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NAGASA SETS GRAPHIC ARTS INDUSTRY STANDARD FOR ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Washington, DC, September 1997 - NAGASA, the North American Graphic Arts Suppliers Association, has announced the immediate availability of the final guidelines for electronic commerce in the graphic arts industry. The guidelines, contained in a 320-page standard available from the association, include a step-by-step guide for implementation, a code of practice, mapping conventions, and transaction set samples, everything needed for full implementation of electronic commerce by manufacturers, dealers or printers. By employing the NAGASA electronic commerce guidelines, the graphic arts industry is now capable of automatically transferring critical order information among printers, manufacturers and dealers, to reduce costs and delivery time. Using the new standard, transaction times are typically reduced from days or weeks to a matter of hours. "More than 90 percent of the paper based systems and telephone followup typical of such transactions are eliminated using the systems." said David Steinhardt, NAGASA president and CEO, in announcing the new guidelines. "Currently, five dealers conduct business electronically with customers, and now that the standards are set, many more are expected to follow quickly," added Steinhardt.
The original NAGASA electronic commerce guidelines, containing six transaction sets, were released in July 1995, and immediately adopted by three North American graphic arts dealers. Today, the standard has been implemented by 37 dealers, and follow every month. Agfa, DuPont, Fuji and Kodak all have subscribed to the electronic commerce guidelines specified by the association. The new guidelines also incorporate the graphic arts industry standard for bar coding, which is endorsed by both NAGASA and the Graphic Communications Association.
Development of the NAGASA electronic commerce guidelines was underwritten by Eastman Kodak. GE Information Services, which provides software and network services for application of graphic arts electronic commerce, also contributed to the development of the guidelines. The new guidelines include transaction sets for invoicing, payment orders/remittance advice, price/sales catalog, response to product transfer account adjustment, purchase order, purchase order acknowledgment, advance ship notice/manifest, dealer sell-through, and functional acknowledgment.
Commenting regarding the new NAGASA guidelines, Steinhardt added: "The availability of electronic commerce, the same technology that has streamlined the flow of consumer goods through merchants such as Wal-Mart and Target, can be expected to speed the flow of goods and reduce costs in the graphic arts channel. We expect that electronic commerce will be a key element in strengthening the competitiveness of the dealer channel, by involving both the customer and the manufacturer."
Copies of the guidelines are available from NAGASA at 202-328-8441 or via Email at information@nagasa.org. The price is $150 for members; $300 for nonmembers.
NAGASA, the North American Graphic Arts Suppliers Association, is the largest trade association in the world committed to representing the distribution channel in the graphic arts, printing and imaging industry. The NAGASA network of dealers, resellers, and VARs sells more than $4.5 billion of traditional to digital equipment and supplies within the total $6 billion industry channel. NAGASA is dedicated to developing a sound and growing business environment for its membership and advancing a channel of value added, quality products and services for channel customers. NAGASA: The Distribution Association for Printing and Imaging Technologies.