Pinnacles Group opens up its CIS standards effort; Consortium widens to enhance and implement standards for the exchange of electronic data.

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 15, 1995--The Pinnacles Group, an independent consortium of five semiconductor companies, has opened up membership in its organization to continue the enhancement of its international standard for the electronic exchange of component data.

Ultimately, the Pinnacles Group intends to bring itself under the umbrella of the CAD Framework Initiative (CFI, Austin) in order to coordinate its efforts with other industry standards.

The original five Pinnacles member companies -- Hitachi Microsystems, Intel, National Semiconductor, Philips Semiconductors, and Texas Instruments -- are already experiencing the benefits of reduced cost of sales and cycle times through their internal implementations of the Pinnacles Component Information Standard.

For example, TI is saving at least two-thirds its labor cost in producing its product data by converting its documentation into PCIS format. This allows them to use a single data source to deliver data in four forms:

- CD-ROM delivery

- Internet delivery

- Master selection guide (specs indexed by product)

- Fax-on-demand (custom data sheets extracted as SGML-enhanced "fragments" instead of the entire data sheets).

Recruitment efforts for new Pinnacles member companies will be driven by Rita Glover, a longtime EDA industry consultant and market analyst with EDA Today (Phoenix), who has been named director of business development for the Pinnacles Group.

Glover stated, "Over 70 percent of the cost of an electronic hardware product is attributable to its components, so any aid to the selection and management of components will reduce this cost and have a major impact on the bottom line.

"To meet the challenges of today's marketplace, it's crucial that component information be delivered to system designers, procurement, manufacturing, and inventory control personnel in a standard, tool-usable form."

Pinnacles voting memberships are being offered at two levels -- the Working Group level and the Project Technical Advisory Board (PTAB) level. A PTAB membership includes a voting membership in each existing Working Group. Currently, there are two Working Groups:

-- The PCIS (Pinnacles Component Information Standard) Working Group will continue and expand the work begun independently by the five companies in the Pinnacles Group.

-- The CIDS (Component Information Dictionary Standard) Working Group will continue and expand efforts to achieve a standard representation dictionary for component information.

The Pinnacles Group was formed in 1992 as an independent consortium to accelerate the development and encourage commercial implementors to develop, deliver and use electronic component information.

CONTACT: Pinnacles Group, Phoenix

Rita Glover, 602/581-8787; Fax: [phone]

email: [e-mail]

or

CAD Framework Initiative Inc., Austin

Sarah Logsdon, 512/338-3285

email: [e-mail]