RosettaNet: The Strong Link in the Supply Chain

Internet standards consortium RosettaNet Tuesday said it has released a new test developed to test a company’s compliance to its e-business dialogue, Partner Interface Process (PIP).

A PIP is an XML specification designed to align a specific business process between supply chain partners. RosettaNet PIPs create new areas of alignment within the overall IT supply-chain e-business processes.

The latest PIP test – identified as 3A4 or “Request Purchase Order” is significant considering it is among the most widely implemented RosettaNet standards.

The Santa Ana, Calif.-based group said all supply chains served by RosettaNet, including Electronic Components (EC), Information Technology (IT) and Semiconductor Manufacturing (SM), are currently using the specification, with more than 100 partners currently in production.

“The growth and progress being made around RosettaNet Ready underscores the software compliance requirements that this initiative addresses for B2B in the high-technology industry,” said RosettaNet CEO Jennifer Hamilton. “By continuing to add new compliance tests and releasing upgrades to existing tools and components, the program is becoming more robust and ever critical to solution providers who are looking to obtain RosettaNet Ready compliance badge designations for their respective software products.”

The tests are expected to be used on a wide scale considering RosettaNet’s key members include IBM , Microsoft , and American Express .

Even without the corporate support, RosettaNet said PIP 3A4 is a key component for a large number of RosettaNet e-business process standards and serves as a “building block” for a variety of other PIPs.

The non-profit is also focused on building a master dictionary to define properties for products, partners, and business transactions. This master dictionary, coupled with an established implementation framework (exchange protocols), is used to support the PIP.

RosettaNet Tuesday also published a new version of the its Ready Self-Test Kit (STK). The application includes a modified engine code, test script generator and user guide. The kit is available for download by partners and the public at no cost, is designed to encourage greater adoption and development of products and services for RosettaNet.

Tests offered include those measuring for adherence to the RosettaNet Implementation Framework (RNIF) v2.0 and a baseline set of PIPs. The organization said other compliance tests for PIPs that focus on product discovery and distribution, order management and inventory management are currently under development.

RosettaNet said it would also use its upcoming software interoperability events to promote its compliance testing tools.