Responsible Ag Certification Notifications

On Friday, November 3, 2017, AGIIS was enhanced to enable subscribers in the fertilizer industry to receive ResponsibleAg Certification Notifications.

Interested AGIIS Subscriber's that would like to receive ResponsibleAg Certification Notifications should contact Member Services at Member.Services@aggateway.org or call 866.251.8618. The first step will be to go through the pre-enrollment process to ensure your Company is ebMS enabled and a participant in the ResponsibleAg program. The pre-enrollment period will begin Monday November 6th and will continue until November 13th. If you will be attending the AgGateway Annual Conference feel free to drop by the Member Services Live booth and we would be glad to help you get started.

Below is a high- level overview on how the new functionality works as well as key areas considerations for Subscribers receiving ResponsibleAg notifications.

The AGIIS system will receive a daily facility certification file from the ResponsibleAg database. This file will be loaded in the AGIIS system and will match to the corresponding entity record and Global Location Number (GLN). The facility file will also be added to the Responsible Ag AGIIS subset and in parallel will send out ebMS notifications to any Subscriber that has enrolled to be setup with the ResponsibleAg Notification feature. The ebMS notification has been modeled after the existing Trading Partner add to subset notification. The only addition to the notification is a new data element which is true and is identified in the AGIIS Schema. These notifications will be sent out as soon as a new entity is added to the ResponsibleAg subset. 

AgGateway Member Services staff will be responsible for reviewing any entity conflicts that are identified in the daily facility file sent by ResponsibleAg. Functionality has also been built into the AGIIS system to have Member services review any address and name changes that occurs on a certified ResponsibleAg entity. In the case that the name or address change is deemed to be a material change, Member Service will remove certification from the entity.

Only AGIIS Subscribers that are enrolled for the ResponsibleAg functionality will have visibility to the new ResponsibleAg data element on the AGIIS website, ebMS notification and entity extracts (GLN Subset and GLN Update).

Key Considerations

1. Contact Member Services to get enrolled Member.Services@aggateway.org or call 866.251.8618
2. Your company will need to be capable of receiving ebMS communications.
3. If your using the AGIIS Schema for validation you will want to get an updated version (only needed if your wanting to receive ResponsibleAg notifications)
4. Add entities to your AGIIS subset when you receive the "Entity Add to subset" notification. This will ensure you receive any updates associated to ResponsibleAg Certified facilities such as certification being removed from an entity.
5. Confirm your company is receiving and reviewing AGIIS GLN Update extracts.
6. An initial load of all ResponsibleAg certified facilities will occur on November 13th. There will be no ebMS notifications sent out for entities in the initial load. Subscribers will be able to request a download of all certified facilities if needed to initially populate their systems.

Improved Duplicate Detection Enhancement

On Saturday, September 23, 2017, AGIIS was enhanced to incorporate new, improved duplicate detection functionality through the web interface and web services.  This new functionality does a better job with name standardization resulting in fewer potential duplicate candidates, while also identifying more "tight" matches.

Subscriber Impact

Due to better name standardization, users should see a smaller list of potential duplicate candidates overall, and more entities identified as "tight" matches. Users will also notice that the potential duplicates candidates list is sorted differently, showing tight matches first (highlighted in red), followed by "fuzzy" matches, as in the example below. 

GLN Bulk Processing Matching Enhancement

On Saturday, May 13, 2017, AGIIS was enhanced to improve entity matching within the GLN Bulk process. Before, when AGIIS performed a search for an entity submitted through the bulk process, it only considered the Business names and not the “Doing Business As” (DBA) names when determining potential matches to the submitted record. With this enhancement, DBA names are also being considered. This enhancement will help to reduce the number of “fuzzy matches” subscribers receive in their return files and will ultimately cut down on the amount of research time often associated with them.

Also, included in this release was a fix to the Dispute Resolution Process. This is the process that automatically sends a request to the AGIIS Directory Administrator for review when the same demographics are updated by different subscribers within a 60-day timeframe. It was identified that in certain situations, the request was not being properly routed for review.

