| Thursday March 29, 2001; 5:20 p.m. EST CHARLOTTE, North Carolina -- A furnXML working group assembled in Charlotte on March 28 to put the final touches on the first XML technology standard for the furniture industry. Ron Martell of Micro*D led the discussions of the proposed XML purchase order and product catalog schemas and Jeff Baker of Carls Furniture led a presentation of 2-D bar code standards. Ater considerable discussion and minor revisions, the 29 attendees voted unamimously to support the proposed XML purchase order schema. "It's evident from the number of participants and the investment they've made to be here, that the industry is taking this issue very seriously." said Dwight Ball, of furnXML. "The XML purchase order schema now goes to FIDX for review and we're hoping we can get a formal endorsement before the April Market." said Ball, "This will be a significant step towards bringing home furnishings in line with other industries." Following a format used by other technology groups, the proposed XML schemas were originally created by Mark McCuistion of Micro*D with the assistance of Geoff Mack of FurnishNet. The schemas were posted on the furnXML web site where they could be downloaded for comment and review by the two hundred plus furnXML members who represent a wide cross-section of IT professionals from retail, manufacturing, and system vendors. The furnXML web site also includes a forum for immediate feedback and discussion. FIDX decided last year to endorse the global standards produced by the Uniform Code Council and the Global Commerce Initiative. Those organizations paint large brush strokes to cover the general needs of hundreds of industries, and require each individual industry to produce standards that address their unique issues. "We decided to tackle the two most difficult furniture industry schemas first," said Martell at the meeting. "The XML purchase order and product catalog schemas, which must support all the complexities of custom upholstery and case good orders, are very complex. Fortunately, the XML schemas for order acknowledgements, advance ship notices and invoices will be much simpler to develop and we should be able to use the generic UCC/GCI schemas with minor modifications." Attendees to the meeting included: Andy Prouty of GERS, Anjali Sivakumaran, Jim Limper and Pam Wiriyagle of Benchmark, Bill Wimbrow of CDS Solutions, Cathy Coleman and Maurice Sherrill of Ethan Allen, Colleen Bates and Elaine Bruce of Lifestyles Furniture Industries, Dana Dagerhardt and Rick Killen of Thomasville, Dwight Ball of Rose Furniture/furnXML, Ed Sternagle and Geoff Mack of FurnishNet, Jeff Baker of Carls Furniture, Jeffrey Scornavacca and John Forbes of Homeportfolio, Joe Germuska of JGSullivan, John Rogers of Kittles, Manoj Nigam of Exim Technologies, Theresa Jaynes and Maria Higgins of Century, Mark Lyndrup of Lydrup & Assoc., Mark McCuistion, Zbynek Fiser and Ron Martell of Micro*D, Sue Tomlinson of Federated Department Stores, Talmage Fish of Hooker and Steve DeHahn of NHFA |