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2019 Annual Minutes

Minutes of the 2019 EASI Annual Meeting - Scottsdale, AZ

May 15, 2019

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Committee Meetings

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Technical Committee Meeting was held at 8:30 a.m.

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Steering Committee Meeting was held at 9:00 a.m. 

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Annual Financial Report

 

Following the Leadership Committee meetings, Rob Smith and Joelle Hotte reviewed the past year's monthly checking account statements and financial reports documented by the Treasurer, Leslie Utt, who assumed the Treasurer role upon Nick Freitag's resignation in February, 2019. Rob and Joelle examined the records presented and found no irregularities or discrepancies with the accuracy of the books and reporting. They all signed a document attesting to this fact.  

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General Session

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The Annual EASI Meeting commenced at 10:00 a.m. with a Welcoming statement from the Executive Chairperson, Diana Priebe.

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The Secretary/Treasurer, Leslie Utt, then reviewed the Anti-Trust Guidelines, requested attendees identify themselves, offered a special welcome to unexpected and new participants, and requested that each EASI contingent in attendance select a designated voting representative.

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Members/Guests in attendance at the meeting are noted as follows. The application of the single symbol "*" denotes a first-time attendee.  An italicized name denotes a voting member.

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Attendee - Company

Loriann Melendez - alphabroder

Keith Schneider - alphabroder

Marvin Yoshizumi - American T-Shirt Co.

Andrew Beattie - Bella Canvas

Jon Clarke - Bella Canvas

Beth Villa - Big Accessories

Tom Pepper - Century Place

Mike Tierney - Charles River Apparel *

Jieson Ortega - Charles River Apparel *

Mike Cutsey - FDM4

Joelle Hotte - FDM4

Bryan Moore - FDM4

Derek Clark - Fruit of the Loom

Jason Gragg - Fruit of the Loom

Heather Jenkins - Fruit of the Loom

Diana Priebe - Gildan

Jim Henricks - Hanesbrands

Michael Sutton - Hanesbrands

Leslie Utt - Hanesbrands

Rob Smith - L.A.T. Sportswear

Wade Williams - Order My Gear * 

Jim Beale - S&S Activewear

Thomas Hasty - Staton Corporate & Casual

Saul Hernandez - Staton Corporate & Casual

Betsy Burton - TSF Sportswear

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Leslie Utt communicated that the Steering Committee had discussed limited member attendance at the 2019 Annual EASI Conference; and the Committee had decided that subsequent ballots would be published to all Member companies/representatives within 30 days to enable them to actively participate in any votes that were brought to the floor during the meeting.

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Following the designation of Voting Representatives, Leslie Utt presented the 2018 Financial Summary, and requested a vote. There was unanimous acceptance of the 2018 EASI Financial Summary.

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Elections

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Elections were held for the fulfillment of interim roles of the Co-Chairperson and the Secretary/Treasurer, as well as At-Large Committee Members to partake in Steering Committee meetings.

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Marvin Yoshizumi was nominated and elected Co-Chair for 2019. He will assume the role of Chairperson after the 2020 Annual EASI Meeting.

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Leslie Utt was nominated and elected Secretary/Treasurer for 2019. Since she has plans to retire before the official full 2-year term is complete, a recommendation was presented that her peer, Michael Sutton, become familiar with the roles and responsibilities of the Secretary/Treasurer to assist in the transition when needed.

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Both Michael Sutton and Heather Jenkins were nominated and elected as At-Large Members.

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Volunteers were solicited for the Technical Committee to provide knowledge, support and feedback for ongoing and new EASI Standards enhancements.

Technical Committee Presentation

Lead by Joelle Hotte, Technical Advisor

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In deference to the concerns of the Steering Committee, and evidence that the fiscal viability of the Embellished Apparel Standards Initiative organization are facing dire constraints, Joelle Hotte proposed that the EASI Members consider an option of implementing a service fee for Non-Member Users. She posed a question:  Should we [EASI] consider charging an annual user fee for EASI utilization versus Membership?

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After brief, non-committal group discussion, the Technical Committee Presentation resumed.

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YEAR IN REVIEW - Results of 2018 Meeting

Joelle Hotte

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  • Site Usage Report discussed/reviewed

  • 889 (Special Event Promotional Pricing - Count)/890 (Special Event Promotional Pricing - Recount) Retired

  • 856 (Advance Shipping Notice) 6.0 Deprecated 4/5/2019; Version 7.0 added May, 2019

  • Website Member List updated

  • Steering Committee to review EASI Membership List to be vetted for membership changes

  • SFTP Communication Recommendation proposed by Technical Committee added to Documents & Guidelines page on EASIstandards.com website.

