Categories Project Overview-- What are the goals? How will we proceed?

Attached find a summary overview of the categories project as discussed at the 10-15-09 and the Summer Session 2009 meetings of the Committee.

If you are new to the process-- this document summarizes why sharing categories with this group is important, what we plan to achieve and the steps we are taking to produce a Category Guidance document and encourage manufacturers and publishers to use it when they provide data to dealers and service providers.

Ad Hoc Technology Committee
Category Project Update
Gordon O’Hara- Retail Up!

Review from previous meeting

Goal

To provide manufacturers and publishers with guidance on how to classify product data for use in dealer Point of Sale and Website systems.

To encourage manufacturers and publishers to add these categories as a standard data point when they provide data to all dealers and service providers.

Rationale

Dealers and service providers spend—collectively--thousands of hours annually reconciling the categorization of data between various manufactures and publishers.

This is because different manufacturers and publishers use greatly differing methods to identify the categories of products they produce.

A common naming approach will help greatly reduce the time it takes for dealers to manage data inputs to Point of Sale and Website systems.

Limits to system

The goal of this system is to provide the most obvious names of categories and assign products to those categories.

The litmus test is “would everyone in the industry agree generally that this product belongs to this category”. For example: a violin is a violin.

Any category system will always be subject to further detail. For example, sizes, colors, model series, sub-brands, product attributes, all would be assigned by the dealer or service provider.

The system will be updated annually to reflect new product innovations.

Approach

1. Assemble sample data schemes from various stores and providers.
FIRST 3 IN
2. Cross-reference that data to find common areas of agreement. COMPLETE FOR FIRST 3
3. Review submitted data to find areas where one group has data that another does not have or presents items differently from another group. Reconcile those differences and add to the master list. NEXT STEP
4. Circulate master list for comment to committee. Make edits.
5. Present at January meeting for final review by committee.
6. Issue to industry manufacturers, publishers and dealers for comment.
7. Receive comments and reconcile.
8. Release “Categories “Version 1.0” to industry as guidance document.
9. Promote to manufacturers and publishers as preferred method to classify and provide data.
10. Establish update schedule.

Summary

Good progress so far- we all agreed that there are indeed Bassoons!

Next immediate steps

1. Add Willis, Music 123 and other companies categorization to this chart.
2. Solicit input on print music. From
3. Reconcile remaining items on the three charts so far. November meeting.
4. Get master list prepared for review and release—by December 1.
5. Everyone reviews chart throughout December.
6. Winter NAMM meeting has session to reconcile comments/produce master list.
7. Released as First Draft Categorization Chart to dealers, manufacturers and publishers with comment window.
8. Re-group on comments received.
9. Release as guidance document.
10.Promote to manufacturers/publishers