Children, children!
It was a *joke* ! ! ! !
Chris asked, mistakenly I'm guessing, about web-based info for EDI
requirements for WalMart CUSTOMERS. William is making zee leetle funny
because he's guessing, as am I, that Chris meant to say VENDORS or
SUPPLIERS, not customers. I don't think WalMart has any B2B
***customers***, only live customers like us'ns, who buy bandaids and Crest.
Time for naps.
Susan Carley Oliver
1500 SW Park Avenue, #229
Portland, OR 97201
503.243.5553
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-----Original Message-----
From: Electronic Data Interchange Issues
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] On Behalf Of Rachel Foerster
Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 8:58 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Walmart shipping information
Now William, really!
Not for one minute do I think that big companies like WalMart, etc. make a
mass move to a newer version of the EDI standards just for the fun of it!
Upgrading versions takes time, talent, and skilled resources. These
resources are not just whimsically used on projects for which the company
sees no business benefit. It's not fun nor exciting IT work!
So, I agree with Chris Cancilla, and am assuming that WalMart sees
additional business benefits that more than offset the cost of change.
Further, I wouldn't expect Walmart to have to reveal all or any of those
business benefits to the world at large. After all, some of them could be
strategic, yes?
And so what if WalMart mandated XML-formatted business messages. How would
this be any different than the early days of EDI....or even better (worse)
yet, the days before EDI standards, where the big guys mandated their own
proprietary formats! I say, no big deal, get over it, and get on with
satisfying your customer! And yes, if you're a customer of WalMart, then I
would expect that what they're doing operationally internally will provide
ultimate benefit to their customer by increased responsiveness, lower
inventory levels, fast replenishment, competitive pricing, etc. All those
things that we as consumers want.
Rachel
Chris LaPlaca asked "Is there a website that shows [Wal-Mart's]
requirements for prospective customers?"
Joe Reinhardt told Chris that "New customers need X12 Version 4030."
I never paid much attention to the vast quantity of messages in the last
couple of months regarding Wal-Mart, except to surmise that either (1)
Wal-Mart could work on its communication with suppliers, (2) its
suppliers don't pay attention, or (3) Wal-Mart is engaged in some
perverse "survival of the fittest" experiment to weed out suppliers. In
any event, none of this was any of my business. I figure Wal-Mart is
perfectly entitled to throw its weight around as an 800-lb. EDI gorilla,
making as many demands on suppliers as it can get away with.
But now that Wal-Mart CUSTOMERS have to use X12 Version 4030, I'm going
to have to put my foot down! I'm a CUSTOMER, and under no circumstances
am I going to go to the hassle of using X12 just so I can buy some
tattoo band-aids, shampoo, or batteries. Enough is enough!
Now, if Wal-Mart had just mandated XML, that might be another thing
altogether...
William J. Kammerer
FORESIGHT Corp.
4950 Blazer Pkwy.
Dublin, OH USA 43017-3305
+1 614 791-1600
Visit FORESIGHT Corp. at http://www.foresightcorp.com/
"accelerating time-to-trade"
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