BETHESDA, MD — Earlier this week, AAIA announced the availability of a new service to audit and certify product information compliance with the Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). The Data Audit and Certification service (DAC) has been created by AAIA in partnership with Comergent Inc., of Redwood City, Calif.

To explain how the DAC service works and describe the importance of accurate product information to the aftermarket industry, AAIA and Comergent will conduct an informational Webinar at 11 a.m. (EST) on Thursday, May 13.

PIES is the industry standard template for nearly 200 fields of item level product information. The DAC service is available to test and certify that aftermarket suppliers are in compliance with the standard. These steps are critical to the long-term goal of industry-wide product information management and synchronization, according to AAIA.

In 2003 AAIA performed a PIES pilot study of basic product data essential to automated ecommerce and found that errors in part numbers, UPC codes, minimum order quantity, unit of measure and other fields contributed to an annual $1.7 billion in wasted expense.

Scott Luckett, AAIA vice president for technology standards and solutions explained, “The aftermarket has awoken to the staggering cost of product data errors in collaborative ebusiness. The Data Audit and Certification service will enable suppliers to know when they are ready to synchronize with their customers and begin to lower their respective costs. Everyone wants to see more ROI from their investments in technology and DAC is an essential first step to reach that goal”.

Advance registration for the Webinar is recommended. Registration is available online, by following the link on the ecommerce page at: www.aftermarket.org.

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