An additional 18 companies are in the final stages of moving from pilot into production systems. This progress, coming just two years after work began on the RosettaNet B2B e-commerce standards, is considered significant. RosettaNet is an alliance of computer and electronics companies, many of them competitors.
PIPs are XML data formats and standardized business processes.
For instance, there's a cluster of PIPs for the distribution and periodic update of basic product information, including change notices. Another cluster enables ordering of products from a catalog, manages distribution and deliveries, provides for notification of product returns, and manages transactions. Distributor Arrow Electronics has implemented PIPs with 13 partners, including Intel, National Semiconductor and Hewlett-Packard. The purchase order PIPs have enabled Arrow to cut order turnaround times from the next day to the same day, a reduction of 12 to 15 hours, said Arrow CIO David Westmoreland. Over several years, Arrow hopes to migrate 30 percent to 40 percent of its transactions to the Internet using RosettaNet specs.