ECIA Announces Outcome of Automated Data Exchange Initiative


The ECIA has posted information about its Automated Data Exchange Initiative, including a new digital solution to help eliminate the inefficiencies of B2B communications among electronic component manufacturers, distributors and independent manufacturers reps through CRM systems.

“Information, and its associated accuracy, is critical to every company’s core business, profitability, future planning, and overall success,” explained Alan Ahern, Chairman of the ECIA Independent Manufacturer Rep Council and President of Crowley Associates. “In February of 2019, the Council initiated a process to address the inefficiencies of manually entering data multiple times due to disparate CRM systems used by Representatives, Manufacturers and Distributors. We now have the results of that initiative, explained in a white paper and a video on a dedicated ECIA webpage.”

“We are very pleased to bring an innovative process like this to the industry to improve efficiency,” said David Loftus, ECIA President and CEO.  “One of ECIA’s core values is ‘Optimize’ and we believe this tool will reduce overhead and allow sales teams to spend more time in front of customers than in front of their computers entering duplicate data.”

In late 2019, the ECIA Board agreed to fund the Council’s request for a pilot effort to establish a bidirectional communication protocol.  MetalHub was selected as a technology partner to work between several member Independent Manufacturer Rep companies and C&K, a component manufacturer, to define the protocol and implement the first system to map and transport data between disparate CRM’s.  The system has been successfully demonstrated between several CRM systems and is ready for broader adoption.

“Manufacturers expect their sales force to gather an increasing amount of customer information so that we can make intelligent decisions on how to run our business,” explained Gary Mountford, Vice President of C&K America. “When a Manufacturer Rep has 15 lines, with 10-15 unique CRM systems, it is unreasonable to expect timely and detailed updates in each of these systems on all of the opportunities and customers in their territory.  Being able to update just one system and exchange this data instantly into our SFDC system, enables our Reps to act in a more timely and detailed fashion, and ultimately spend more time in front of the customer.”

The Automated Data Exchange Initiative on www.ecianow.org includes:

  • Product & Process Video – view a video demonstration of the technology used to update NBO’s (New Business Opportunities) between Crowley Associates and C&K.
  • Explanatory Power Point – view the project power point which outlines the path to the end product.
  • White Paper – Automated Data Exchange Initiative – The white paper provides a guide to inform readers concisely about this complex issue. It is meant to help you understand the issue and the solution to the problem, which in return will enable you to make informed decisions.
  • Potential Pricing Model – review the proposed pricing from MetalHub.

Peter Heigis, CEO of MetalHub added, “We are happy to help the electronics and other industries achieve this long-sought goal to create seamless interoperability between different customer tracking databases.  We stand ready to assist with other companies that can reap the benefits of this time-saving technology.”


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