Ad-Hoc Technology Committee Meets to Discuss New XML Industry Standards at NAMM Headquarters

Creating a common vocabulary for a business as wide and diverse as the international music products industry isn’t easy. But that’s the primary goal of the Ad-Hoc Technology Committee formed by the NAMM Board of Directors in 2006. The group recently met at NAMM headquarters in Carlsbad to continue its work in creating a system for electronic transactions between trading partners. The committee extended the scope of its standards to include a 'Detailed Acknowledgement' document as well as continued its work in creating a system for product classification.

NAMM Board Member and one of four retailers on the committee, Robin Walenta of West Music says the new standards will help dealers to save money in both the preparation and exchange of transactional information.

“What used to take us five hours to process, now takes 30 seconds,” said Walenta.  “And we’ve noticed a significant reduction in data entry errors, which has also saved our business time and money which is particularly good in these challenging economic times.”

The group, which is comprised of companies including:  Roland, West Music, Sweetwater Sound, Korg, TriTech, D’Addario, RetailUP, Hal Leonard and Guitar Center/Musician’s Friend, also notes that the industry will benefit from the adoption of a universal technology standard because it will make conducting business easier between manufacturers and retailers and help with the reporting of statistical information.

Interested parties may view the current information on these technology standards at www.namm.org/initiatives/b2b. Beginning in January, the group will release version 2010.1 of the NAMM standard for discussion and commentary.