MISSION VIEJO, CA and CINCINNATI, OH — DST and EDM, both solutions providers for the automotive and heavy duty parts industries, have jointly announced the successful integration of EDM’s Datalliance, the company’s Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) service, with DST’s DSTWare business and warehouse management systems platforms.

Utilizing XML transaction support in Datalliance, this project creates the first VMI industry standard. As a result, VMI capabilities are now available to all DST customers, as well as to other organizations utilizing XML to exchange data via the Internet.

Both HDA Parts Network, a heavy duty truck parts marketing group representing aftermarket distributors with over 500 warehouses in the U.S. and Canada, and HDeXchange, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the efficiency of the parts industry through electronic commerce solutions, have supported the growing interest in VMI in these industries. HDA worked closely with DST to prioritize the addition of VMI capabilities into their business and warehouse management systems and HDeXchange is publishing VMI related XML standards on their industry web site.

XML offers a number of advantages in facilitating VMI, including ease of use, lowered maintenance expense and cross-platform capabilities. Perhaps most importantly, the overriding benefit is that it is easily extensible, meaning that functionality can be modified and extended as long-term needs of the industry dictate. Savvy industry professionals are making their priorities clear: the elimination of proprietary technology in favor of open systems, inter-connectivity, top-notch networking solutions, reliability, ease-of-maintenance, and cost-effectiveness with rapid ROI; assistance in driving costs down in core business processes; aid in navigating the daunting array of new technology; help in being more efficient in generating more sales per dollar of cost; and, providing products and solutions that adapt to business processes rather than constrain them.

Charlotte, NC-based heavy duty distributor Boone Parts and Service Company recently implemented the XML version of the VMI solution from EDM and DST, becoming the first distributor to implement the integrated system. President Glenn Boone said “As a customer of DST business systems, we were excited to hear that they were adding VMI capability. We moved quickly to implement the Datalliance VMI solution so that we could begin to realize the improved customer service and cost benefits associated with VMI.”

Hoon Chung, president and CEO of DST, said “Fulfilling the expectations of our customers is the hallmark of DST’s development initiatives. Our collaboration with EDM and the use of XML, triggered by our ongoing relationship with HDA Parts Network and their member companies, allowed us to build, test, and deliver critically needed VMI support to our business systems in a minimal amount of time. The addition of XML support to Datalliance makes it compatible with our DST business systems platform, providing VMI capabilities to all DST customers.”

Carl Hall, president of EDM, states “By developing XML transactions in collaboration with DST and others in the industry, we extend the VMI capabilities of our customers. They are now able to offer VMI to a large group of their distributors who are using the DST business system. This new functionality will benefit our customers and their distributors.”

For more information about DST, visit: www.dstinc.com.

For more information about Datalliance and VMI, go to: www.datalliance.net.

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