Adoption of Office Open XML Formats could lower global supply chain costs for industry

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/sep06/09-28MSIntelHighTechStandardsPR.mspx

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Sept. 28, 2006 — Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corporation, in a joint effort to improve supplier collaboration in the high-tech industry, today announced they have proposed the next-generation of open, interoperable business standards for small to medium enterprise supplier collaboration, based on the Microsoft ® Office Open XML Formats for documents.

The two companies are helping drive community consensus and standardization of this approach by co-sponsoring the next-generation RosettaNet Automated Enablement program as part of the RosettaNet consortium, which is holding its global council summit this week in Santa Clara , Calif. RosettaNet is a global standards-setting organization committed to finding better ways to achieve a globally integrated value network.

Under the management of the open standards body Ecma International, the Open XML document formats are now being finalized as a worldwide standard by a group of industry leaders, including Intel and Microsoft. The document format standard offers flexible support for integration of external XML information, which is critical to RosettaNet requirements.

“Microsoft is investing in the creation of interoperable technologies for the high-tech manufacturing industry that enable companies of all sizes to effectively collaborate across the global value chain,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer of Microsoft, at the company's Global High-Tech Summit held today in Santa Clara, Calif. “The adoption of the Office Open XML standard will mean that manufacturing companies are able to use the 2007 Microsoft Office system not only as a document-authoring tool for information workers, but also as an effective supply chain platform for value-chain integration.”

The U.S. Department of Commerce reports that supply chain inadequacies waste $3.9 billion a year in the high-tech and electronics industry alone. Due in part to its built-in interoperability through XML, the 2007 Microsoft Office platform is an investment that promises to pay dividends to high-tech manufacturing companies industry wide. A standard based on the Office Open XML Formats, if widely adopted by supplier companies, could result in financial and time savings.

“Microsoft's work with Ecma International on Open XML is another example of the spirit of cooperation, innovation and leadership in the RosettaNet community to promote more efficient, collaborative commerce through open, global standards ,” said Herman Stiphout, president of RosettaNet. “ As more companies utilize RosettaNet standards to unlock value in their business, standards-based solutions like these will provide greater connectivity and interoperability, particularly in our efforts to expand to small and medium-sized companies .”