When Wegmans Food Markets began synchronizing product data with its suppliers about six years ago, the Rochester, N.Y.-based chain expected “a seamless flow of information, and the elimination of errors and disruptions,” said Kristin Andersen, project manager for Wegmans, in a session at the U Connect conference in June. “We were really excited.”

Wegmans, Wakefern and several suppliers have demonstrated that collaboration is key to producing accurate data.

Data synchronization of product attributes between retailers and suppliers has been heralded as a way for trading partners to use the same product information in their respective organizations, thereby preventing the kind of invoicing errors and other snafus that often bog down communications and commerce. And that can be achieved — as long as the data being synchronized is accurate, i.e., reflects the true physical dimensions and weight of each product and its shipping container. Otherwise, the whole exercise is for naught.

Inaccurate product data has proved counterproductive to the efforts of Wegmans and other retailers pursuing data synchronization programs. “We found we were populating our database with really bad information,” said Andersen. “Our business users said we had bad data and weren't using it.”

Since then, Wegmans has spearheaded a pioneering campaign to clean up its data by, in effect, having its manufacturers clean up the data they were sending the chain. Wegmans thereby sparked industrywide interest among retailers and manufacturers in addressing the data accuracy issue.

Still, data quality remains an issue that many companies prefer to ignore. “It's the inconvenient truth that no one likes to talk about,” said Steve Vazzano, director of data quality for GS1 US, the standards organization based in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Though suppliers are thought to be responsible for the accuracy of their data, retailers like Wegmans and wholesalers like Wakefern Food Corp. often find themselves the final arbiter of whether data passes muster and can be safely used in their companies. That typically involves auditing the physical dimensions and weight of products and checking whether that data matches the information on hand. To help retailers and manufacturers with that onerous task, new third-party certification services are beginning to emerge (see story, this page).

In 2006, Wegmans found that only 30% of its products had accurate product data for attributes like size and weight. Three years later, following extensive collaboration with a wide array of trading partners, Wegmans has its accuracy average up to 79%. “This is about working with trading partners, developing strong and trusting collaborative relationships,” said Andersen. “And by working on data, we could begin working on other things important to our business.”

The value of accurate data goes beyond just data synchronization. Once the data resides in Wegmans' master database, it is then used by all of the retailer's operating departments, including transportation, warehousing, shelf planning, procurement and its website. “Data quality allows us to use the information to run our business,” said Andersen.

Some product data is so obviously off the mark — a 7-foot bottle of shampoo or a 53-pound bag of candy — that it's easy to spot and correct, noted Andersen. More dangerous are the small inaccuracies that insidiously accumulate. “An inch here, a pound there, it all adds up and has an impact.”