Development of a framework system for tool integration in a product information archive (original) (raw)

A foundation for interoperability in next-generation product development systems

Computer-Aided Design, 2001

United States industry spends billions of dollars as a result of poor interoperability between computer-aided engineering software tools. While ongoing standards development efforts are attempting to address this problem in today's tools, the more signi®cant demand in nextgeneration tools will be for representations that allow information used or generated during various product development activities to feed forward and backward into others by way of direct electronic interchange. Although the next generation of tools has the potential for greatly increased bene®ts, there is also a potential for the cost of poor interoperability to multiply. The goal of this work is to develop representations of information that are unavailable in traditional computer-aided engineering tools to support the exchange of product information in a distributed product development environment. This paper develops a vision of next-generation product development systems and provides a core representation for product development information on which future systems can be built. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.

A step toward STEP-compatible engineering data management: the data models of product structure and engineering changes

Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 1998

In an iterative design process, there is a large amount of engineering data to be processed. Well-managed engineering data can ensure the competitiveness of companies in the competitive market. It has been recognized that a product data model is the basis for establishing engineering database. To fully support the complete product data representation in its life cycle, an international product data representation and exchange standard, STEP, is applied to model the representation of a product. In this paper, the architecture of an engineering data management (EDM) system is described, which consists of an integrated product database. There are six STEP-compatible data models constructed to demonstrate the integratibility of EDM system using common data modeling format. These data models are product definition, product structure, shape representation, engineering change, approval, and production scheduling. These data models are defined according to the integrated resources of STEP/ISO 10303 (Parts 41-44), which support a complete product information representation and a standard data format. Thus, application systems, such as CAD/CAM and MRP systems, can interact with the EDM system by accessing the database based on the STEP data exchange standard.

Application of product data management technologies for enterprise integration

International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing, 2003

Product Data Management (PDM) systems and their offspring, Collaborative Product Development and Product Lifecycle Management technologies, aim to bring engineering enterprises together, allowing seamless interoperability between different departments and throughout the extended enterprises. However, there are a number of shortcomings in the current crop of commercially available systems, such as the lack of design knowledge sharing, links with Enterprise Resource Planning systems, knowledge management tools and a generic standard for PDM system implementation. This paper presents a proposed software solution to some of the above problems. In particular, the paper describes methodologies being developed that are aimed at overcoming the lack of analysable product information at the conceptual stage of product design and manufacturing evaluation, along with the integration of such a concept design tool within a distributed environment. A leading PDM system is used to manage all the information and knowledge that is made available to internet/intranet users in a controlled manner. The international standard for exchange of product data model (STEP) is implemented to enable the integration of the design environment with manufacturing and enterprise resource management systems. In addition, the paper also introduces three other recent/ ongoing projects, being carried out at Cranfield University, in the application of PDM, knowledge management and STEP standard for integrated manufacturing businesses.

An infrastructure for inter-organizational collaborative product development

Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

Inter-organizational collaborative product development relies heavily on Internet-based technology. As heterogeneous computer environments are typically used in such cases, problems related with data sharing and work coordination at the global level are basic obstacles for widespread implementation of the concept of virtual engineering teams in global product development. In this paper, a software infrastructure is proposed to solve the addressed problems. An event-driven software component framework called the STEP Object Management Framework (SOMF) enables the sharing of common STEP-based product model data, manages collaborative and distributed workflows and provides interfaces to OMG compliant Product Data Management (PDM) systems and workflow management systems. The component framework is based on open standards (CORBA, STEP, Java) and permits a flexible configuration to meet the specific requirements of organizations involved in joint product development projects. 2. Problem Formulation and Requirements Specification Two or more groups of engineers collaborate to develop a product. They work in different locations using different systems (e.g., CAD/CAE/CAM systems) and computer platforms linked via the Internet (Fig. 1). They

Product Data and Knowledge Integration

Summary A major industrial challenge in computer-supported product development today is to establish corporate development across enterprises. Corporative distributed product development and engineering processes require an extensive use of advance information technology. The support to distributed processes and to the management of distributed product data and other engineering information resources is of special importance.

Development of an integrated product information management system

2004

This thesis reports on a research project undertaken over a four year period investigating and developing a software framework and application for integrating and managing building product information for construction engineering. The research involved extensive literature research, observation of the industry practices and interviews with construction industry practitioners and systems implementers to determine how best to represent and present product information to support the construction process. Applicable product models for information representation were reviewed and evaluated to determine present suitability. The IFC product model was found to be the most applicable. Investigations of technologies supporting the product model led to the development of a software tool, the IFC Assembly Viewer, which aided further investigations into the suitability of the product model (in its current state) for the exchange and sharing of product information. A software framework, or reusab...

The Semantic Interaction of Knowledge, Data andProcesses within the Product Development Process

2008

Multidisciplinary and holistic integration in today’s heterogeneous PLM environments is crucial in all development phases. It is seen as the key factor for multidisciplinary product development within a cross domain enterprise and a complex supply chain network. This paper describes and discusses a new approach how to integrate different development disciplines, lifecycle stages and IT systems as well as associated information, data and processes along the product creation process. A concept for a generic PLM integration platform is developed that contains fundamental components all for complex product development. These components include powerful solutions for requirement, program, process and product structure handling. The interaction of these solutions, especially the interdependencies of processes and shared data is in the foreground of this paper. Business processes are composed by the capabilities of the platform services and respectively the platform processing logic is con...

A PRODUCT MODEL BASED ARCHITECTURE FOR ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS SOFTWARE

2000

Some progress has been made in the establishment of agreed product models as the basis of a more open information-centric approach to engineering processes, both in the construction sector and beyond. Specific construction related initiatives, such as the CIS, the IFC and AP225 have been implemented in software and are now beginning to impact on industry. In common with other engineering sectors, these standards have drawn heavily on ISO 10303 (STEP), particularly the EXPRESS data definition language.

Product Based Interoperability–Approaches and Requirements

Proceedings of Challenges in …, 2007

Abstract: Product data, information and knowledge are the core ICT resources for collaborative design. This paper describes five different approaches to exchanging and sharing product data in collaborative engineering: 1) Document management, 2) ...