Association Announces Internet Ordering Standard

The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) announces the release of the Internet Parts Ordering (IPO) standard for electronic parts inquiries and emergency orders.
"IPO provides a standard for communication of the most basic e-commerce transactions and offer a clean and open path for application developers to follow," said Scott Luckett, AAIA vice president technology standards and solutions. "Open standards, such as IPO, allow software developers to devote more resources to added-value features and functionality, rather than supporting the multiple negotiated formats that emerge in the absence of a standard."
The IPO standard is an important component to an industry-wide architecture that promotes efficient communication and inventory visibility. With IPO suppliers, resellers and e-commerce providers can develop software applications that communicate across a wide variety of platforms.
IPO complies with the Open Applications Group Incorporated (OAGI) XML standards for messaging and uses a Web-services model to provide the technical mechanisms for transporting, securing and describing the IPO communications. IPO was developed with broad industry participation from representatives of aftermarket manufacturers, distributors, retailers and software providers.
The IPO standard was developed under the direction of the AAIA Technology Standards and Solutions Committee. Prescient Technologies, Inc. (PTI) provided project management and architectural expertise to the committee.
"We were honored to be chosen by AAIA to lead the development effort on the IPO project. IPO promises to be the rock solid foundation of future e-commerce standards in the aftermarket," said Joe Register, president of PTI.
The IPO specification is available from the e-commerce page at www.aftermarket.org at no cost. For more information, contact ecommerce@aftermarket.org or 301-654-6664.