Safeway's Eye On SupplySafeway's Eye On Supply

Supermarket chain Safeway Inc. is working on a project to synchronize data descriptions with its suppliers, hoping that more-accurate product information will lower supply-chain costs.

The project will use UCCnet and the WorldWide Retail Exchange, according to the exchange. UCCnet, a nonprofit division of the Uniform Code Council standards organization, is developing an online registry of product information that retailers and suppliers provide using common standards. Retailers and consumer-goods companies hope they can greatly reduce inaccurate and inconsistent product descriptions, which add billions of dollars across the supply chain each year. Safeway's project will be complete by year's end.

Safeway will use the exchange as a data pool, letting manufacturers publish their product catalogs directly to the WorldWide Retail Exchange. The exchange also will provide Safeway and its suppliers with access to the UCCnet global registry.