Industry technology provider DistributorCentral (UPIC: DC) has launched a solution for suppliers to host their inventory data in the standards specified at promostandards.org. Suppliers Alpi and Zorrel were the first to adopt the standard when it went live to the industry in March 2016.

PromoStandards’ inventory standards are a tool for suppliers to share inventory data electronically with distributors. Learn more about the data communication standards in PPB Newslink’s previous coverage of PromoStandards here.

DistributorCentral developed its solution for suppliers who may not have the technical expertise on staff to build the service. The solution allows suppliers to upload inventory data to DistributorCentral in a simple, text-based format or by using a pre-built app (downloadable from DistributorCentral) which can be installed locally on a computer at the supplier’s facility. From there, DistributorCentral is able to “re-broadcast” the inventory.

Distributors or service providers can access that supplier’s inventory data through DistributorCentral’s web service, just as they would when retrieving inventory data directly from a supplier that hosts its own inventory web service. Also, since DistributorCentral provides technology tools free to the industry, every distributor now has access to real-time inventory information. Inventory data is automatically shown on the 8,000 distributor ecommerce websites it hosts, as well as its internal product research and presentation tools. Any distributor with a DistributorCentral login and API key can retrieve inventory data from every DistributorCentral supplier using the same credentials, eliminating the need to hit multiple supplier web services and track multiple sets of credentials.

“DistributorCentral’s ability to quickly launch an inventory web service on behalf of a supplier can save a supplier an immense amount of time and money that would have otherwise been spent developing their own inventory web service,” says DistributorCentral IT Director Chris Schlemmer. “The initial investment in time and effort on DistributorCentral’s part was an investment that will continue to help service our clients and promote enhanced technology and integration solutions long into the future.”