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The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number
The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S (Data Universal Numbering System) Number is a unique nine-digit identification sequence, which provides unique identifiers of single business entities, while linking corporate family structures together.

 The D-U-N-S Number is the first step towards:

 

Value of D-U-N-S Number 
By embedding D&B D-U-N-S Number at the core of your global marketing, credit and purchasing transactions, you can take data you already have and turn it into powerful business information. By combining your company's internal data with D&B's database and other marketplace information, you can create a value-added information source within your own organization.

Within Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Enterprise Risk Management (ERM), Customer Resource Management (CRM), and Customer Information Management (CIM) solutions, the D&B D-U-N-S Number can help ensure more accurate data rationalization. This means that you can have confidence in the quality of information you use to manage your business.

In database marketing applications, the D&B D-U-N-S Number allows customers to quantify how much business they are already doing within a market sector or corporate family structure, to enable more effective planning of new sales and marketing activities.

In credit applications and decision-support software systems, the D&B D-U-N-S Number can link customer files to respective parent companies to see total credit exposure. This insight into customers' corporate family structures means that credit limits can be managed intelligently and collection efforts prioritized.

In purchasing applications, the D&B D-U-N-S Number enables a better understanding of your supplier base by helping identify duplicate records and providing linkage information on supplier family structures. This understanding allows you to leverage your purchasing power, cut purchasing process costs and reduce the number of redundant suppliers worldwide.

The D&B D-U-N-S Number can help ensure that receivables management are carefully managed and properly targeted, by pinpointing customer locations and identifying important corporate relationships.

With the growing use of Electronic Commerce as a form of transaction within the global economy, the D&B D-U-N-S Number has assumed a fresh importance as a unique means of identifying businesses during the online transaction and registration process. By leveraging the D&B global database and the D&B D-U-N-S Number, companies can authenticate, validate and establish business credentials, which will facilitate smart transactions and decisions at the speed of e-business.

For companies with a serious e-commerce strategy, the use of the D&B D-U-N-S Number as a means of identifying suppliers, trading partners and customers will be of fundamental importance as global standards are established in this area. Companies wishing to be recognized as a credible supplier of online services can use their D&B D-U-N-S Number as a means of identification allowing potential customers to verify their business credentials before starting a trading relationship.

Components of Dun & Bradstreet Linkage
Linkage, in general terms, is the relationship between different companies or specific sites within a corporate family.

Linkage occurs in D&B WorldBase when one business location has financial & legal responsibility for another business location. There are two types of linkage relationships in D&B WorldBase:

There are other types of family relationships that occur which are not linked in the D&B file because the affiliated company has no legal obligation for the debts of the other company. Examples of these types of relationships include businesses affiliated through common officers or situations where one corporation owns a part or minority interest in another (50% or less).

There are eight (8) types of business relationships defined in D&B WorldBase:

1.      Single Location Subsidiary

A single location subsidiary has reporting responsibilities to its parent; however, it does not have branches or subsidiaries reporting to it. Do not confuse this with a stand-alone business which is titled "single location" and is not part of a corporate family.

  1. Headquarters

A headquarters is a business establishment that has branches or divisions reporting to it, and is financially responsible for those branches or divisions. If the headquarters is more that 50% owned by another corporation, it also will be a subsidiary. If it owns more that 50% of another corporation, then it is also a parent.

  1. Branch

A branch is a secondary location of its headquarters. It has no legal responsibility for its debts, even though bills may be paid from the branch location. It will have the same legal business name as its headquarters, although branches frequently operate under a different trade style than the headquarters establishment. A branch may be located at the same address as the headquarters if it has a unique trade style. In such cases, the branch may appear to be a duplicate with a different D-U-N-S number than the headquarters record, which may confuse customers if they don't purchase the trade style field.

  1. Division

A division, like a branch, is a secondary location of a business. However, a division carries out specific business operations related to the headquarters under a divisional name. Divisions look similar to branches in D&B WorldBase and carry a branch code.

  1. Subsidiary

A subsidiary is a corporation that is more than 50% owned by another corporation and will have a different legal business name from its parent company. A subsidiary may have branches and/or subsidiaries of its own. If it does, then its D-U-N-S Number appears in the headquarter/parent D-U-N-S Number field of its children.

  1. Parent

A parent is a corporation that owns more than 50 percent of another corporation. The parent company also may be a subsidiary of another corporation. If the parent also has branches, then it is also a headquarters.

