Covisint Connect Launches

With the completion of a pilot program by all members of the Covisint Connect consortium, full launch of the new automotive-industry data-exchange service was disclosed Thursday.

A consortium consisting of DaimlerChrysler, Delphi, Ford, General Motors, Johnson Controls, and Lear developed Covisint Connect. The service is designed to provide a single connection for a company to exchange data with its partners.

The messaging service is expected to provide an XML alternative to EDI transmission methods and reduce the complexity and cost of managing multiple and redundant formats with partners, proponents say.

Paul Manns, director of marketing for Covisint, says each of the members that has completed the pilot program will begin the process of integrating an average of 6,000 suppliers with the service over course of 2004.

Each company in the consortium contributed financial resources, which total several million dollars, as well as workers for the development of the service, Manns says.

Covisint Connect is expected to simplify communications between manufacturers and suppliers by using a single connection that can handle both EDI and XML technologies.