THE Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has opened a website on the Internet. The site serves as a billboard for the society's services to the UK motor industry and acts as the front of house for a paper-free system being developed to send technical data to its members.

The electronic transfer facility is currently being trialled by a small group of SMMT members, and is expected to be unveiled at Autotech '97 on November 4. A spokesman for the society said: 'We've been looking at moving from paper to electronic transfer for some time, and we are at a stage now with Internet accessibility that a password-protected system will soon be made available to all members.'

He added that Autotech '97, the SMMT-supported three-day automotive engineering and manufacturing conference at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, from November 4-6, was likely to be its official launchpad. Building work on the website itself began more than four months ago, and although it has just gone live, there are several areas still under construction. In addition to sections detailing services such as Odette (The Organisation For Data Exchange By Tele-Transmission In Europe) and ACORD (Automotive Consortium on Recycling and Disposal), SMMT departments, publications and exhibitions, the site includes vacancies, awards, contact points, regulations, international trade and news pages.

To view the site click here.