Ingram’s Preparations

Ingram associates have been at the forefront of many of the industry initiatives that have resulted in the guidelines for the ISBN-13 transition period disseminated by the Book Industry Study Group. This participation has given Ingram an insider’s awareness and alertness to the various issues surrounding the conversion to ISBN-13.

Because Ingram distributes music and other products besides books that are frequently identified by UPC bar codes and other identifiers rather than ISBNs, we began preparing the company for the ISBN-13 transition in 2004. At that time, Ingram added columns to its major databases that now contain the EAN (which is numerically equivalent to the ISBN-13).

In 2005, two major steering committees were formed to determine and guide the change processes that are necessary to communicate effectively with an ISBN-13. The first committee—composed of leaders of over 20 business functions—has identified all the programs and reports that use the ISBN to drive a process, serve as an access point, or simply display on a screen or paper document. The second committee—composed of information technology leaders—has been identifying those systems that will require change, the nature of those changes, and the resources required to make those changes. As a final step, the second committee is planning and estimating when the changes will be completed and ready for implementation in processes used by our customers and suppliers.

With over 40 major systems impacted by the change in identifier length, Ingram is focusing on those processes that most impact our customers and suppliers.

Philosophically, Ingram’s plans are being developed based on a few basic tenets:

a. Ingram supports the guidelines put forth by the Book Industry Study Group—to use dual numbering wherever possible and to begin using dual numbering as early as possible.

b. Ingram will develop systems that communicate to our trading partners with both ISBN-10 and ISBN-13 in the document. Where that practice does not make sense, we will communicate with the style of identifier sent to us by our trading partner. For example, if a customer sends us an ISBN-10 in an order, we will respond with an ISBN- 10 in the purchase order acknowledgement (POA) and invoice. A customer who sends an order using an ISBN-13 will similarly receive POAs and invoices populated with ISBN-13.

c. If our trading partners continue to use 10-digit identifiers in their orders and other documents after the first quarter of 2007, we will convert those identifiers into an EAN/ISBN-13 that begins with 978. However, if it is intended that the identifier represent an EAN/ISBN-13 beginning with 979, we would anticipate a service error on the transaction. We urge our trading partners to be prepared to handle 13-digit identifiers before the first ISBN with a 979 prefix appears in the marketplace.

d. With the above practice as a basic tenet, Ingram does not anticipate developing policies that refuse transactions using the 10-digit identifier. That day may come, but we expect it to be several years in the future.

e. For paper documents and book labels, Ingram will, as a general rule, present the ISBN-13 as a string of numbers without hyphens or spaces separating the segments. This rule mimics electronic presentations and recognizes that real estate on most paper documents and labels is limited.

f. Ingram will develop the ability to electronically communicate GTIN-14 identifiers but will reject records that begin with characters other than zero. In accordance with industry standards and Ingram policy, trading partners will need to contact Ingram six months in advance of using the beginning position of the GTIN-14 with values other than zero. Ingram's internal systems use advanced technology approaches to handling products bar-coded at the single-item product level and products contained in cartons or pallets, without requiring 14-digit identifiers. Therefore, we will be prepared to communicate with 14 digits but do not anticipate a wholesale conversion of our databases to a primary identifier containing 14 digits.

g. Some publishers are erroneously publishing books with 13-digit ISBNs that begin with a 979 prefix. The incorrect number occurs either in the eye legible ISBN, the barcode itself, or both. Although the alleged ISBN may or may not pass check digit validation routines, such ISBNs are not legal at this time. Currently, publishers must use a 978 prefix when converting their 10-digit ISBNs to 13-digit ISBNs. To do otherwise will link the book to the wrong bibliographic record in databases. Ingram will reject and resticker books that contain 13-digit ISBNs that begin with 979 until such time as we receive official notice that ISBNs beginning with 979 have been issued by the ISBN Agency. Publishers will be charged with stickering costs.

Key Functions			Implementation Dates
ipage®
		Display of ISBN-13 on Title Detail page	Active
		Ability to search by ISBN-13	Active
		Display of ISBN-13 on all screens	Active
Customer Orders
	Automated Phone Ordering
		Ability to take customer orders by phone with ISBN-13	Active
	Ingram Proprietary Electronic Ordering System (i.e. Flashback Order Receiving System) Click here for a list of systems that use Ingram’s Flashback Order Receiving System.
		Ability to take electronic orders with ISBN-13	Active
		Ability to supply ISBN-13 in electronic confirmations and electronic packing slips (EPS)	Active
	Standard Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) Ordering (e.g. X-12 format) Click here for a list of systems that use Standard EDI Ordering
		Ability to take electronic orders with ISBN-13	Active*
		Ability to supply ISBN-13 in electronic purchase order acknowledgements (POAs), advanced shipping notifications (ASNs), and electronic invoices	Active*
		Ability to communicate with PubNet with ISBN-13	Active
	*All new EDI systems need to be tested on a per publisher basis. Please contact our Publisher EDI team, or your Buyer to arrange for such testing. If you do not see your ordering system listed above or are having difficulty determining which ordering method you currently use, please contact Ingram at integrate@ingrambook.com.
Publisher Orders and Other Transactions
		Ability to generate purchase orders with ISBN-13	Available 1st Quarter 2007*
MARC Records
		Addition of the ISBN-13 to the 020$a tag	Active
		Addition of the ISBN-13 to the 020$a tag in T level records	Available 2nd Quarter 2007
Information Files
		Inclusion of ISBN-13 in content@ingram	Active
		Conversion of images@ and annotation/description files to ISBN-13 keys	Active
		Inclusion of ISBN-13 in SAIL Available	Active
		Inclusion of ISBN-13 in Profiche	Active
Warehouse Operations
		Ability to process a receipt using ISBN-13	Active
		Ability to process a return using ISBN-13	Active
Miscellaneous
		Ability to communicate GTIN-14 character identifiers	Active now for Flashback format. Development in progress for EDI transmissions.

If you have questions about the timing and availability of ISBN-13 in other functions and processes, you may contact your representative at Ingram or Wendell Lotz, Ingram’s ISBN-13 coordinator, at wendell.lotz@ingrambook.com.