iConnect Collaborates with AIAG/OAGIS/NIST in Inventory Visibility and Interoperability Initiative

March 22, 2004

iConnect Inc. is proud to announce its involvement in an exciting new Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) initiative addressing an issue that is currently costing the industry an estimated $1 billion. AIAG has formed a team of competent industry resources to tackle the problems related to inventory visibility tools and the lack of interoperability.

The use of inventory visibility tools is rapidly spreading throughout the supply chain. Unfortunately, most suppliers need to subscribe to multiple inventory visibility tools to satisfy different customer requirements. Furthermore, these tools are often not integrated into backend business applications and become labor intensive to use and support.

AIAG believes that through current technology, there is an opportunity to allow customers and suppliers to view and share identical business information independent of the software package used by either company, which would lower overall solutions costs.

As a result, the Inventory Visibility and Interoperability (IV&I) initiative was started. IV&I consists of an international team supported by AIAG, Original Equipment Supplier Association (OESA), and Odette. By keeping the scope narrow, it is intended to solve the interoperability issue in an expedited time frame of only six months.

The benefits derived from this project can be applied across many business process applications to further drive cost from the supply chain.

Why iConnect participated in the IV&I project

iConnect provides a business information exchange infrastructure and services for companies that wish to trade information electronically. We received inquires from many of our customers concerning the ability to access inventory data being sent by their customers. At iConnect, we saw IV&I as the most suitable venue to meet this customer demand.

How iConnect collaborated with other companies in the test bed

iConnect participated in several aspects of the Proof of Concept. We worked closely with other participants in a true collaborative sprit to vocalize concerns, propose/suggest solutions as well as examine and resolve issues. Our industry expertise and extensive background in Automotive EDI allowed us to provide a business angle viewpoint that will extend beyond proof-of-concept. We worked with all willing participants including GM, LEAR, QAD, FORD and Covisint using the NIST test bed.

What iConnect hopes to achieve

At iConnect, we hope to provide a supplier voice throughout the development cycle of Business Object Documents (BODs) in the inventory visibility and interoperability project as we go though various stages of development and deployment. We hope to participate in an effort that would overcome many of the shortcomings of EDI and to have produced a solution that will appeal to the entire industry, and not just OEM's and large Tier 1 companies.