Auto-Tech display shows promise for future of collaborative commerce

Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) has proven it's possible to have instant, reliable communication between disparate business applications. The group has been experimenting with methods of linking business applications as part of a project called the Inventory Visibility and Interoperability (IV&I) initiative. It successfully demonstrated one of those methods at the recent Auto-Tech trade show in Detroit.

In the demonstration, a program called Supply Visualization from QAD transmitted real-time information about how much of a specific part a company had on hand across the Internet. The data was received by a similar application called iExchangeWeb, developed by vendor iConnect. After reading the message, the iConnect package sent a notice back to the QAD system confirming its receipt of the inventory information.

Perhaps even more remarkable than the swift and easy exchange of data is AIAG being able to get multiple vendors to agree on standards for making this happen in less than five months. In addition to QAD and iConnect, Sterling Commerce and Covisint played active roles in this project, while other vendors—including industry heavyweight SAP—lent behind-the-scenes support.

Pam Lopker, CEO of QAD, is generally credited with launching this movement by bringing the need for a standard method of communicating inventory information to the AIAG. She raised the issue shortly after QAD released Supply Visualization, realizing that other companies would develop similar products and users would be unlikely to embrace any of these systems if they couldn't talk with one another.

To that end, QAD worked with other AIAG members to develop a specification for transmitting inventory information between disparate systems. The specification, which has been approved by the Open Applications Group, is used to create business object documents—or BODs. The idea is to have suppliers put their inventory information into BOD form, which would allow any systems their customers use to easily translate the information.

AIAG has completed one inventory-related BOD for communicating the amount of inventory a supplier has on hand. Trading partners using this BOD would be expected to agree on specific minimum and maximum inventory levels beforehand, and the information in the BOD would confirm whether the supplier's stock was within that range.

Terry Onica, a director with QAD, says AIAG plans to create at least two other inventory-related BODs. One would support companies practicing lean manufacturing by allowing them to communicate the size of kanbans. The other would support just-in-time production by relaying the sequence in which certain parts are being built.

While the quantity-on-hand BOD was being developed, another AIAG committee searched for an effective method of transporting it across the Internet. That effort was led by iConnect, which was in the business of helping small and medium-size manufacturers connect to larger companies' EDI networks before it created iExchangeWeb.

Ultimately, AIAG agreed that either XML Web services or electronic business XML (ebXML) could be used to transmit the BODs.

With its open-communications concept proven viable, the AIAG will continue work on two fronts. One is to add the inventory-related BODs; the other will be to create similar communications mechanisms for other business processes.

"We know that logistics providers, people in the quality area, and those who handle warranties all have interoperability issues," Onica says.