Concurrent Engineering via Product Model- Based Information Management

This paper considers how support for concurrent engineering can be provided through the industrial deployment of informatics standards based upon Product Models. It draws on research conducted within the pan-European CIMsteel project, and will look beyond the first release of the CIMsteel Integration Standards (CIS/1.0) which are currently entering industrial deployment. The main focus of the paper is on the second release of the CIS, which will be deployed within industry during 1998. CIS/2 will deliver improved levels of file-based information exchange, as well as enabling CIS-compliant software applications to share information via a Product Model Repository (PMR). By employing a PMR, users of CIS-compliant applications will have greater support for concurrent engineering. The anticipated functionality of a prototype PMR is outlined. Additionally, the wider implications for the industrial realisation of concurrent engineering are considered.