Northrop Grumman has developed an industry-wide eCommerce system with the help of the steel producers, outside processors and the AISI. The system, (www.SteelPartner.com™) will provide web-based transaction management capabilities for steel producers, service centers and distribution centers linking them to their outside processors via the Internet. SteelPartner™ is a closed loop coil tracking system designed to support material movement and processing within the steel industry. It supports setup of products and processes, material shipments and receipts, processing (including blanking, slitting, and inspection), reapplication of coils to new orders, inventory reconciliation between processors and mills, quality (material hold / release tracking), and provides a variety of standard reports. Our proven eCommerce system architecture offers a low risk solution at a very low cost.

SteelPartner is an Internet website. It is used by steel producers to communicate with their outside processors (metal processors) and warehouses using Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). Behind the scene, SteelPartner receives EDI for the steel producer and creates and sends the required EDI transaction to the metal processors and warehouses over the Internet. Metal processors and warehouse users logon to SteelPartner.com and enter their data as material is received, produced, and shipped and EDI is transmitted back to the steel producer.

Metal processors and warehouses license SteelPartner on an annual basis. The metals processor needs a reliable Internet connection, a newer computer (but not necessarily the newest), and Internet Explorer 5.0 or better. The beauty of SteelPartner is that there isn't any special software to buy and install. There are no disks to install and no complicated manuals to read. The metal processors and warehouses are not required to know EDI or communications protocols or backup procedures. Northrop Grumman does all the system administration (system back-ups, security.) metal processors and warehouses only worry about the metals business, not the technology.