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).
