Dave Elliott Wallaceburg Automotive (Committee Chairman)

Deborah Moynes-Keshen AIA Canada

Mireille Schippers AIA Canada

Khalid Mouallem Amador Business Computers

Kevin Patterson AutoSense

Tony Alderdice CCI-Triad Systems

Bert Verriett Dana Canada

Nigel Wood Electronic Commerce Council Canada (Guest)

Grant Miller ERI

Jeff VanderSande Grant Brothers Sales

Allan Tucker HDDC (Guest)

Stephen Mitchell Killdara Corporation

Tony Iantorno Mark IV/Dayco

Michael Shepard Northwood University (Guest)

Chuck Udell University of the Aftermarket (Guest)

Bill Sample Zurawel Patton Sample

Meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Introductions were made, as there were some new members. Nigel Woods from ECCC talked about the various industry initiatives that ECCC have participated in including EDI guidelines with AIA in 1993.

A survey initiated by the committee clearly showed, that many members needed information and help to even get connected. It was also noted at that time that U.S organizations such as ACEC are doing a good job of supporting and promoting North American standards. The AIA IT Committee, it was decided, could contribute to I.T on behalf of members through communication of what is happening, explanation of issues and generally putting information in the hands of the people who need it.

The Getting Connected Series follows the goal of the committee to inform and has been well received. Members have also been supportive - AutoSense has put all of the series on their own member Intranet. Articles have appeared in various trade press magazines as well.

The last IT Phone Conference was very productive and established a list of articles to further the getting connected series. DMK reminded those who had agreed to write articles of the due dates.

The last board meeting at AIA indicated that the existence of the Getting Connected series needs to be communicated more broadly. DMK confirmed that a letter is being sent directly to the trade press along with a copy of each new article in the series.

Suggestions: Getting field reps to bookmark the AIA website when they call on members Having a banner ad for the AIA Website on highly visible search engines such as Yahoo! A letter to the WD's from AIA President Ray Datt asking them to support the series and asking them to promote it to their members.

Actions: DMK to ask Ray Datt to bring the issue to the next Jobber/WD meeting DMK to ask Marc Brazeau if a complete set of the "Getting Connected" series can be sent to each field rep asking for their support in promoting the series existence. The issue of marketing and promotion will be added to the next committee meeting agenda.

Khalid Mouallem from Amador updated the group on the activities of the P.I.E.S committee and distributed a logo. The PIES group is considering a video to explain the new standards.

Stephen Mitchell from Killdara informed the group of other OE and UN initiatives regarding standards. It was pointed out that many major suppliers to the Aftermarket also supply the OE's. If the OE's endorse a specific standard then that is what those companies will adopt. Any group involved in standards in the Aftermarket must remain aware of what is happening outside our own segment of the industry. No small to medium manufacturer in Canada is currently using the Product Information Exchange Standards.

Suggestions: Place a link on the AIA Canada web site to the ACEC Website to allow members to access information on standards. The committee meeting minutes should be put on the AIA Website.

Action: DMK to pass along these suggestions to the website manager Lise Newton who is currently reviewing a strategy and priorities for the AIA Website.

Kildlara introduced themselves as the newest member of the AIA Committee. Killdara is a small Canadian software company based just outside Ottawa. They have a Java based product that sits next to a relational database. Information is taken from the database turned into an XML format then sent over the Internet. The product is aimed at the small-medium organization with special attention to affordability. Killdara is involved in a number of standard setting initiatives such as OASIS which comes from the United Nations and aims at setting standards to allow interchange of documents between different industries. It was noted that all standards initiatives primarily come down to implementation. Implementation itself is driven by customer needs.

The committee members were generally very positive about the changes in the AIA Website. DMK updated the group regarding several new initiatives under consideration including a potential partner for a careers site, online registrations for AIA events, internet based communications with members and potentially having only one site with restricted documents requiring a password based on member number. All of these ideas received positive affirmation from the group. Any comments and/or suggestions should be forwarded to DMK.

The group were updated with respect to the IT morning of programming that is being put together. Both Amador and CCI-Triad expressed their interest in participating.

Actions: Member company interested in participating in the demonstration portion of the morning need to contact DMK within the next two weeks.

AIA are participating in an industry wide initiative to promote the automotive aftermarket industry as a viable career option to grades 7-9. A facilitation guide for teachers, a reference manual of 45 occupations, a facilitation guide for industry, a website and CD-ROM will all be developed as part of this project. Marketing will be through both traditional and non-traditional channels in order to reach all stakeholders (parents, industry, teachers and the students). Technical occupations will be included in the profile listing.

The next AIA IT committee meeting will be a strategic planning session to create a new mandate for the Committee. The date of the next meeting was set for: April 03rd, 2001 at 10 a.m.

The meeting was adjourned at noon.