  1. Domestic Ultimate

The Domestic Ultimate is a subsidiary within the global family tree which is the highest ranking member within a specific country.

  1. Global Ultimate

The Global Ultimate is the top most responsible entity within the global family tree. The Global Ultimate may have branches and/or subsidiaries reporting directly or indirectly to it.

Defining Corporate Responsibility
For the purposes of linking these relationships to define corporate responsibility, each family member carries up to four D-U-N-S Numbers.

For example, the branch carries its own D-U-N-S Number, that of its headquarters, that of its global ultimate, and that of its domestic ultimate. A subsidiary carries its own D-U-N-S Number, that of its parent, that of its domestic ultimate, and that of its global ultimate.

The global ultimate record carries the same D-U-N-S Number in the case D-U-N-S field, the headquarters/parent D-U-N-S field, the global ultimate D-U-N-S field, and the domestic ultimate D-U-N-S Number. This business is at the very top of the global tree.

The domestic ultimate is the highest member of the tree in a specific country. The case D-U-N-S Number, parent D-U-N-S Number, and domestic ultimate D-U-N-S Number will all be the same on the global ultimate record.

Hierarchy Coding
Each record carries a set of linkage elements which help to identify the type of record it is, as well as its relationship to other records in the family tree. They are the Status Code, Subsidiary Code, Hierarchy Code, Dias Code and Global Ultimate D-U-N-S Number. To help in your understanding, please refer to the sample family tree on the next page. This example illustrates how linkage elements will look in your database, as well as in a graphical tree format.

The status code is a one digit field which identifies a record as:

Single Location = 0

Headquarters = 1

Branch = 2

The subsidiary code is a one-digit field which identifies the record as:

Subsidiary = 3

Non-Subsidiary = 0

The hierarchy code is a two-digit field which determines the record's relative position in a family tree by indicating its relationship to other records. Valid codes are 01 through 09. The hierarchy code functions in the following way:

Global Ultimates have a hierarchy codes of "01".

Subsidiaries have a hierarchy code of one greater than their parents'.

Branches have a hierarchy code equal to their headquarters'.

The dias code is a nine-digit field which sorts a corporate family tree into family sequence. The dias code changes each time the linkage file is updated. In general terms, all branches will be listed directly below their headquarters while subsidiaries will be listed directly under their parents. In a situation where a parent/headquarters has both branches and subsidiaries reporting to it, the branches will be listed first, followed by the subsidiaries. Branches are sorted alphabetically by country, while subsidiaries are sorted alphabetically by company name. Every month when a new WorldBase file is created, the dias code is recalculated to reflect updates made to the trees during the month.

In general terms, a Global Ultimate Company can be identified when the Case ID D-U-N-S Number is the same as the Global Ultimate D-U-N-S Number and the hierarchy code equals "01". There is also a Global Ultimate indicator, "Y", in WorldBase.

Stand Alone Businesses
The majority of records in D&B's files are not linked: they are considered "stand alone" businesses. This is a reflection of the businesses environment in our world.

There are two categories of stand alone businesses in D&B's files;

1) Those which are not part of a family tree (majority).

2) Those which may carry some linkage elements, but are not eligible to reside in the linked portion of the WorldBase file. (D&B's customers have commented they prefer to see partial linkage information).

Linkage Verification Procedures
Linkage data in D&B WorldBase is obtained in two ways. The first process, "Top Down Review," is performed around the world by the responsible country in which an ultimate parent company resides. A D&B analyst contacts a knowledgeable source at the ultimate parent company or one of its high-level subsidiaries to ascertain the proper family tree structure. The domestic data is then entered into the host country's file and the cross-border subsidiary information is forwarded to for entry into RDB.

Each year a prioritized listing of global ultimate family trees will be reviewed using the top down methodology. Each ultimate is processed through the File Enhancement Services historical-tracking database. Historical information can be compiled for the proper contract, preferred method of update, inventory control and management reports.

The Second way this data is obtained is by "Bottom Up Linkage" (also called "Host Linkage"). This is a process where a subsidiary/parent company or a branch/headquarters linkage is collected at the country level during normal revision and/or updating process. This data is then processed into RDB.

Top down and bottom up management is performed throughout the three global reporting regions: Asia/Pacific-Latin America, Europe and North America.