Concurrent Engineering through Product Data Standards

Concurrent engineering involves the integration of people, systems and information into a responsive, efficient system. Integration of computerized systems allows additional benefits: automatic knowledge capture during development and lifetime management of a product, and automatic exchange of that knowledge among different computer systems. Critical enablers are product dat standards and enterprise integration frameworks. A pioneering assault on the complex technical challenges is associated with the emerging international Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP). Surpassing in scope previous standards efforts, the goal is a complete, unambiguous, computer- readable definition of the physical and functional characteristics of a product throughout its life cycle. U.S. government agencies, industrial firms, and standards organizations are cooperating in a program, Product Data Exchange using STEP (PDES), to develop and implement STEP in a shared-database environment. PDES will lead to higher, integrated levels of automation based upon information standards and frameworks. U.S. manufacturers will benefit from concurrent engineering without sacrificing the historical strengths and traditions of individuality, initiative, and intellectual property rights. Concurrent engineering, through information technology and standards, represents the power of a new industrial revolution. The role of the NIST National PDES testbed, technical leadership and a testing-based foundation for the development of STEP, is described.