HUNTSVILLE, Ala.--Oct. 14, 2003--Nearly one-fourth of all manufacturers in the United States are involved in the printing sector. Steve Wakefield, President of Sword Microsystems, addressed the Print-for-Distribution challenges and need for an industry-wide standard. According to Wakefield, the Print-for-Distribution segment is that portion of the print market served by independent print distributors. "These distributors provide a broad range of printed product solutions to their clients." Wakefield also insisted that there is a need for an industry-wide business interchange, "The industry is highly fragmented, with each company working with a large number of trading partners. As the competition has increased and time demands shortened, the supply-chain is being forced to move away from standard fax/mail mechanisms for business transactions toward more efficient electronic means. However, implementing one-off interface solutions between the many diverse systems and organizations is cost prohibitive. An industry-wide standard with wide adoption is the only pathway that will allow the time and profit improvement potential of electronic transactions to be realized." The standardization initiative by Sword Microsystems was undertaken by the primary trade organization representing the print-for-distribution market segment, the Document Management Industries Association (DMIA), in response to demand by their membership. Sword has worked with DMIA and several manufacturers, distributors, and distributor back-office software organizations over the past three years in analyzing and developing print standards. Sword also has over ten years of experience designing and implementing electronic business transaction solutions for a variety of clients within this industry segment. According to Wakefield, "The principal goal is to provide an incremental step forward in promoting the industry-wide adoption of a single standard. This will be accomplished by providing a roadmap to implementing a compliant system, thereby removing the ambiguity and complexity of each organization starting with just a standards document."