Linear Technology Skips Electronic Data Interchange

Electronic News, August 27, 2001 by Rob Spiegel

AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO IMPLEMENTING ELECTRONIC DATA interchange (EDI), El Segundo, Calif.-based Syncata put chipmaker Linear Technology Corp. of Milpitas, Calif., onto the Internet to facilitate e-commerce with distributor Arrow Electronics Inc. of Melville, N.Y., using interoperable XML technology. "Linear has established a foundation for collaborative commerce using open standards in just 90 days," said Aloke Nath, Syncata's chairman. "Arrow Electronics can now place orders and receive confirmation from Linear over the Internet. The Linear system even validates prices."

Arrow (nyse: ARW) collaborated closely with Linear (nasdaq: LLTC) and played an active role in the process of specifying how they would exchange purchase orders electronically. The two companies interfaced directly with Syncata, using established protocols. Syncata uses Microsoft's Biztalk Server 2000 Platform as an XLM-based alternative to EDI.