  • 50% of select member customers cannot use it. Proposal from Diana to "nudge" customers to become compliant by EOY 2020

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Joelle Hotte proposed adding SFTP Communication Updates to Compliance Matrix

VOTE REQUIRED - All voting members agreed to recommended proposals

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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  • Support Page Updated on Website

  • EASI Website updates were implemented in 2019 regarding Documentation & Guidelines -- some new items were listed

  • Reference Documents were cleaned up on the EASIstandards.com website

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Keith Schneider

Packing Slip (EASI Standards 940)

  • Recommendation that all shipments be specific to 940 Drop Ships (Standardization)

  • Result: Consistency of Drop Ship Packing Slip

  • I.D. What(contents)/From(vendor)/Customer PO#

            Ship From

            Ship To

            Contact Name

            Customer PO Number

            Unit of Measure/Carton Count/Quantity

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Joelle Hotte

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  • Compliance Matrix overview discussion

  • Solicit non-Members for utilization of EASI guidelines, not tied to membership, but list on website in compliance matrix

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MOTION TO SETUP DONATION PAGE ON WEBSITE NOT TIED TO MEMBERSHIP

Proposed by: Rob Smith, Seconded by:Jim Beale

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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  • Annual option to Donate; try for 1 year, then consider annual fee

  • Message: EASI is necessary

  • Charles Ortega recommended tiered levels for use

  • Diana Priebe concerned about Large vs Small company $$ impact

  • Jim Beale proposed based upon Trading Partners or document usage levels

  • Marvin Yoshizumi asked how payment could be enforced

  • Tom Pepper proposed submit as invoice with "voluntary" verbiage

  • Jim Beale asked we determine how much revenue required

  • Can list of Member Accounts be provided as contact list?

  • Proposed $500 service support fee; ID "Star Members" who complied

  • Create 1 Mailing to Vendors/Members, to be distributed to  their Users/Customers

  • Customers may receive multiple solicitations based upon vendors requesting compliance

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MOTION TO CREATE AN “Annual Membership Due Publication” THAT MEMBERS CAN SHARE WITH THEIR PARTNERS

Proposed by: Jon Clarke, Seconded by: Diana Priebe

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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Joelle Hotte

  • 2018 Minutes Posted on EASIstandards.com website

  • 870 (Order Status) Sample File Posted on Website for visual (submitted by James Steward - PVH)

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Jon Clarke

Address Validation

  • Who is responsible for validating address if shipment returned for incorrect address/non-deliverable re-direct?

  • Is the person receiving the address accountable?

  • Should there be a Firewall at order entry?

  • Mill/Distributor accountable - Customer must provide a deliverable address

  • Defers additional cost and negative customer relationship

  • Recommend order validation resource against USPS or Carrier delivery files, or Experian

  • How to get around legitimate addresses that fail?

  • Flagged as invalid, but valid -- can be overridden

  • Google not verifiable

  • Diana Priebe requested examples be provided for reference, and Paul requested "Gold Standard" resource

  • Applies to 850 (Purchase Order) and 940 (Direct Ship PO)

  • PURCHASER RESPONSIBLE for providing accurate delivery address

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Joelle Hotte

940 V4.1 Direct Ship PO

  • Renamed Store ID field to Distribution Center ID in order to reflect current usage.

MOTION TO ADOPT V4.1 OF THE 940 DROP SHIP DOCUMENT TO REPLACE NAME/DESCRIPTION OF STORE ID FIELD WITH DISTRIBUTION CENTER ID

Proposed by: Jim Beale, Seconded by: Thomas Hasty

Votes: 13 Yea, 0 Nay

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Keith Schneider

832 v.9.0 Product Descriptor Database

  • New Header Field: URL for SPSIA/GCC Declaration

  • New Detail Fields: Product Spec URL & Expected Available to Sell Date  

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MOTION TO ADOPT V9.0 OF THE 832 PRODUCT DESCRIPTOR DATABASE DOCUMENT TO ADD CPSIA/GCC URL, PRODUCT SPEC FILE URL AND EXPECTED AVAILABLE TO SET DATE

Proposed by: Rob Smith, Seconded by: Jim Beale

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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Jon Clarke

867 v1.0 Monthly Sales Analytics

  • Monthly Sales Analytics Standard Proposal

  • Consists of a Summary of 852 POS (Point of Sale File)

  • Provided on 1st Calendar Day of Previous MONTH

  • Total Sold Qty and Total Return Qty

  • Store ID by GTIN by Ship-to State

  • Replace non-standard custom reports

  • Store ID / Freight Optimization concern expressed by Jim Beale

  • Jon Clarke reiterated that this is a REPORT FORMAT ONLY

  • Header matches 852

    • Begin & End Date

    • Number Calendar Days on which you reported Sales

  • Rob Smith requested info on Store ID can be filled by 0000

  • Diana Priebe concerned about sharing data in entirety

  • Jon Clarke proposed 12 months of reports be published and discuss further in 2020 Meeting

  • DETAIL provides specifics by GTIN

  • State Codes compliant with USPS States

  • Jim Beale asked if it contains Country Code

  • TRAILER record summarizes data in detail

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MOTION TO ADOPT NEW STANDARD 867 V1.0 MONTHLY SALES ANALYTICS

Proposed by: Thomas Hasty, Seconded by: Derek Clark

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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Jon Clarke

