Helpful Tips for the AGIIS User

AGIIS Update

Helpful Tips for the AGIIS User

By Chris Crutchfield, AgGateway Member Services

Built into the Ag Industry Identification System (AGIIS) are a set of business rules that help maintain the integrity of data that enters the database. These rules help prevent duplicates, ensure valid addresses and naming conventions and enforce entity survivorship rules. When a new entity is added or an existing entity is updated, AGIIS uses these business rules to determine if the submission requires a manual review, or a human set of eyes, if you will. If so, the submission is routed to AgGateway’s Member Services, where the Directory Administrator examines the submission and makes a final determination to accept or reject the entity.

Over the past few months, we analyzed the requests that required manual intervention. We identified three trends that we’d like to share with you and offer some tips that will both expedite processing time and reinforce AGIIS business rules when adding or updating an entity.

  • Comments – Adding comments to a directory request automatically routes the request to Member Services for review, adding additional processing time. Please consider if adding comments are necessary. Comments are strongly encouraged when your submission requires a name or address override or if there is additional information surrounding a Buyout or Out of Business transaction. It is most helpful when your comments include a company URL or other website that supports your submission.
  • “Replaced By” Transactions versus Duplicates Reporting – “Replaced by” transactions should not be used to report duplicate entities. Instead, we request you use the Duplicates Reporting feature in AGIIS. When duplicates are reported using the Duplicates Reporting feature, AGIIS compares each record and, based on the following survivorship prioritization rules, determines the surviving entity:
    1. Subscriber Owned GLN
    2. Record Enumerated with an EBID
    3. Record with a license (licenses are automatically carried over to the surviving record if not already present)
    4. Record in the most subscriber subsets
    5. Record with the oldest creation date
  • To obtain the Duplicates Reporting privilege, users must view the Duplicates Reporting tutorial and pass the Duplicates Reporting quiz. This tutorial and quiz can be accessed under the AGIIS Help menu here. “Replaced by” transactions should be used to replace an entity that has moved from one location to another and is no longer in operation at the old address.
  • Duplicates Warning – When adding a new entity or updating an existing entity, AGIIS identifies potential duplicates and presents them to you, highlighted in red. Please review this list thoroughly before submitting the transaction. Take into consideration nicknames, first initial plus last name, or different variations of names that may be a duplicate of the entity you are adding or updating. If you do submit the record with a potential duplicate warning, please include comments as to why the record being submitted is not a duplicate. This helps the Directory Administrator in making a final determination.

We hope you found these tips helpful. Following these suggestions will help expedite processing time and preserve the integrity of data in AGIIS by reinforcing the directory’s business rules. If you have any questions about adding or updating entities in AGIIS, email Member.Services@AgGateway.org. For more information about AGIIS business rules and procedures, review the AGIIS Operational Procedures Document and the AGIIS Policy Document located under the Links menu in AGIIS.