2020-12-10 Crop Protection Unique Identification

 Meeting Information

 Date
2020-12-10
 Time

2:00 PM Central (Chicago, US)

 Web

 Phone


 Access Code

Purpose of meeting: 

During a recent Ag Retail Meet-up, a pinch point was identified regarding inconsistencies in unique identification of products in crop protection messages. The focus of this session will be gathering requirements for developing a central product reference table for crop protection products.  At the AgGateway Annual Meeting it was discussed having a central product reference table for crop protection products that was maintained by distributors.  Coming out of that meeting it was determined the group should have a call in December to further discuss the fields needed in the table.   At a pre-call  to prep for this call it was discussed that the current AgGateway message for Crop Protection Messaging could be modified and may meet the need.  We will spend our time on the call discussing if this is the direction the group would like to go.

Documents:

 Agenda/Minute


Topic (Leader)

Desired Outcome

Sub-topics, supporting documentation, additional resources

Meeting Minutes

1

Antitrust Guidelines

Reminder of Anti-Trust

AntiTrustGuidelines.pdf


2Minutes Taker A meeting taker has been selected.Josh Wall took minutes
3IntroductionProvide a group an update from our last call at Annual Conference and the discussion that took place on our pre-call preparing for this meeting.Josh provided an overview from the last two Meet-up's regarding the challenges for Crop Protection Unique Identification (10/20 and 11/18 minutes are found on the wiki). On the the 10/20 call the team reviewed the pinch point that had been brought forth by Ag Retailers and discussed the challenges.  It was also recognized that using a unique product identifier (GTIN) in all electronic messages would make a big step in resolving the issue. The group was in agreement this would be the best path forward but all recognized that we were several years from GTIN adoption industry wide.  A stepping stone solution was mentioned which was a central product cross reference table which would be supplied by distributors.  The 11/18 call focused on the central product cross reference table concept. A high-level discussion was held on what potential fields would be in the table, security of the table, file formats and ultimately who was committed to populating the table.  It was a good discussion but the group felt there needed to be more conversation regarding the fields and who was committed to participate. From the time between the 11/18 meeting and today a new solution has been identified which is modifying the Crop Protection Price Sheet message to meet the unique identifier needs of Ag Retailers.  This solution was identified by the retailers because they felt it maybe easier for distributor partner to comply with since in some cases the message is already being sent. So today we want to discuss the potential of the Price Sheet modification.    
4Open Discussion Determine if the group wants to pursue modifying the Crop Protection Pricing Message to assist with the Product Identification challenge or if they would prefer to research the Product Cross-Reference solution.   

The Ag Retailers on the call spoke to the benefits/reasons for pursuing the Price Sheet Message, which some of those reasons were; already receiving Price Sheet Message for seed, Distributors would not have to create a new cross reference table and it would not need to be maintained separately. It was brought up on the call by a distributor they were not using the price sheet today and this would be more work than creating a cross reference file.  There was good conversation around the topic but at the end of the day it all comes down to which AgGateway Members is willing to participate in one of the solutions.  An action item from the call for Ag Retailers was to get willingness/commitment from their trading partners to send the AgGateway Pricing Sheet Message. Once, commitment is gained an additional call will be set-up to determine what changes need to be made to the Pricing Sheet to assist in resolving Crop Protection product identification challenges.  Once, modifications are agreed upon they will need to be presented to Standard and Guidelines for approval.   A questions was asked where the current Crop Protection Price Sheet can be found? Josh stated it is on the AgGateway wiki under Crop Protection Industry Messages and Documentation https://aggateway.atlassian.net/wiki/x/jQBhBg.  Josh will provide a link in the notes.

  5Next StepsDetermine where we go from here, are additional calls needed? 

Ag Retailers will get willingness/commitment from their trading partners to send the AgGateway Pricing Sheet Message and will provide those names to Josh so an additional call (most likely in January) can be set-up for discussion.

6Adjournment AdjournThe call was adjourned at 2:46 pm Central (Chicago, USA)

Tasks/Action Items

WhoWhen AssignedWhatDeadline Status
Ag Retailers Get willingness/commitment from their trading partners to send the AgGateway Pricing Sheet Message and will provide those names to Josh so an additional call (most likely in January) can be set-up for discussion. In progress
Josh Wall Provide link to Crop Protection Pricing Sheet Completed - Link is located in the notes above
Member Services 

Send out a link to the minutes of  call to attendee distribution list.

 Completed