CROSSMARK and the WWRE Team Together to Onboard Lea & Perrins to the GDSN.

PLANO, Texas -- CROSSMARK and the WorldWide Retail Exchange (WWRE) have partnered to enable CROSSMARK clients such as Lea & Perrins to eliminate inefficiencies in its supply chain. Lea & Perrins, the world-famous manufacturer of Worcestershire Sauce and other products, has now joined other consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers in publishing item data to their trading partners using the Global Data Synchronization Network (GDSN). Data is published to the desired partner in a standards-based format using the WWRE's leading certified data pool solution, WorldSYNC(TM) Data Exchange, as well as the GS1 Global Registry. E[acute accent]Today's Global Data Synchronization (GDS) practices far outpace the verbal and paper transactions traditionally known to slow processing, generate errors and increase costs. The CPG industry has long been a proponent of the sharing of base item data attributes in a more efficient and accurate manner. E[acute accent]"By using GDS, Lea & Perrins is able to communicate our item data to a single source and know that in near real time our trading partners are up to date," says Ralph Abrams, president of Lea & Perrins. "With the same data in every player's hands, our supply chain moves much more efficiently." E[acute accent]GDS provides one source to send and receive accurate item data for retailers, distributors or brokers. According to CROSSMARK's David Peet, eXchangeBridge general manager, "We are now able to have the same data in our order management and sales force automation tools that Lea & Perrins and their retailers have. Order processing activities handled by eXchangeBridge for Lea & Perrins are now a more streamlined activity with GDS-enabled retailers." E[acute accent]"The supply chain can be very complex which is why we're proud to be a WorldSYNC alliance partner with WWRE," states Joe Crafton, CROSSMARK president of strategic alliances. "eXchangeBridge's deep knowledge of the GDS framework and our alliance speeds our partners along the path to savings using GDS." E[acute accent]"We are proud to add Lea & Perrins to our growing list of retailer and supplier customers that leverage WWRE for their data synchronization needs," states Pete Plotas, WWRE vice president of strategic alliances. "Teaming with eXchangeBridge personnel to help Lea & Perrins successfully onboard to GDS was a testament to the alliance relationship, and we look forward to working with CROSSMARK to bring more suppliers to GDS via the WWRE Data Exchange solution." E[acute accent]In order to eliminate inefficiencies in the supply chain, CROSSMARK and WWRE are working closely to help companies like Lea & Perrins achieve this goal by instituting more of a collaborative effort within their business-to-business relationships.

E[acute accent]CROSSMARK

E[acute accent]CROSSMARK is a professional business services company with more than 17,000 associates worldwide. Headquartered in Plano, Texas, CROSSMARK has offices in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Currently celebrating its 100-year anniversary, CROSSMARK excels in four key areas -- headquarter selling, retail merchandising, store level marketing, and streamlining trade practices. CROSSMARK's mission is to deliver customized client solutions with unparalleled execution. For more information, visit www.crossmark.com.

E[acute accent]WorldWide Retail Exchange

E[acute accent]The WWRE(R) is the premier Internet-based business-to-business exchange for retailers and suppliers. Designed to facilitate and simplify trading practices between manufacturers, retailers and suppliers, the WWRE(R) currently consists of members from Asia, Europe, North America and South America with combined sales of approximately U.S. $900 billion. For more information, visit www.wwre.org or www.worldwideretailexchange.org.