WS eBIZ: standardisation initiative for European textile clothing footwear
CEN Workshop eBusiness in the fashion industry, textile, clothing and footwear (WS eBIZ): January 2012 - June 2013
A CEN Standardisation initiative was promoted by CEN, EURATEX and ENEA: a CEN Workshop eBIZ provided a framework for stakeholders and experts to develop solutions for boosting the use of eBusiness and improving the interoperability of B2B (Business-to-Business) data exchange through the supply chain of the fashion industry – including textiles, clothing and footwear.
The kick-off meeting was in Bruxelles on March 29th 2012 (see a summary).
Chaired by the EURATEX Director General Mr. Francesco Marchi the Workshop went to the end on June 2013 after 18 months of activity.
This initiative, is part of the more general eBIZ initiative, a permanent initiative leaded by Euratex with the collaboration of ENEA.
Ultimately the initiative aimed at helping SMEs, as well as large companies in the sector to innovate and improve their communications with both suppliers and clients.
A short history
Following the succesful accomplishment of the eBIZ-TCF project www.ebiz-tcf.eu, EURATEX (the European Apparel and Textile Confederation) and ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies) proposed to CEN (the official European organisation for Standards) the European initiative on digital communication for the sectors, the eBIZ CEN Workshop on e-Business in the fashion industry, textile, clothing and footwear (namely CEN WS eBIZ).
Launched by the European Commission, the eBIZ-TCF project (2008-2010) was run by EURATEX, CEC (The European Confederation of the Footwear Industry) and ENEA who were responsible for eBIZ technical developments.
eBIZ-TCF developed a Reference Architecture for data exchange that is publicly available and that was based on the (harmonisation of) experiences and specifications coming from Moda-ML, Shoenet and GS1.
eBIZ-TCF proved the benefits of interoperability in digital communications across the supply chain, particularly for costs reduction, efficiency gains, new services and time-to-market for fashion goods that has been testified by both fashion, largely SMEs, and ICT companies (see case histories).
The new initiative
The new CEN eBIZ Workshop aimed at taking the eBIZ results one step further, towards a single (harmonised) eBusiness language, to be widely adopted by the Fashion industry.
Among the others, a point updated in the Reference Architecture is the support to flows of goods with RFID on board.
This Workshop within 18 months provided the opportunity for concerned stakeholders to work together identifying gaps, needs and solutions for a wider e-Business adoption.
In particular, it gave the opportunity to ICT companies to participate in the eBIZ upgrade and to align their products with European market needs.
The structure of the Reference Architecture
The Reference Architecture is a CEN CWA (CWA 16667) and is structured as
set of online resources (guides, XML Schemas, examples, etc.): eBIZ Resources 2013
Who participated
Individual and organisations were enabled to participate CEN WS eBIZ.
Participation was free, allowing to view and comment the draft documents to be produced and to vote for their approval.
The largest part of the activities were performed either in presence or in distance.
The 60 days public consultation on the eBIZ Architecture
At the end of the activities, at CEN a 60 days public consultation was launched on the eBIZ Architecture for European Textile Clothing and Footwear industry.
In that period comments and proposals for updates were allowed (and welcome) before to publish the Architecture as official CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA).
A presentation of eBIZ benefits for the fashion supply chains explained by entrepreneurs and technician of the firms already adopting it:
IN.CO, Cariaggi, Piacenza, Loro Piana, Albini and others.
A brochure presenting eBIZ: a short introduction and then testimonials from industry and ict providers (from al Europe), data about benefits of its adoption...
Reference Architecture 2.0 for eBusiness harmonisation in Textile/Clothing and Footwear sectors, CEN Workshop Agreement (CWA) CWA 16667, July 2013
Past reference: ftp://ftp.cen.eu/CEN/Sectors/List/ICT/Workshops/eBIZ_CWA.pdf
Slides: The eBIZ Reference Architecure, Explanatory notes about the 2010 version of the reference architecture, English language (ex DI511-020) (vnd.ms-powerpoint, 2810880 bytes, v1, 21/12/2012)
