – by any field of information/data
housed in the database.
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Due to the database flexibility, product attributes can be added, changed or enhanced easily,
allowing both resellers and manufacturers to participate in attribute definition creation (i.e.;
Writing Instruments) and what attributes will be made available for reporting purposes.
What We Have Learned…so far
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Data entry and cleansing are considered to be a clerical task. High priority is given to the
“box” or field versus what goes into it.
No two people in North America think or speak the English language in the same way.
Manufacturer and distributor data was not developed to share with customers.
Historical data, deleted items and junk files are not routinely purged from the main frame or
the live files.
North American businesses have spent trillions upgrading hardware, software and IT Services
but very little is spent on data.
Canadian firms only using a fraction of the reams of information at their disposal. (The Globe
and Mail, Why we must spend more understanding data, Dec 4, 2012)
A clean dynamic industry database with categorization and attributes will lower costs,
improve profitability, prevent errors and save on resource costs. It will also enable effective
readable reporting and analysis for all industry segments.
Categorization, attribute definitions and the attributes selected for products must be flexible
and industry driven.
Strategic Data versus Tactical Data
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Strategic data/information tells you where you are and where you are going. Tactical
data/information will tell you how to get there.
This is basic “cause and effect” analysis coupled with potential resolution or opportunity
analysis.
Strategic data/information will also define threats to our business
We deal with strategic information in our everyday lives and automatically respond to the
tactical impact yet many businesses still do not combine these critical sources of information
to drive business decisions.
North American Cut Sheet Paper manufacturing down by 4.3% over last year. Capacity has
declined since 2005.
Effect?
Resolutions?
Opportunities?
Current to Future State
Current State: COPA is providing its reseller participants with high level reports based on a
generic categorization (i.e.; writing instruments). Acceptable in the early days, these
reports provide a very high level view of the category but do not provide the detail
needed for marketing and merchandising members to view trend analysis. COPA members
are driving the reporting project to its next level.
Future State: Database – In addition to all fields required to enhance data, the following have
also been added;
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New, Change, Discontinue and Effective Date
Vendor Unit of Measure + Quantity (Reseller information only)
OP Category, OP Sub Category
Attribute Definition (i.e.: Writing Instruments, Labels, Binders, etc.)
Attributes - Variable Fields for each product category (This will change for each Attribute Definition)
Brand, Sub Brand Names
Vendor Suggested Retail Price + Currency (Canada, US)
Other Information 1 + 2 (Colours, Product Containment Information)
Private/Exclusive Item Flag + Company (Visible only to the reseller and brand manufacturer)
Minimum Order, Certifications, Recycled Packaging %, Other
WI dbase.xls
Future State
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We are only limited by our own imaginations when it comes to what we need to see from the
new COPA reports. The database will be hosted and available to all participating members
online or as a download.
Members will be provided a downloaded version of the pivot table which will allow them to
view products by the OP Category and Sub Category, by Attribute Definitions, By Product
Attributes or any other field which may be required.
Writing instruments will be followed by binders and binding, dividers, and related products.
The reseller members will direct what categories of products will follow in order of need.
Product attributes will be determined by working in concert with both the manufacturers and
the resellers.
Current COPA industry reports will continue for 2013 and then re-evaluated annually by
participating members for relevancy, change, additions or deletion. New reports can be made
available if required by members.
Customization based on specific member requirements will be made available for a
reasonable fee allowing a manufacturer or reseller to add even greater value to the
information provided. (sales dollars, sales units, inventory on hand, etc.)
Report.xlsx.xlsx
Benefits
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OP category and attribute-driven database available to all members participating in the COPA
reporting project.
Future reporting and customized reporting for resellers, retailers, wholesalers, distributors
and manufacturers.
Strategic reporting will made available to members (reasonable annual fee) with the ability to
provide customized report requirements for members. (additional fee)
Flexibility to adapt to any new requests or requirements made by our members.
Comprehensive reports which will include retail and commercial sales.
Significant cost savings for members who currently have this information provided by third
parties.
Increase in COPA memberships – non-traditional business opportunities such as Walmart,
Target, Dollar Stores, etc.
Data alignment – use of all fields which will sync data to provide accurate sales; GTIN, UPC,
vendor product number, reseller number.
On demand reporting available in the future.
Benefits
Reseller/Vendor – Future Data
- Market share (competitive, supplier, category, etc.)
- B2B and B2C sales and units by product and all product related data fields
- Trends by attribute definition, attributes, category, sub category, description,
UOM, pack type, recycled and recycled %, or any other field available in the
database
- Year over year data to determine product performance and lifecycle, product
gains/losses, product forecasting marketing, merchandising and planning
- Customized reporting capabilities – operational, profitability, ROI
- Enhanced decision-making
- Cultural trends analysis (consumer-driven)
- Strategic data/information provided to all COPA members. Strategic
data/information opportunity analysis for individual companies will be made
available for a reasonable fee.
- Flexibility – add fields and/or connect fields to the database to provide further
enhance reporting/reports.
Data Project Team
• Sam Moncada – COPA President
• Leading project
• Terry Nevins – COPA Board Member
• Assisting Sam & Gayle
• Gayle McCaskill – OP Consultant
– Expertise in data protocols for OP industry
– Organizing & cleansing data
• Bob Smith – Statistics Consultant
– Creation of reports – with observational interpretation
– Top Views - Blending of OP industry data to Stats Can data
• Kevin Taylor - Ontrack Software Limited
– Managing data bases & producing reports
• Neil Collins – IT Maintenance
– COPA server, back up, software updates, on call for maintenance
• Darrell Townsend - DOT FUSION
– Writer & graphic creator
Data Collection - By Category
Reseller Data
Vendor Data
COPA
Reseller
Reports
COPA cleans &
organizes data
Vendor
“B”
“A”
Note:
- Both resellers &
vendors provide data
- Resellers receive all
reseller reports
- Vendors have an
option to receive
complete or modified
report package
Data Collection - By Category
Reseller Data
To continue on
legacy fee
schedule
Vendor Data
COPA
Reports
COPA cleans &
organizes data
Vendor
Vendor
Fee Schedule
Contact Sam Moncada at
smoncada@copa.ca
Ad hoc reports
available as a
chargeable item
“B”
Note:
- Both resellers &
vendors provide data
- Resellers receive all
reseller reports
- Vendors have an
option to receive
complete or modified
report package
Next Category - Suggestions
• Next Data Category – Under Discussion
– Filing supplies, binders, indexes, labels, note books
– Ink jet and toner supplies
– Other……..
• Time To Get Involved
– We need your expertise
– Help decide on the next data categories
• Time To Consider Your Data Needs
– Subscribe to COPA data – build your business
– Join the COPA data team – create the data path
To be successful, we need
your support & expertise
Thank you
September 21, 2012