PIES Version 6.3 Focuses on Market Copy and Package Contents
Product Information Standard Retains Backward Compatibility While Moving Forward
BETHESDA, MD – April 28, 2011 – The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) announced the general release of the Product Information Exchange Standard (PIES) version 6.3. This minor version change responds to the aftermarket industry’s growing appetite for standards-based product content and item-level attribute information. Nearly every feature of version 6.3 is backward compatible with recent earlier versions of PIES and protects the industry investment in product information management technology.
Among the additions to this technical specification is a new segment for marketing copy that relates to a company, brand or series of products – apart from product specific descriptions. The format design has been modified to support additional rich content such as company or brand descriptions, images and other digital assets such as brochures, warranty information, and other collateral content that is not product-specific. To more clearly communicate the contents of a package, the revised standard includes new elements to describe the size and measurement volume characteristics of a product and its container type (16 OZ bottle, for example).
“PIES version 6.3 represents the steady progress our industry is making in managing complex product information in support of the customer,” said Scott Luckett, vice president, technology standards, AAIA. “The bar of customer expectations is constantly rising and the winners in the aftermarket industry will be those who embrace the notion of rich product content as a point of differentiation and competitive advantage.”
PIES is an open industry standard prescribing the best practice for the management and exchange of hundreds of elements of rich product content for application, as well as non-application products in the vehicle aftermarket. To download the documentation packet or learn more about open standards for the vehicle aftermarket, visit www.aftermarket.org/technology.