IV&I: A Proven Standard for B2B Interoperability

IV&I: A Proven Standard for B2B Interoperability [1.7M]
Terry Onica & Chad Stone, QAD
Tuesday - 3:00 p.m.

Learn about a new approach to B2B interoperability, and how it promises to streamline the flow of information through the supply chain.

A recent study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology indicated that inadequate supply chain infrastructure costs the automotive and electronics industries nearly $9 billion annually. RTI International, who conducted the study, noted that "almost all of this cost could be eliminated if firms implemented true interoperability, which we have termed 'ideal supply chain integration.'"

The Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) recognized the industry need for interoperability among inventory visibility software two years ago. Working with industry leaders, top automotive manufacturers and QAD customers such as Metaldyne, Lear, ArvinMeritor and JCI, AIAG developed the Inventory Visibility & Interoperability (IV&I) project to resolve supply chain interoperability issues and facilitate communication for materials management between trading partners, especially to the lower tier suppliers in the automotive industry.

QAD has played a leading role in the IV&I project. This session will describe the business and technical problems IV&I addresses as well as the nature of the solution. The IV&I standard leverages modern Internet-based messaging technologies, such as Web services and OAGIS XML business object documents, as a core that was then extended into the particular domain of supply chain coordination. It provides a lighter-weight alternative to compliment existing EDI solutions, one which can be more readily adopted by smaller-sized trading partners.

The IV&I approach addresses the key levels of the interoperability problem: Business process definition, data message formats and secure message transport. This session will explain each of these layers, how each was successfully demonstrated in a pilot proof-of-concept, the next steps to be taken and how the adoption of this interoperability standard will enable trading partners to reap tremendous benefits from the increased flow of information. Although partners in the automotive supply chain initiated the development of this technology, the solution is general enough to be of use in many other industries as well; surely your organization can benefit, too.