846 v4.0 Inventory Status

  • Add 3 Custom Inventory Fields

  • Inventory Qty may not be indicative of AVAILABLE Inventory

  • Fields are not defined - all optional

  • Fulfills needs of Business (i.e. ATP vs Total, or Contracted/Reserved for Customer vs Total)

  • 3 optional fields to be defined by the Business

  • Mike Cutsey asked if price is included in the file

  • Joelle Hotte verified that 1 custom optional pricing field currently exist

  • Jim Beale asked if any users; Mike/Joelle Hotte advised some of their customer are currently using custom inventory data

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MOTION TO ADOPT 846 V4.0 STANDARD AS STATED WITH 2 ADDITIONAL CUSTOM PRICE FIELDS TO ALIGN WITH 3 NEW INVENTORY FIELDS

Proposed by: Rob Smith, Seconded by: Keith Schneider

Votes: 14 Yea, 0 Nay

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LUNCH BREAK at 11:55 a.m.  - Mike Cutsey mentioned API discussions required when reconvene for afternoon session

NEW BUSINESS

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Jon Clarke

Duplicate GTINs

  • Only 850 940 and 810 allow GTIN Duplications

  • 180/181 require single GTIN

Tech Committee will propose updates to verbiage for standards to be impacted at 2020 Meeting

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Keith Schneider

Standardized Price List

  • Option - Create new EASI document

  • Option - like Packing List, create std format

  • Option - Change 832 PDD item price to be required field

  • Betsy Burton recommending not in PDD due to incomplete info for new items often experienced

  • Joelle Hotte questioned if 846 (Inventory Status) might be updated

  • Jon Clarke reference 832 (Product Descriptor Database) as preferred tool, but price list has more limited format

  • Joelle Hotte proposed perhaps the new standard should be a Best Practice

  • Jon Clarke mentioned Item Product Cross-Reference  as an optional field

  • Jim Beale stated GTIN and Price in Excel Format with Lookup option is viable

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Joelle Hotte

Potential 2019/2020 Upcoming Tech Committee Tasks

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888 Item Maintenance

  • Proposed mass publication with all new information

  • Jon Clarke suggested this might be the correct place for Price data

  • Joelle Hotte suggested more data fields be added and fill be optional

 

Sample Files

  • Updated samples of new versions to be produced

  • Diana volunteered to take these on

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API

  • Bryan Moore re: promo standards - use base systems and tweak for Phase 1

  • Joelle Hotte asked if GTIN based or allow other?

  • Jon Clarke proposed adding fields for Customer discretion either by SKU or GTIN

  • Look at 846 (Inventory Status) as basis of info

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Webinar for Website Walkthrough

  • Rob stated that this is a good educational tool for new users

 

Webinar or Q&A Open Call

  • Jon Clarke proposed that we send out an announcement of webinar, and send mailchimp sign-up link to everyone in attendance

  • Jon Clarke volunteered to host the first one, and attendees select next session to be broadcast

 

Trading Partner portal Standard Document TPP 1.0

  • Per Jon Clarke - Convert to an API-base service to register and authorized; define minimum information required to be EASI compliant

 

Bryan Moore, Jon Clarke and Andrew Beattie voluntered to assist with API technical discovery and recommendations

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997 (Functional Acknowledgement) Best Practice

  • Acknowledgement - what is expectation?

  • Recommendations, monitor, timing of updates, etc.

  • Joelle Hotte is going to focus on this item

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QUESTIONS / New Tech Business

Betsy Burton and Jon Clarke discussed 180 (Return Authorization Request) vs 181 (Return Authorization Response)

  • 181 (Return Authorization Response) viable option for OTHER Credits due, like C/RC?

  • 810 (Invoice) Credit document might be a more usable basis

  • Very manual process, not easy to automate in a standardized format due to variety of Credit options

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FEEDBACK

  • Diana Priebe issued a proposal for earlier time start for 2020 meeting

  • API - test with 1 Vendor and then provide feedback - advantages / opportunities to improve

  • Proposals for rollout to all users -- Sell It!

  • Jim Beale proposed BellaCanvas as the tester; Jon Clarke was agreeable

  • Good concise process and efficient

  • Heather Jenkins proposed that we have EASI Cheatsheet as handout at each meeting

  • Need more Vendor participation - use Voluntary Donation as an impetus for Annual Meeting Attendance

  • Loriann Melendez requested that an e-mail be published to attendees with all contacts to open opportunity for one-on-one communications

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Proposed 2020 Meeting Sites:

                Boston, MA

                Key West, FL

                Savannah, GA

                Orlando, FL

                Charleston, SC

                Austin, TX

                Charlotte, NC

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2020 Meeting Timeframe:

                March/April - Attempt to avoid conflict with Good Friday/Easter Weekend or Tax Day

                Tues/Wed/Thursday - Reversion to former meeting weekdays for travel accommodation

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Plan survey of proposed Sites/Timeframe proposals - Include in Ballot/Vote form

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