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B2B Project - Steel Online
The Steel Online Project is an initiative of ASI to develop standards to help the implementation of lower-cost internet-based technology, especially for the steel industry’s SME supply chain members.
Steel Online was born after BlueScope Steel Limited commissioned a white paper which investigated the evolution of ‘internet based’ document standards globally. The findings of such investigation were presented to a group of interested industry players. The group engaged its peak industry body, Australian Steel Institute, who submitted an application for funding and was successful in securing a grant from the Australian Government’s Information Technology Online Program (ITOL). ASI, in conjunction with an industry steering group, has control and ongoing stewardship of the project and the standards.
Objectives
The Project’s objectives were to:
- Develop transport and messaging protocols that suit the steel industry defined at a detailed and implementable level. These decisions must be agreed to and endorsed by all ASI Consortium members
- Develop general awareness of the working group, its purpose and the benefits of e-business among the wider steel industry community
ASI Role
The role of ASI is:
- To provide Project management functions and administration tasks including liaison with the Government
- To take responsibility for the communication, education and adoption of the deliverables to the broader steel industry, outside of the immediate consortium
Consortium
The Consortium Members undertake to support the Project and participate in workshops and meetings by:
- Providing process expertise and knowledge of SME’s
- Actively contributing to debate on process change issues
- Working through and validating XML documents at a detailed level
  
 
 
Steering Committee
The role of the Steering Committee members is to:
- Provide sponsorship for the Project within their organisation and trading community
- Be the main body that provides project direction and acts as a point of escalation
- Members are: Ian Cairns (ASI – Chairman); Tony Hart (BlueScope Steel – Project Manager); Allan Strong (OneSteel); John Earle (Smorgon Steel BS); Dirk d’Silva (Smorgon Steel Distribution); Mark McSweeney (RollPress - Proplate Group); Tony McAlister (Stramit); Hasan Kanji (Metroll); Richard Wilson (Coil Steels)
Technology Team
The Technology Team members will:
- Provide expertise in the area of messaging protocol, transport protocol and security and service level agreements
- Be expected to draw upon other specialists in their organisations and be able to review and approve deliverables
- Work actively to resolve issues and build consensus amongst the group
- Members are: Adam Foster (BlueScope Steel); Ian Cairns (ASI); Brett Campbell (Smorgon Steel); Jason Flood (OneSteel); Mick Stoneman (OneSteel); Allan Strong (OneSteel); Kamal Weerawa (Smorgon Steel); Richard Wilson (Coil Steels); Rod Poidevin (BlueScope Steel)
Deliverables
- Establishment of a B2B standards working group with a clearly defined charter, governance and operating model
- Reaching consensus on and definition of the collaborative business processes that were identified as being important to the steel industry. These include sourcing, ordering, scheduling, shipping, invoicing and payment
- For each of the above processes, defining supporting XML based messaging document-structures and implementation guidelines. The emphasis is on re-use of work done by standards groups such as Eurofer, BASDA and OAG. Selecting suitable messaging protocols keeping the upstream and downstream interoperability needs in mind. This is largely about aligning to a messaging protocol framework such as ebXML, and interpreting the standard specifically for the large and small organisations in the steel supply chain
- Assessment of product catalogue standards with a view to defining products consistently in business documents such as purchase orders
- Assessment of transport protocols with a view to recommending appropriate cost-effective choices for trading partners with varying levels of technological capabilities
- Development of a template for Service Level Agreements (SLA’s) between buyers and suppliers
'Beyond' Steel Online
The Steering Committee is continuing its work and has set a target of obtaining a "total" E solution for the steel industry, in particular for small to medium organisations.
The initial focus of the Steering Committee is on obtaining an easy-to-install, cost-effective technology set that readily integrates with the likes of MYOB, Quicken etc., thus delivering an immediate benefit for these organisations.
Obviously, the Steering Committee will continue to liaise with the larger technology organisations ensuring opportunities and prices are kept competitive.
An initial pilot was undertaken by BlueScope Steel, Roll Press Group and OneSteel using XML Yes technology to prove the concept. The project now needs to expand into a live operational model.
Technology Team
Following the success of the development of the initial set of commercial documents, the Technology Team will focus their attention on the development of the second suite of commercially transacted documents and deal with other technology issues.
If you require any further information on the Steel Online Project contact ianc@steel.org.au
Useful Links
EUROFER (European Confederation of Iron and Steel Industries)
OASIS (Advanced E-Business Standards)
BASDA (Developer of XML Standards for Procurement)
XCBL (XML Common Business Library)
UN/CEFACT (United Nation Centre for Trade and E-Commerce)
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