January 2006 - ProSTEP iViP Challenge 2005: Winners of the ProSTEP iViP Association’s Ideas Competition Present Their Ideas
January 2006 - In 2005, the ProSTEP iViP Association created an ideas competition, the ProSTEP iViP Challenge. The aim of this competition is to provide a platform for innovative project ideas based on research performed in the Association and thus establish a dialog with industry and facilitate incorporation of these ideas into industrial practice. All the research institutes and universities that are members of the Association were invited to submit project ideas. A large number of institutes from Germany, Austria and Great Britain accepted this challenge. The problems tackled and the approaches for a solution presented are relevant to industry and involve topics such as requirements management, logistics, IT security, STEP, OMG PLM Services and digital manufacturing.
Last November, the three winners of the first ProSTEP iViP Challenge were announced after the selection procedure was brought to a successful close. The Association will now be providing the winners with the support they need to further develop their project ideas. The winners will be presenting their topics to the public at a series of workshops being held in the weeks to come. The workshops will allow the winners to discuss their ideas and define them in more concrete detail with those attending.
The winners are:
PLM Services for Mechatronic Products Considering Federative Sources
The challenge of developing mechatronic products lies in the interaction between the related disciplines. In this respect, the development of interfaces between the software tools involved and ensuring the consistent exchangeability of product data constitute the major problem being faced. It is vital that a comprehensive, all-encompassing view be taken of the dependencies involved.
On 31 January 2006, the Department for Computer Integrated Design (DiK) at the TU Darmstadt presented its prize-winning project idea. Industry representatives underscored the relevance of mechatronics-related topics and outlined potential solution approaches, especially the options offered by the PLM Services, in their presentations. The feedback from the more than 20 people attending was extremely positive. It is intended that a consortium be established and a project plan for “PLM Services for Mechatronics” be approved in a later workshop.
Securing Product Data along the Engineering Supply Chain
The virtual product bundles all available information relating to a product and therefore represents intellectual property that is definitely worth protecting. In practice, however, rigid protection measures represent a contradiction to the need for close cooperation with numerous partners.
The workshop being held 7 February 2006 under the direction of Computer Graphics Center (ZGDV e.V.) will provide those attending with an overview of current approaches and provide information on how companies can deal with the risks posed by e-engineering in practice. The question of whether and how secure cross-enterprise collaboration can be realized will be addressed.
Open Digital Manufacturing
The term “digital manufacturing” is used to refer to technologies such as integrated production process planning and factory automation. Ultimately, focus is placed on optimizing production, reducing time and costs while at the same time improving quality. The demand for greater integration of engineering and production is growing.
The Chair of Production Systems and Industrial Engineering (APS) at the University of Dortmund is involved in this area. The workshop being held 14 February 2006 will provide a forum for those attending to discuss their particular topics of interest relating to digital manufacturing. Focus will be placed on the integration of CAD/CAM, PDM and ERP, as well as on the further development of existing measures for process optimization, methods and tools.
You will find more information on the ProSTEP iViP Challenge and the workshops in the Internet at www.prostep.org.
Would you like to attend one of the workshops? Please register with: ProSTEP iViP Association, Ingrid Markrab, telephone: +49-(0)6151-9287 443, e-mail: ingrid.markrab@prostep.com.
