Debbie IrwinScott Koegler of ec-bp.com talks with Debbie Irwin of Land-O-Lakes about her quest to find tools to manage data about the company's products.

 

 

 

 

 

Read the transcript of this interview below:

Scott Koegler:  Hi.  Tell me your name and your company and what you do here?

Debbie Irwin:  Sure.  My name is Debbie Irwin and I work for Land O’Lakes, and I work in the central data group.

Scott Koegler:  Okay.  You’re here, kind of on a mission, right?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes. 

Scott Koegler:  Tell me a little bit about what you’re looking for.

Debbie Irwin:  I’m looking to largely increase my understanding of coding and tracking and what other companies and customers are looking for with data; management of data.

Scott Koegler:  So data synchronization?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes. 

Scott Koegler:  Are they kind of getting the proper information from your internal systems out to  GDSN; is that right?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes, yes, yes.  Looking at all sorts of faucets of it ; but trying to figure out how are the people doing it because I know that we’re struggling.  There’s a lot of re-keyed data so what are other people doing and what’s working for them and what’s not.

Scott Koegler:  So you’re able to get the data where you want it right now but it has to do with manual processes and also with the diversity of customers wanting different versions of the data?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes, yes.  We’re trying to meet all the customer needs but sometimes it’s difficult  because one customer wants something a little bit different than another customer.

Scott Koegler:  So they may want the same data but in a different format or a different piece of it; is that right?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes, I think so.  You know, again, there’s so much that I’m learning but that is what we’re experiencing.  We’re trying to improve our accuracy and get data over there in standardized forms.  Everything that a lot of the other people are talking to –

Scott Koegler:  Right, so you’re finding a lot of the same conversation?

Debbie Irwin:  Right.

Scott Koegler:  Right.  Okay, well you have another day and a half?

Debbie Irwin:  Yes.

Scott Koegler:  Well good luck.  I hope you find what you need.

Debbie Irwin:  Thank you.