The idea behind an industry data warehouse
is that a "place" (this place might be virtual) could be
created where all of the product information for all of the products
in the aftermarket could be stored in standardized format. This way,
each product manufacturer would only have to create one version of
thier product information rather than one version for Autozone, another
version for O'Reilly and a third version for Napa.
The manufacturers would be the "owners"
of that data and be in control of how much of this data could be viewed
by whom. The IDW would not have any other function and would not compete
with the companies who now normalize data or cataloging companies
or those companies who translate the data for specific recipients.
By calling this storage "place"
virtual, we mean that the data does not actually have to be stored
in a single set of servers somewhere. Some of the mfr data may live
with the mfr and the IDW would only point at the data location. Other
smaller companies may want to actually store their product data on
the central data servers. The advantage of this system would be the
ease with which those who need the data could access it. The IDW would
also tie in to UCCNET so that the big box stores could access all
of the product data (to which they have permission) from a single
"location". As the industry is currently losing billions
of dollars through data inaccuracies and through time lag in getting
that data to market, this may be an important step to remedy that
situation.
Here's a video describing the electrical industry's Industry Data
Warehouse (IDEA).
