At the ASA Blue Ribbon E-commerce Summit in September, consultant Peggy Tracy discussed why Action Plan 2003 has not progressed as much as hoped in three years. She reported on the results of an informal survey involving about 24 manufacturers, wholesalers, software companies and technology experts to see where Action Plan 2003 is today.
For all but one of the manufacturers contacted, the number of wholesaler trading partners is a single digit or low double-digit number. Half the manufacturers are taking a reactive approach - "if you call, we will work with you"; half are proactive. All said they want more trading partners but admitted their resources would be strained if dozens of wholesalers called tomorrow because of the effort it takes to get wholesalers EDI-ready. Manufacturers said this process takes three hours if the wholesaler is EDI-ready but as much as 100 days if the company has no EDI experience. The typical range is from 10 to 20 hours to two to three elapsed weeks per trading partner.