A joint announcement from the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) and the Graphic Communications Association (GCA) describes the creation of a new paper supply chain initiative involving a leadership structure and standards process for the North American pulp, paper and paperboard industry. This 'papiNet NA' initiative is part of an international effort to "develop e-business processes and standards for the total paper supply chain" and represents collaborative effort between the European Paper Consortium (EPC) and papiNet NA (the North American Group). "The goal is a single set of unified, international XML-based e-business standards designed to improve the efficiency and accuracy of transactions throughout the supply chain, while reducing the cost of operations. The work of papiNet NA will support the ongoing papiNet standards effort begun in 2000, which focuses on publication, fine and packaging grades of paper, paperboard and their supply chains. Five standards have been developed and are in the implementation stage, including purchase order, order confirmation, call-off (delivery schedule), delivery message and invoice." Relevant XML DTDs are accessible from the papiNet web site.

From the papiNet web site:

From September to December 2000, the combined European / North American Project Team worked to develop the papiNet Standard. Version 0, Release .99 of the papiNet standard (V0R99) is the result of that collaboration. This public pre-release is to broaden awareness and testing of the standard within the industry. It covers the following five transactions: Purchase Order; Order Confirmation; Call Off; Delivery Message; Invoice. Version 1.0 of the papiNet standard is scheduled for release in late June, 2001.

Future Directions: The second phase of papiNet development, scheduled for the first half of 2001, will include Request for Quote and Receipt Advise messages. In addition, the Working Group is analyzing the business processes for Vendor Managed Inventory and will identify appropriate transactions to include, such as Forecasts and Usage Reports. Additional messages such as Quality Reports, Product Catalog, and Debit/Credit messages are also being considered. North American and European teams have been formed to identify the business processes for pulp products. These processes will be harmonized and brought into the papiNet technical development process for integration into the existing message standards. Similar efforts are planned for recovered paper, building materials, and packaging materials.