Consortium Reports Expanded Use Of E-Business StandardsConsortium Reports Expanded Use Of E-Business Standards

RosettaNet, an electronics industry consortium, said Tuesday that 72 companies have implemented the organization's E-business standards since last May, linking a total of nearly 500 organizations. The new implementations fell into four areas within the electronics industry: order management, product discovery and distribution, semiconductor manufacturing, and supply-chain information management.

The implementations were part of the group's 2001 Milestone Program, RosettaNet chief executive Jennifer Hamilton said at a news conference in Santa Clara, Calif. "It's pretty phenomenal that in six months we not only achieved the goals (of the program), but in many cases exceeded those goals," Hamilton said. The achievement was especially significant given the economic slump in the high-tech industry.

Companies that discussed their implementations of RosettaNet Partner Interface Processes, or PIPs, included Amkor Technology, Arrow Electronics, Cisco Systems, Intel, Motorola, NEC, Sony, and STMicroelectronics. Paul Katz, VP of digital supply-chain solutions at Arrow, said the company had reduced the financial cycle associated with the ship-from-stock process by three weeks and substantially reduced the number of errors in what had been an intensely manual process. "This is a process that has historically been very manual, and EDI hasn't been able to keep up with expanding the automation process," he said. EDI, an older technology for electronic data exchange, is often too expensive for small and midsize suppliers to implement.

Outside the United States, RosettaNet has seen strong growth since May in Asia, particularly among small and midsize companies. "Activity in Asia is really going incredibly well," Hamilton said. Interest in RosettaNet also has grown in Europe over the last three to four months among small and midsize businesses. Government and industry cooperation in Asia, particularly in countries like Malaysia, has helped drive adoption. In addition, software costs, which run about $50,000, are considerably less than EDI. However, integration costs can be considerable, depending on the scope of the implementation and a company's back-end systems.

RosettaNet PIPs, which are based on XML, are specifications for connecting applications handling E-commerce transactions with software managing internal business processes. The purpose is to save money by reducing time and manpower through the automation of supply-chain and product-design processes. RosettaNet has worked with other E-business standards organizations on interoperability, particularly with Oasis, an international organization developing a standard called Electronic Business XML. RosettaNet has more than 400 members, including electronic components, information technology, and semiconductor manufacturing companies.