News Release

For Immediate Release
AAIA-08-00

For more information, contact Rich White, (301) 654-6664.

ASANETWORK and AAIA Cooperate on Worldwide Shop Integration Standards

Frankfurt, Germany - April 14th, 2000 - Representatives of asanetwork gmbh and the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) have committed to cooperate on the design of a single worldwide standard for the interconnectivity of computerized shop equipment. Both ASA and AAIA have solutions that allow customer, vehicle and service repair information to be exchanged between disparate pieces of shop equipment. In the initial phase of this effort a software bridge will be engineered between the two technologies. The cooperative effort between these leading automotive organizations will ensure that vehicle repair shops, worldwide, have the advantage of interconnecting back-shop equipment with information servers and shop management computer systems.

asanetwork gmbh comes under the umbrella of ASA, the German Garage Equipment Association. asanetwork, the European communications standard for the interconnectivity of shop equipment, is supported by Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, and 45 other clients in the European community. Managing Director, Peter Rehberg, explains "our cooperative development effort with AAIA assures global marketing opportunities for our member companies and total freedom of choice for our clients in the selection of high-technology shop equipment".

Last year, AAIA formed the Shop Integration Task Force under the direction of the Electronic Commerce Committee of the association. The task force was charged with creating a single, open standard with contributions from Snap-on Corporation and the Enterprise Alliance, authors of the Passport Standard (Charter members - ALLDATA, Anderson BDG, Hunter Engineering, SPX, and Vetronix). The new shop integration standard from AAIA includes the best features from two existing solutions in North America and offers an open format for future development.

"The old model of solutions built on closed and proprietary technology is no longer valid", said Gene Gardner, president of AAIA. "This new cooperation with ASA means North American equipment manufacturers will be able to build to a single standard and enjoy full connectivity with repair shops using the asanetwork in Europe and elsewhere".

ASA, the German Garage Equipment Association with 90 members represents nearly 80% of German manufacturers and importers for garage equipment. The association was founded in 1972 and is a member of the European Garage Equipment Association. asanetwork gmbh was founded in 1998 to establish a neutral communication standard for the Automotive Trade. The shareholders are members of the ASA-Association.

The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA) is a Bethesda, Md.-based association whose member companies manufacture, distribute and sell motor vehicle parts, accessories, tools, equipment, materials and supplies. The organization is comprised of manufacturers, distributors, jobbers, wholesalers, retailers, manufacturer's representatives and other companies doing business in the automotive aftermarket. AAIA formerly served the automotive aftermarket as ASIA and APAA.

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