I
106TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 4906
To authorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology to work
with major manufacturing industries on an initiative of standards devel-
opment and implementation for electronic enterprise integration.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JULY 20, 2000
Mr. BARCIA (for himself and Ms. RIVERS) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Science
A BILL
To authorize the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology to work with major manufacturing industries on
an initiative of standards development and implementa-
tion for electronic enterprise integration.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Enterprise Integration
Act of 2000’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress makes the following findings:
(1) Over 90 percent of United States companies
engaged in manufacturing are small and medium-
sized businesses.
(2) Most of these manufacturers produce goods
for assemblage into products of large companies.
(3) The emergence of the World Wide Web and
the promulgation of international standards for
product data exchange greatly accelerated the move-
ment toward electronically integrated supply chains
during the last half of the 1990’s.
(4) A major Wall Street firm recently estimated
that the adoption of electronic commerce-based sup-
ply chains in various manufacturing industries can
reduce business costs from 10 percent to 40 percent.
(5) European and Asian countries are investing
heavily in electronic enterprise standards develop-
ment, and in preparing their smaller manufacturers
to do business in the new environment. European ef-
forts are well advanced in the aerospace, automotive,
and shipbuilding industries and are beginning in
other industries including home building, furniture
manufacturing, textiles, and apparel.
(6) If United States manufacturers are to re-
main competitive, they must match their overseas
competition by making sure that standards, includ-
ing application protocols, developed for electronic
business in their industry worldwide reflect their
needs and the needs of their customers and sup-
pliers.
(7) Many American small and medium-sized
manufacturers run the risk of losing their largest
customers during the first half of this decade unless
they adopt computer aided design, engineering, and
manufacturing systems in their work places and
learn how to participate with customers and sup-
pliers in integrated electronic enterprises.
(8) Application protocols are very complex
standards, often running thousands of pages, and
require the cooperation of entire industries for their
development.
(9) The National Institute of Standards and
Technology, because of the electronic commerce ex-
pertise in its laboratories and quality program, its
long history of working cooperatively with manufac-
turers, and the nationwide reach of its manufac-
turing extension program, is in a unique position to
help United States large and smaller manufacturers
alike in their responses to this challenge.
(10) It is, therefore, in the national interest for
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
to accelerate its efforts—
(A) in helping major manufacturing indus-
tries develop standards and enterprise integra-
tion processes that are necessary to increase ef-
ficiency and lower costs; and
(B) in making sure that every small or me-
dium-sized manufacturer has the option of up-
grading its manufacturing capabilities to the
point where it can be part of an electronic sup-
ply chain of a major manufacturing industry.
SEC. 3. ENTERPRISE INTEGRATION INITIATIVE.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director shall establish
an initiative for advancing enterprise integration within
the United States. In carrying out this section, the Direc-
tor shall involve, as appropriate, the various units of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology, including
the National Institute of Standards and Technology lab-
oratories, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership pro-
gram established under sections 25 and 26 of the National
Institute of Standards and Technology Act (15 U.S.C.
278k and 278l), and the Malcolm Baldrige National Qual-
ity Program. This initiative shall begin with product data
management and build upon ongoing efforts of the Na-
tional Institute of Standards and Technology and of the
private sector, shall involve consortia that include govern-
ment and industry, and shall be designed to permit enter-
prise integration in each United States major manufac-
turing industry at the earliest possible date.
(b) ASSESSMENT.—The Director shall work to iden-
tify all enterprise integration standards and implementa-
tion activities for major manufacturing industries under-
way in the United States and abroad. For each major
manufacturing industry, the Director shall work with in-
dustry representatives and organizations currently en-
gaged in enterprise integration activities and other appro-
priate representatives as necessary. They shall assess the
current state of enterprise integration within the industry,
identify the remaining steps in achieving enterprise inte-
gration, and work toward agreement on the roles of the
National Institute of Standards and Technology and of
the private sector in that process. Within 90 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall
report to the Congress on these matters and on antici-
pated related National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology activities for the then current fiscal year.
(c) PLANS AND REPORTS.—Within 180 days after
the date of the enactment of this Act, the Director shall
submit to the Congress a plan for enterprise integration
for each major manufacturing industry, including mile-
stones for the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology portion of the plan, the dates of likely achievement
of those milestones, and anticipated costs to the Govern-
ment and industry by fiscal year. Updates of the plans
and a progress report for the past year shall be submitted
annually until for a given industry, in the opinion of the
Director, enterprise integration has been achieved.
(d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—In order to carry out
this Act and the plans prepared under subsection (c), the
Director may—
(1) work with companies and trade associations
within a major manufacturing industry to raise
awareness of enterprise integration activities in the
United States and abroad, including convening meet-
ings;
(2) work with an industry on the development
of enterprise integration roadmaps;
(3) support the development, testing, promulga-
tion, and adoption of standards, including applica-
tion protocols;
(4) support the development, promulgation, in-
tegration, and upgrading of standards related to en-
terprise integration;
(5) support pilot projects that include small and
medium-sized businesses for new standards and en-
terprise integration;
(6) ensure the training and regular upgrading
of skills of Manufacturing Extension Program em-
ployees;
(7) develop tool kits and employee training ma-
terials and take other steps necessary to permit
small and medium-sized businesses to participate in
an integrated enterprise; and
(8) set up mechanisms to permit the various
Manufacturing Extension Program centers to access
expertise and materials from each other.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act—
(1) the term ‘‘automotive’’ means land-based
engine-powered 
vehicles 
including 
automobiles,
trucks, busses, trains, defense vehicles, farm equip-
ment, and motorcycles;
(2) the term ‘‘Director’’ means the Director of
the National Institute of Standards and Technology;
(3) the term ‘‘enterprise integration’’ means the
electronic linkage of manufacturers, assemblers, and
suppliers to enable the electronic exchange of prod-
uct, manufacturing, and other business data among
all businesses in a product supply chain, and such
term includes related application protocols and other
related standards;
(4) the term ‘‘major manufacturing industry’’
includes the aerospace, automotive, electronics, ship-
building, construction, home building, furniture, tex-
tile, and apparel industries and such other industries
as the Director designates; and
(5) the term ‘‘National Institute of Standards
and Technology laboratories’’ means those institutes
of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology with expertise in electronic commerce, includ-
ing the Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory, the
Building and Fire Research Laboratory, and the In-
formation Technology Laboratory.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Direc-
tor to carry out functions under this Act $10,000,000 for
fiscal year 2001, $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2002, and
such sums as may be necessary for subsequent fiscal
years.
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