by Jim B. Cantrell, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Having spent 90% my entire career in one aspect of Retail or another I have had to deal with reports non-stop. Retail is a great industry to be associated with, provides a host of jobs, great creative people to work with and the like – it also generates tons of data. That data and the management of it has been an area I have grown to appreciate over the years.
From using data to form price tickets and hangtags through designing and integrating EDI systems through designing and developing hosted e-commerce, translation and reporting applications – all of the data has common roots, and associated problems which have challenged me and others in the industry for years. It is my sincere hope that people who read this will find it useful in reducing some of the frustrations they have experienced in trying to manage the ever increasing data in their life. I would love to hear about people's pursuit of ever more efficient reporting solutions geared towards sales, inventory movement, vendor management, etc.
This article is written for anyone who wants to understand more about how and where to get useful, effective information to help you push improvements within various areas of your organization. I think this document will serve both the novice as well as the industry veteran. Both can contact me anytime if they want clarification on certain points or if they wish to correct me - I am not infallible (Far from it) - although many of the people consulted in writing this series could be considered to be the best there is. They, too, are what they are because they listen and continually learn in order to improve their own understanding.
This series of articles is broken into six basic sections to provide an overview into how everything is tied together and how to pull good intel from your existing operations or available data sources. Please feel free to send me a note. I always appreciate suggestions and feedback. By all means check out the other sections of Retail EDI. Some of the most experienced people in Retail are a part of this and while not all of the situations will be applicable to yours, perhaps, you will see something that helps you improve a particular process or way of thinking.
First section will be available prior to the launch date of May 21st. Please register and take advantage of the resources this e-journal provides.