Alan F. Jones, Vice President of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and General Manager of the Management Information Systems Group (MISG), meeting Chair.

George Burke, Director of Technical Services for the Management Information Systems Group, Inc. (MEMA).

Roger Cadaret, Executive Director of the Collision Industry Electronic Commerce Association (CIECA).

Barry Soltz, President and CEO of the Engine Rebuilders Association, (AERA).

James Petragnani, Director, Industrial/Commercial of the Uniform Code Council (UCC) . The UCC implements bar-coding applications in the Automotive Aftermarket.

Neil Pennell, Automotive Database Specialist of RaceSearch.com, Inc., representing an Automotive Racing Association.

Scott Luckett, Director Information Technology & Project Development,

Skip Potter, Vice President, Membership & Meetings with the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA).

Ed Kuo, Director of Communications with the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) representing the Heavy Duty Distributors Association (HDDA).

Jeff VandeSande, Eastern Canadian Regional Sales Manager, of Grant Brothers Sales Limited representing the Automotive Industries Association (AIA) of Canada.

The importance of the ACEC, its recognition within the Automotive and Heavy Duty markets and the goal of the ACEC to be a repository of information with regard to Electronic Commerce for the entire industry were noted. It was also mentioned that the ACEC does not develop standards for e-commerce; it provides a forum to present new standards that are developed by other associations or groups to the rest of the industry.

The MIS Council (part of MEMA) is an example of a group that develops standards with manufacturers. AAIA also has developed standards that are in use by other associations. ACEC has a goal to be the approval agency of standards within the aftermarket.

Discussions of the origins of the ACEC group were held. MEMA and ASIA executives saw the necessity of having a forum where all associations within the Aftermarket could discuss the ramifications and the co-operative capabilities of electronic commerce within our industry. Eight associations were represented at this meeting. The ACEC has a goal to add additional associations to this gathering as the need to cover the aftermarket was accentuated.

Various current standards and electronic information transfer protocols were discussed, such as XML as a rival to X12, but the two can work together. The possibility of producing a white paper was discussed. The white paper would analyze the market and push open Electronic Commerce. The ACEC Web site could be used as a conduit. The Web site is hosted by MEMA. It is not a busy Web site. It was recommended that the site be linked to all other participating association Web sites. Intent is to have participating association sites linked to ACEC.

Jeff VandeSande will speak to AIA Canada's IT committee to ensure that their Web site is linked to the ACEC site. This information also can be publicized via association newsletters. AAIA (Scott Luckett) has volunteered to send out the solicitation to have related associations link to the ACEC Web site. A mission statement to clarify ACEC also will be published on the site.

ACEC was designed to have all associations represented and for each association to also have a technical person with them-either an association representative or member representative. It is the representative's duty to bring ACEC information to their industry and ratify all decisions made by the ACEC. It needs to be clear that the ACEC is a resource for any industry association to get information on standards such as EC/EDI standards, cataloging and bar-coding.

James Petragnani, of UCC stated, "There needs to be a buy-in by some large players (manufacturers and distributors) to implement these standards."

It was suggested that a flow chart be designed to show how commerce (specifically, electronic commerce) flows. AAIA has an initiative to present this flow and will post it to the ACEC Web site. UCC has a tool that they offer (UML) that plots how a business operates and flows. UCC may use this tool to show how the aftermarket business would flow. A schematic that shows the overall market could be offered. It would have to show traditional business flow (3 step), retail flow (2 step), Heavy-duty, remanufacturers, machine shops and engine rebuilders. Using this flow chart, e-commerce could also be outlined in the aftermarket. All processes would be outlined. A handout was given by MEMA outlining the Automotive Aftermarket Channel of Distribution flow.

PIES -Product Information Exchange Standard, Draft version 1.7, was presented for review by AAIA.

This is the latest standard set by AAIA (electronic commerce committee) for electronic data exchange. The standard is a flat file format. It was asked if it should be done in X12, XML or both. George Burke of MISG suggests that it be done in both, where XML is resident on a separate site with specific tags. ACEC is working toward a repository of data. Most fields will be X12 compatible. The format will be an "abused" version of the current X12, so that the current versions of X12 could continue to function. This document is available on the AAIA website. This document needs to be ratified by the various associations IT committees. AAIA would like to have the approval or suggestions for changes ready by the next ACEC meeting on Aug. 16 and 17 in Bethesda, Maryland. Comment before this meeting is vital to have any changes made by this meeting.

It was decided to invite HDDC (Canadian Heavy Duty Association) to the meeting in Bethesda. HDDC is not part of ACEC yet. AAIA is forwarding the standard directly to HDDC. HDDC is having meetings in June at Mt. Tremblant, Quebec. HDDC has asked MEMA to discuss e-commerce at these meetings in June.

Chat rooms for ACEC were discussed. When more associations are added, the rooms should be better used. In the meantime, they will be discontinued.

CIECA is planning to publish their standards implementation in both X12 and XML.

Review of ACEC projects.

AAIA has developed a Shop Integration piece (I Shop). Current communication protocols integrate a shop management system together with the other computer systems used within a shop environment, i.e. Diagnostic equipment, computerized tools and the Mitchell and Alldata systems. These protocols are specific to individual systems and do not integrate together.

For example, Snap-on integrated systems are currently in competition with the Passport (Enterprise Alliance group) systems. This new AAIA vehicle identification table is common among all shop-integrated pieces and systems. The project is called I Shop. There will be complete compatibility with all shop equipment, regardless of manufacturer. In Europe, ASA also has a piece of software that enables communication between equipment. The ASA standard doesn't support VIN codes, which is vital in North America. The two associations are now working on an emulator (software) to allow both standards to work together. There is now a standard for the two continents.

In order to be part of I Shop, there will be a cost to the provider of the system to be made compatible.

It was discussed how some Web site developers are placing copyrights on sites with unique routines and claiming them as proprietary. Warnings were issued to be careful with individual sites and to advise association members.

Ed Kuo (AAIA representing HDDA) presented the HDX system to the group. HDX is a heavy-duty initiative with a transaction processing capability and an industry data warehouse. HDDA is supporting the effort for now. HDX will use EDI Pro and X12 standards. HDX will be using the AAIA Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES). There was discussion about HDX's qualifications to become a member of the ACEC since it is not an industry trade association. "HDX is not by definition an association, it is a private enterprise, as it sells products." Some members felt it feasible for HDX to participate as they are bringing to the Aftermarket a standard. The issue remained unresolved.

CFS participated in early ACEC meetings but are no longer participating (they have resigned). AAIA will encourage CFS to once again participate with ACEC.

It was mentioned that a "portal" has become a "trade exchange."

The next meeting of the ACEC was discussed. It is scheduled for Aug. 16,17, 2000, at AAIA's offices in Bethesda, Maryland.