Automotive Network Exchange (ANX): The Largest Extranet

Automotive Network Exchange (ANX) is the largest extranet in the world. Companies in the automotive market share manufacturing data over ANX.

It involves more than 10,000 companies. It includes CAD/CAM file transfers, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), e-mail, and groupware.

An extranet is the Automotive Network Exchange (ANX) network formed by manufacturing corporations (GM, Ford, Chrysler, and others). This extranet was formed by the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG) to provide a common communication infrastructure among automotive trading partners. ANX is intended for North America initially, with plans to expand worldwide with over 3000 trading partners.

The drivers for ANX are control communications cost with predictable service quality, support of a common set of applications (e.g., EDI, database look-up, web, e-mail, and Computer-Aided-Design [CAD] file transfer), and facilitated introduction of new applications (e.g., videoconferencing, interactive CAD) by using internet technology.

The architecture of ANX is shown in figure 3.5:

This network is shared by various Certified Service Providers (CSPS) that support the ANX subscribed trading partners. Public internet access is restricted through Internet Exchange Points that provide adequate security controls.

Benefits of ANX

1) ANX's EDI element alone will save the cost of designing and building each car.

2) It provides an estimated savings of billion a year for the industry.

3) Companies pay for fewer leased lines and satellite connections.

4) Standardising on one protocol suite (TCP/IP) reduces support costs.

5) The time to turn around an order will be much shorter.

6) The faster the parts come in, the faster the cars leave the assembly line, the larger the customer satisfaction and the manufacturer's profit.

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