FROM: NATIONAL MARINE MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION
200 E. Randolph Dr., Suite 5100
Chicago, IL 60601-6528
312-946-6200

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Lindsey Savin Johnson ljohnson@nmma.org 312-946-6204

MATES Developing Dealer Locator Standard for Marine Industry

Standard will help enhance systems that locate dealers online

CHICAGO, March 27, 2007 - - The Marine Association for Technology Standards (MATES) will begin work this month on a new dealer locator standard, which, once completed, will help provide more accurate and reliable dealer location information for consumers—and ultimately, more accurate leads to dealers. The Dealer Locator Data Standard will make it easier for marine companies to offer a dealer locating service on their respective web sites without having to maintain the databases or dealer query logistics behind it. Two MATES member companies—Channel Blade Technologies and boats.com—are co-chairing the effort to build this new standard.

“The purpose of creating this new standard is to facilitate a method of communication between two parties: Party A, who wants to implement a dealer locating service on its website or other system; and Party B, who will host the dealer locator system,” says boats.com’s Ian Penney, co-chair of the MATES committee designing the standard. “The key benefit of this system is it allows multiple third parties to implement a dealer locator without having to maintain dealer lists, demographics or associated business logic. Because this system is based on real time requests to a hosting party, it’s always guaranteed the returned data is accurate.”

Many leading marine entities already have dealer locating services on their websites; but by developing and supporting an industry standard for communication of dealer locator data, marine companies can save time, money and programming efforts. Fewer disparate systems will result, and a best-of-breed approach will help identify the key required or optional attributes of a dealership record for online retrieval.

Committee co-chair Justin Pakes of Channel Blade believes this standard will offer added benefit to boatbuilders as well. "This standard will benefit manufacturers as much as anyone, as it will promote a model of centralized control of dealer data and reduce the builder's need to provide and maintain this data across multiple vendors and partners,” says Pakes.

MATES published its first standard in 2006 for sales leads. As part of the Discover Boating Lead System, companies registered on GrowBoating.org can retrieve lead information in the MATES format—generic, structured and easy-to-use XML (Extensible Markup Language). The organization has also endorsed a standard for parts orders and co-developed a specification for inventory remarketing to be published this July. Other standards slated for future development include product registration, warranty claim, and credit processes, including credit application and credit decision.

Originally founded by a small group of industry leaders, the idea behind MATES is to streamline efforts needed to conduct business between trading partners (internal customers) so that each partner can focus on the revenue-generating aspects of their business (external customers). The association’s goal is to develop a set of data communication standards by which the marine industry at large can operate, effectively reducing IT burdens, eliminating system incompatibility and making it easier for companies to transact business with one another.

MATES founding and charter members include: boats.com; IDS; Channel Blade Technologies; MarineMax; NMMA; and Watch Captain.

The initial MATES Dealer Locator Standard meeting is scheduled for Thursday, March 29, at 4 p.m. EST. To join the conference call, dial (978) 964-0031 and enter pass code 4912934#.

“As with our previous committees, this is group effort and we welcome participation from interested dealers and manufacturers along with those that will build and host dealer locator services”, says MATES executive director John Warnik.

For more information on MATES or the specific benefits of membership, visit firstmates.org or contact Warnik at (312) 946-6295; jwarnik@nmma.org.

National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is the leading association representing the recreational boating industry. NMMA member companies produce more than 80 percent of the boats, engines, trailers, accessories and gear used by boaters and anglers in the United States. The association is dedicated to industry growth through programs in public policy, market research and data, product quality assurance and marketing communications.