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Food Connections

• The Grocery Manufacturers of America (GMA) is an organization representing companies that make and market food and consumer packaged foods. GMA member company sales, totaling $400 billion, represent the largest volume (90%) of all food and consumer packaged goods sold in the U.S. Try searching their site for publications on Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), Activity Based Costing (ABC) programs, ECR marketing strategies, pull versus push methodology, and many other topics that are important to brokers.
• The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) is a nonprofit association conducting programs in research, education, industry relations and public affairs on behalf of its 1,500 members. FMI's domestic member companies operate approximately 21,000 retail food stores with a combined annual sales volume of $220 billion - more than half of all grocery store sales in the United States.
• Supermarket Business   is one of the two top contenders for important news in the retail grocery industry.
• Supermarket News is an important trade journal not to be missed if you're in the retail/wholesale food industry.

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Electronic Commerce (EC) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

These sites cover just about everything anyone ever wanted to know about EC and EDI. We have tried to separate the sites into three general areas: sites that are of interest for those who are just considering electronic commerce; sites that would appeal to technically minded information managers; and sites that provide a spectrum of EDI consultants and Value Added Networks.

• NIST, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is not only a good site for unbiased EDI assessment information, one can find volumes of information on any type of technology. Try entering "EDI Applications" in the search engine to get a feel for what's available.
• Sterling Commerce is a Value Added Network service that has been in the EC industry for 20 years.

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Utilitarian Sites

The following links have been included to keep you abreast of current information technology developments. These are some of our favorite links. We love our work because there is always something new to explore in information technology.

• In addition to Microsoft's main site, where you can get links for downloading demonstration copies of their latest software, there are a couple of spots on this site that are important to know about. One area that we visit often is the Microsoft Support Center.   Using the search tool, select the product that you need help with and enter a phrase about your question. We frequently find answers to our Office 97 related questions there.
• Thinking of setting up your own Web server or just trying to find the best deal in your area for an Internet service provider? The directory Listings Index has a relatively complete listing of all the providers by area code. This not-for-profit organization provides links to ISP sites and provides their phone numbers.
• For financial information about a publicly traded company, what better way than to find out than directly from the SEC? The SEC EDGAR forms search database allows you to search for any required form within 24 hours of when it was filed which makes this a great resource for credit approval.
• If you want to get an estimate of what a superior computer system will cost, check out Dell, our primary supplier.   On their site, you can configure your ideal system and then have it calculate the price.
• When we want the latest technology news or reviews of hardware and software, we go to CNET.
• Use InterNic's Whois feature if you're thinking of setting up your own web site and you want to check to see if someone already has a particular domain name.
• Melissa Data - Free on-line lookups "...more up-to-date address and ZIP Code related information than anywhere else on the web."  Interesting income demographics.