E-Standards for Global Data Interchange Proposed for Chemical Industry

18.09.2000

Midland, MI – September 12, 2000 — To facilitate generally accepted standards in the chemical industry and to realize the inherent benefits of standardization, BASF, Dow and DuPont have been working to develop open, non-proprietary e-standards for company-to-company, company-to-marketplace and marketplace-to-marketplace data exchange. The result of this effort is a broad set of Extensible Markup Language (XML) standards that is capable of supporting many different business models. The first phase of this effort focused on the development of e-standards to support order, catalog and customer information. These standards were presented to the Chemical Industry Data Exchange (CIDX) yesterday for review and development of a more formalized plan. Phase two is characterized by a focus on logistics, multinational, invoicing, forecasting and exchange interactions. Additionally, participation will be expanded to include a broader range of suppliers, marketplaces and technology providers. During this phase, the intent will be for CIDX to expand its mission and transform to a robust standards association and eventually assume responsibility for ongoing maintenance, further development and support of these industry standards. "Without a standard approach to data exchange, the industry runs the risk of creating multiple solutions that will result in e-marketplace inefficiencies for both suppliers and customers," said David Kepler, vice president of electronic business and commerce and CIO of Dow. "This XML standards work will serve as a foundation for a broader-based method of supporting new and evolving business-to-business (B2B) and e-marketplace activities within the chemical industry." While the initial development of these e-standards was the result of the combined efforts of BASF, Dow and DuPont, at the same time, Envera was also developing XML standards for their business model which have been integrated into this initial set of standards. "CIDX is excited about the body of work that has been submitted by the chemical industry suppliers, as well as Envera. We are encouraged to see the to convergence of the two efforts into a single broad-based set of global standards to benefit the entire industry," said Kathy MacRae, board chairperson for CIDX. "Open, non-proprietary XML standards will provide a framework for suppliers and their customers to speed implementation and reduce costs associated with B2B integration. Standards will provide a common method for the new electronic marketplaces and I/T suppliers to develop capability to serve the industry, " added MacRae. The XML standards presented to CIDX can be found on the Internet at www.cidx.org.

https://www.chemie.de/news/51/e-standards-for-global-data-interchange-proposed-for-chemical-industry.html