Entity Search Criteria Modification

On Saturday, March 18, a modification to the Entity Search criteria was implemented that allows you to supply a "State" without also populating the "City" when performing an Entity search. Users have asked for this capability as it provides more flexibility in finding the Global Location Number (GLN) for an entity, especially when the master data in their internal system is not completely accurate.

As shown in the example below, you may now perform an entity search by simply supplying the Entity Name and State.  You may also continue to use a "Wildcard" search in the Name field to return entities with a similar name residing in the State selected, however if the number of returns matching your search criteria exceeds 7,500 records, you will be asked to modify your search criteria.  For more information on using wildcard searches, click on Help>Help For This Page on the Entity Search screen.

Search Criteria

Search Results

GLN Reuse User Defined Exemption

Product Mass Deactivation Control

Two new AGIIS enhancements were put into production on Saturday, February 25, 2017. The first enhancement, GLN Reuse User Defined Exemption, further supports the Global Location Number (GLN) Reuse process by allowing subscribers to exclude an inactive GLN from entering the GLN reuse pool. The second enhancement, Product Mass Deactivation Control Modification, provides product manufacturers the ability to perform a mass deactivation of their products based on product category.

GLN Reuse User Defined Exemption

GLN’s are eligible for reuse, meaning they can be reassigned to a new entity, once the associated entity has been inactive for four years. Subscribers expressed the need to retain a GLN in their internal systems for historical purposes that may extend beyond this four-year period. To help prevent confusion both internally and with their trading partners, subscribers asked for the ability to exempt a GLN from being reused. With this enhancement, subscribers now have the ability to exempt a GLN from reuse using the web interface. The entity must be inactive and in the subscriber’s subset in order to add the exemption status. The exemption status expires annually, and will need to be re-exempted annually as necessary.

A new button, GLN Reuse Exemption, has been added to the Entity View page as shown below. This button becomes available if the entity is inactive and is in the subscriber’s subset. If neither of these is true, the button remains inactive (greyed out).

Clicking on the GLN Reuse Exemption button will present the user with the Entity GLN Reuse Exemption Update page. On this page, demographics are displayed, but the only update that can be made is to the GLN Reuse Exemption status. The user will mark the exemption checkbox and click submit.

After submitting the GLN Reuse Exemption update, the user is presented the Entity Confirm page. To confirm the addition of the GLN reuse exemption status, the user will click the Confirm button. Clicking the Back button presents the previous page, Entity GLN Reuse Exemption Update, where the exemption flag can be unchecked or re-submitted.

Lastly, both GLN Subset and Update Extracts file formats have been modified to include the GLN reuse exemption status.

PRODUCT MASS DEACTIVATION CONTROL MODIFICATION

Subscribers with products in AGIIS requested the ability to perform a mass deactivation of their products based on the Primary Product Category (Chemical, Feed, Fertilizer, Seed, or Other). Prior to this enhancement, a mass deactivation would inactivate all products, regardless of product category. Now, a manufacturer with products under multiple primary product categories, Chemical and Seed for example, may choose to inactivate only those products in the Seed category. The option to inactivate all products, regardless of product category, is still available.

To perform a mass product deactivation, a user must first have the “Product-Request Update” privilege on their user profile. A user with this privilege will have the “My Subscriber Profile” link underneath Administration menu in AGIIS as shown below.

After clicking on the “My Subscriber Profile” link, the Subscriber Profile page is presented with the Product Settings button enabled.

Clicking on the Product Settings button will present the Company Update page containing the Mass Deactivation Control. The user enters a date that their products were last verified or last modified, and any product last verified or modified older than the date entered, will be inactivated. In the example below, all Seed products last verified prior to 2/23/2017, will be inactivated. When a product is inactivated, the product’s package sizes and package configurations will also be inactivated.

Clicking on the Deactivate button will present a warning message letting the user know that they are about to inactivate either all products, or the products under the selected primary category they have selected.

Clicking the Deactivate button a second time will complete the mass deactivation of the selected products.

