New Communication Standard Helps Businesses Improve Supply Chain Quality, Safety...

New Communication Standard Helps Businesses Improve Supply Chain Quality, Safety and Security

Manufacturers and Suppliers Adopt RosettaNet's New Globally
Accepted Certificate of Analysis Standard to Address Increasing
Product Safety Concerns
LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.--(Business Wire)--
RosettaNet, a not-for-profit consortium dedicated to the
development of business process standards for global trade networks,
today announced the creation of a new electronic Certificate of
Analysis (eCofA) standard.

When suppliers sell materials to manufacturers, they are required
to make declarations about the material's quality and purity. These
declarations are made by submitting an electronic Certificate of
Analysis and are particularly important when dealing with materials
like restricted chemicals that may represent a risk due to toxicity,
abuse and potential misapplication.

Recently, the Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
(C-TPAT), a 9,000-member voluntary supply chain security program led
by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, recommended that businesses
improve the security of their supply chain communications.
RosettaNet's new electronic Certificate of Analysis standard meets
recent government recommendations, like C-TPAT's, for secure
communications.

Development of the new electronic Certificate of Analysis standard
was led by the RosettaNet Semiconductor Manufacturing Council which
includes representatives from Air Products and Chemicals, IBM, InSync
Software, Intel, Linde Electronics and ATMI.

"There are many electronic Certificate of Analysis standards
published, but none are as robust as the RosettaNet PIP (Partner
Interface Process). Air Products was not able to use any of the
existing Certificate of Analysis standards without major
modifications, which made any possible economies of scale impossible."
Kate Russell, E-Business Manager, Electronics Division, Air Products,
and the Program Director for the RosettaNet eCofA Milestone Program
said. "The RosettaNet PIP for eCofA provides the full data set
required by our customers with no additional modifications. The
RosettaNet PIP also uses a reference table which lists the
characteristic parameter codes to be used when implementing the
PIP--allowing the trading partners to maintain a single reference
table in their enterprise systems and eliminating maintenance costs.
No other Certificate of Analysis standard incorporates this approach."

"This RosettaNet electronic Certificate of Analysis program is
just another example of the power of collaboration. RosettaNet
provided the environment for this diverse team of companies to come
together and create an innovative solution to a common business
challenge. We now have a solution that is standardized, cost efficient
and has improved the supply chain communication between business
partners," said Larren Olsen, chair of the RosettaNet Semiconductor
Manufacturer Council and Director of Materials Business Solutions for
Intel. "Everyone shares in these benefits, and as this new standard is
proliferated - the savings will be exponential across the industry."

"Our member companies create and implement streamlined business
processes to operate the most efficient supply chains in the high-tech
industry. The electronic Certificate of Analysis standard is a direct
result of this expertise," said Clement D. Erhardt, III, President of
RosettaNet. "The electronic certificate of analysis can be used by any
industry that needs a secure, standard way to transmit information on
material contents and their purity to another trading partner."

RosettaNet provides a secure communication framework, RosettaNet
Implementation Framework(R) (RNIF(R)) and standardized process
choreography through a common language of RosettaNet Partner Interface
Processes(R) (PIPs(R)) to simplify and automate secure end-to-end
e-business processes. RosettaNet's new eCofA PIP eliminates the need
for many of the proprietary formats and manual activities performed
today, so customers and suppliers can be more confident about the
quality of their data and the security of the transmission.
Additionally, RosettaNet's eCofA standard requires the use of an
industry standard characteristic parameter reference list--instead of
proprietary open text fields--to further minimize error and rework.
When used in combination with the RosettaNet Shipment Notification
PIP, the entire business process can be automated.

About RosettaNet

RosettaNet, a subsidiary of GS1 US(TM), is a not-for-profit
consortium dedicated to the collaborative development and rapid
deployment of open, business process standards that align processes
within global trading networks. RosettaNet standards and services
provide a common language for business transactions and the foundation
for integrating critical processes among partners within the global
supply chain. Companies that use RosettaNet's proven standards benefit
from added cost-savings throughout supply chain processes, improved
ebusiness communications with trading partners, enhanced product life
cycle management capabilities and added customer satisfaction. For
more information about RosettaNet, visit www.rosettanet.org.

GS1 US
Varsha Anand
+1 312.463.4018, vanand@gs1us.org

Copyright Business Wire 2008