Inovis Drives E-Business for Automotive Industry; Standards Support and Industry Kits Help Suppliers Comply with Requirements of Major Automotive Manufacturers

ATLANTA & DETROIT--Aug. 31, 2004--Inovis, a leading provider of business-to-business integration solutions, today announced that more than 2,500 customers in the automotive industry rely on Inovis' vertical-specific solutions to drive supply chain and e-business efficiencies. The cornerstone of Inovis' offerings for automotive companies include support for Electronic Business XML (ebXML), an open e-business standard gaining increased adoption in the automotive industry, as well as specialized compliance kits tailored to support the proprietary standards that many automotive manufacturers require.

Inovis is demonstrating its suite of business commerce automation solutions tailored for the automotive industry this week, Aug. 31, 2004-Sept. 2, at Auto-Tech, a gathering of the premier OEM, supplier and vendor companies dedicated to achieving business success through collaboration.

"Maintaining a robust and comprehensive business commerce infrastructure is essential in order to conduct business electronically and remain competitive as a supplier to Visteon & Ford," said Scott McCullough, director of information technology, Michigan Spring & Stamping Company. "Inovis enables us to cost-effectively leverage current investments in e-business communications and connectivity, while supporting the wide range of emerging standards and technologies necessary to keep pace with the evolving requirements of our trading partner network."

The automotive industry has made significant strides streamlining business-to-business communications to simplify operations and drive down costs across the automotive supply chain. Major automotive manufacturers like Honda and DaimlerChrysler have developed their own Internet-based proprietary data formats for e-business documents, replacing or coexisting with traditional Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) standards for data transformation and value-added networks (VANs) for connectivity. Open e-business standards like ebXML are gaining acceptance through the backing of industry leaders like General Motors.

These proliferating standards and technologies in the automotive industry are driving automotive suppliers to seek ways to sustain the benefits and leverage investments in legacy technologies like EDI and VAN-based communications, while extending their e-business frameworks to include newer technologies and standards like ebXML. In addition to its traditional EDI, VAN, and Managed Services offerings, Inovis bridges the variety of technologies, data formats and connectivity standards widely used in the automotive industry through a comprehensive suite of vertical-specific business commerce automation offerings, including:

-- Business-to-Business Connectivity and Integration supporting the Internet-based standards most prevalent in the automotive industry - Inovis supports connectivity standards like ebXML, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), EBMX (Electronic Business Message eXchange), and Internet EDI for both Applicability Statement 1 (AS1) and AS2 protocols. With Inovis' solutions, companies can easily set up multiple business-to-business integration frameworks for each company in their trading partner network.

-- Data Transformation Software and Services tailored to address the requirements of specific automotive manufacturers - Inovis' specialized automotive kits support automotive manufacturers' proprietary standards through pre-built translation maps. Available kits include Inovis' GM EDIFACT Kit, Delphi Order-to-Order Delivery Kit and the Honda Kit. The kits provide automotive suppliers with a template for electronically sharing business documents with their largest trading partners. Honda has recognized Inovis' Honda Integration Kit with the "Honda Certified" endorsement.

"The automotive industry highlights a growing trend across the e-business landscape of companies requiring support for a hybrid of heritage and emerging business commerce automation standards and processes," said Michael Croxton, senior vice president of marketing for Inovis. "Inovis' automotive solutions are designed to provide the framework necessary to help automotive suppliers overcome the integration divide caused by the prevalence of varied and disparate communication standards particular to this industry."

About Inovis

Inovis is a leader in providing business commerce automation solutions that facilitate the effective management of retail, supply and manufacturing partnerships. With more than 20 years of experience and over 17,000 customers, Inovis provides a complete line of B2B software and managed services. These solutions enable companies to optimize profitability through timely and efficient communications with their trading partner communities. For more information visit www.inovis.com.

Inovis is a trademark of Inovis, Inc.