Two new AGIIS enhancements were implemented on February 4, 2017 that support the Global Location Number (GLN) reuse process. The GLN reuse process allows a GLN to be reassigned to a new entity once it has been inactive for four years. When a GLN becomes eligible for reuse, it is added to a table so that AGIIS may reassign it to a new entity. This table is referred to as the “GLN Reuse Pool”.

The first enhancement supports an annual GLN reuse process. The second enhancement modified the AGIIS web interface which allows users to see if a GLN is in the reuse pool (GLN is available for reassignment) and to see the GLN history prior to it being reassigned (GLN has been reassigned).

Annual GLN Reuse Process Enhancement

The first enhancement supports a new annual process that will allow users to download an Excel file containing GLN’s available for reuse. The file will be updated on an annual basis. A communication will be sent to all subscribers when the file is updated. Available GLNs will not be placed in the reuse pool for 45 days, post-communication. This time allows subscribers to cross reference the file against their internal systems.

The GLN Reuse History file contains the following information:

1. Global Location Number
2. Company Name or Individual Name
3. Physical Address 
4. Mailing Address

Within AGIIS, the GLN Reuse History file can be accessed by clicking on the Files Menu>Download Files link and then checking the GLN Reuse History radio button. Double clicking on the link to the file name will open the file.

A link to the GLN reuse file format (XLSX) can be found under the Links Menu>GLN Extract sub menu>GLN Reuse History File Format.

GLN Reuse History – Web Interface Enhancement

The second enhancement made updates to the web interface that allows users to see if the GLN is in the reuse pool, and if it has been reassigned, to see the demographic history of the GLN when it went inactive.

In the first scenario, a GLN has been inactive for four years, is in the GLN Reuse Pool, but has not been assigned to a new entity. The user performs a search using the GLN. A new screen, GLN Reuse History, will appear indicating that the GLN is in the Reuse Pool.

In the second scenario, a search is performed using a GLN that has already been reassigned to a new entity. The current demographics will appear on the Entity View page, and a new button, “GLN Reuse History”, becomes available. If the GLN does not have reuse history, this button will remain greyed out.

Clicking on the GLN Reuse History button will display the GLN Reuse History Page. This page shows the demographics that were present on the entity when it was inactivated.

If you have questions regarding either of these enhancements, or have suggestions for future enhancements, please contact Member Services at (866) 251-8618 or by email at Member.Services@AgGateway.org.

PCR 202 – GLN Import Spreadsheet Format Option (CSV)

January 2017

The latest enhancement to AGIIS was implemented over the weekend. This enhancement allows subscribers to build and submit up to 1,000 transactions using a spreadsheet, like Microsoft Excel, saved in Comma Separated Value (CSV) format. This file format was designed to provide an easier method for those subscribers with limited technical resources, the ability to build and submit bulk entity Updates, Adds, Adds to Subset, Deletes from Subset, Demographic Lookups, Identifier Lookups, and Entity Reactivations. This format, like the Fixed Length Text format, does not support the reporting of duplicate entities.

The new CSV file format can be found using the following link:

https://www.agiis.org/Links/BulkSubmissionCSVFileLayout.pdf

Submission Codes used in the new CSV format can be found using the following link:

https://www.agiis.org/Links/SubmissionCodes.htm

The new CSV return file format can found using the following link:

https://www.agiis.org/Links/BulkReturnCSVFileLayout.pdf

Subscribers may submit the CSV file directly from the AGIIS website, by clicking on the Files Menu, then the Upload Files link.

On the following page, click on the Browse button to locate the file, select the file from where it has been saved, then click on the Upload File button.

An email confirmation will be sent notifying the user that the file was received and whether or not it has passed initial edits.

Once the file has been processed, an email notification will be sent with instructions on how to access the return file. The return file can be retrieved directly from the AGIIS website by clicking on the Files Menu, then the Download Files link.

On the following screen, click the GLN Bulk radio button, then click on the link to the file under the File Name.

Return files can also be retrieved by accessing the GLN\Outbound folder of your login directory under NAPD.AGIIS.org.

If you have any questions about this enhancement, or if you have ideas for future AGIIS improvements, please contact Member Services at (866) 251-8618 or by email at Member.Services@AgGateway.org.

Release Notes

[PDF] 2018