A History of Interoperability at ITI TranscenData

Since 2008 coincided with ITI's 25th anniversary, we wanted to provide an overview on how we got here. This is not simply a nostalgic trip down memory lane. All that ITI has accomplished has been through close relationships with OEM customers, PLM vendors and industry consortiums to create technical products and solutions that extend beyond simply data translation. This is a living history since we use these experiences everyday to solve our customer’s interoperability needs.

In the beginning there was IGES

Since 1983, ITI’s efforts have often been focused on standards for interoperability between early systems such as ComputerVision, AutoDesk and other pioneering CAD/CAM/CAE vendors. ITI was involved in the development and delivery of technologies and consulting to both CAD vendors and customers including Chrysler, Ford and Boeing that allowed the effective reuse of product data. ITI started a tradition of consortium involvement by participating in the IGES/PDES Organization as the group responsible for the IGES standard development. IGES has been replaced with STEP for 3D exchange but remains viable for 2D drawing exchange and other specialized applications. ITI’s customers such as Boeing, Pratt and Whitney, Schlumberger and others still maintain highly specialized, internally developed analytical tools that only accept high quality IGES files created through ITI’s technology.

2D Drawing Legacy Data Migration

The IGES format is also a driver for current ITI projects involving 2D Legacy Data Migration.  Many companies worldwide are still burdened with legacy drawings in formats such as CADAM, CADDS, Anvil and CADRA in addition to CATIA, NX, Pro/E and SolidWorks.  These drawings contain critical engineering information but are nearly unusable due to obsolescence in hardware, CAD systems, operating systems and waning human expertise.  ITI’s years of interoperability experience provides the ability to support and understand these older systems and their relationship to modern CAD formats.  This combined with extensive IGES checking and mapping functionality in ITI TranscenData’s IGESworks product allows customers to effectively migrate hundreds of thousands of legacy 2D drawings, at a greatly reduced cost in comparison to maintaining obsolete hardware and systems.

Creation of the STEP Standard

As 3D CAD product structure grew increasingly complex, PLM users gradually felt IGES was not sufficient to handle their needs.   This would necessitate the definition of data models and practices that define ISO 10303, otherwise known as the STEP standard.  The objective of STEP was to provide a mechanism that was capable of describing product data throughout the life cycle of a product, independent from any particular system.  ITI was involved from the beginning in PDES Inc. ,the consortium of industrial and vendor companies tasked with defining the standard.  A great deal of early PDES Inc. activity was devoted to the establishment of the AP203 and AP214 protocols which greatly improved the interoperability between modern CAD systems.  ITI remains actively involved in the continued development of STEP as applied to product data interoperability, quality checking and archival.

The PDElib Interoperability Toolkit

With the advancement of interoperability formats in the 90’s and the combination of PLM vendor, end customer and ITI internal translation development needs, ITI TranscenData’s PDElib Interoperability Toolkit was created.  PDElib is a comprehensive suite of software modules for developing applications based on today's popular interoperability standards and kernels. PDElib serves as the foundation for translators offered by the leading CAD/CAM/CAE vendors such as Siemens PLM Software, Dassault Systemes, PTC, AutoDesk, MSC, Mentor Graphics and others. In addition to vendor partnerships, PDElib is used by leading manufacturers such as Boeing and Lockheed Martin to develop translation capabilities for IGES, STEP, VDAFS, DXF, DWG, ACIS, and Parasolid.  By working closely with Boeing for example, ITI could add Boeing’s internal AGPS format as another PDElib module to accelerate interoperability for Boeing and its partners.

CAD to CAx Interoperability

While the ITI group in Cincinnati, Ohio focused on core CAD data translation products and solutions into the mid 90’s, a company called FEGS Ltd.  in Cambridge, UK had also been working to solve customer needs in the area of 3D interoperability between CAD and CAE systems.  FEGS and their interoperability product CADfix were acquired in 1998 and seamlessly merged into ITI.  CADfix provides a solution for the problems of data exchange and re-use between different engineering systems and applications. It allows the user to import CAD data and then to repair and manipulate it into a form most suitable for the downstream application.  This process helps to eliminate expensive manual CAD model repair and rework.  CADfix is also adept in the realm of defeaturing to enable creation of suitable analytical models for FEA, CFD and CEM applications. CADfix helps to streamline CAD to CAD/CAE integrations for proprietary systems and for specialist in-house analysis systems.  ITI continues to expand the use of knowledge embedded in geometry with the development of leading edge Geometric Reasoning Technology.

CAD Model Quality and Validation

The development of technologies to solve an assortment of translation challenges is still a large part of ITI’s business but, the focus shifted in 1997 to wider interoperability challenges customers needed to address.  ITI found that inefficiencies in using CAD data were produced by quality problems that prevented the efficient reuse of this data within companies and their supply chain.   This was the starting point for the world’s first Multi-CAD, Model Quality and Validation product called CADIQ.  CADIQ takes the approach that in order to optimize an interoperability processes, the before and after quality of converted data in addition to the native validation/comparison of converted CAD and product structure data is critical.  CADIQ is able to address a much wider range of Product Data Quality and Validation Scenarios by working directly off the native CAD formats in combination with the standard and kernel formats of IGES, STEP and Parasolid.  Native model access and our history in guiding CAD Model Quality and STEP Quality and Validation for Archival standards are just two Benefits to working with ITI and CADIQ.

Automation of Exchange, Repair, Validation and Secure Transmission

ITI realized that customers had strong business drivers toward centralizing, organizing, and managing the CAD and PLM files they generate and receive while becoming more tightly and securely integrated with customers and suppliers.  To this end, ITI TranscenData created the DEXcenter (Data Exchange Center) product as a server-based system providing convenient and reliable exchange of data via the Internet/Intranet.  ITI customers such as Boeing, SNECMA, Samsung and P&H Mining focus on the application of DEXcenter for CAD Data Exchange Automation.  Other customers such as Inalfa, Honeywell, Seagate and Toyota Australia apply DEXcenter as a supporting portal for Supplier CAD Data Collaboration. For either scenario, the DEXcenter allows for more efficient, repeatable and secure conversion, healing, validation and transmission processes.  The DEXcenter works with ITI technologies but the real value for ITI’s customers is from the open and flexible framework that allows the integration of almost any interoperability technology or process from ITI’s competitors to customer internally developed applications.  The DEXcenter can be the primary framework of an interoperability strategy or fit within existing customer frameworks.

STEPcenter Enterprise Server

STEPcenter Enterprise Server is an enterprise software application that automates the translation, validation and distribution of STEP data. STEPcenter is a pre-packaged solution that leverages the mature, robust capabilities of ITI TranscenData's DEXcenter and CADIQ solutions to automatically generate and validate STEP files for long term data archival as well as for suppler exchange.

PLM Integration and Migration

ITI realizes that customers don’t live in a standalone CAD world and the PLM Integration and Migration solutions business vision is to enable clients to more effectively manage and share their engineering product data. ITI provides a suite of PLM integrations through vendor/OEM partnerships with the major PLM vendors such as Adobe, ENOVIA/MatrixOne, PTC, and Siemens PLM. In addition to developing PLM integration products, we provide PLM implementation and migration consulting services. Having managed software development and project execution for numerous projects, ITI TranscenData PLM consultants are well positioned to understand the requirements and develop solutions for each customer's unique PLM integration or migration challenges.

Summary

Twenty Five years of experience provide ITI with the unique ability to provide solutions that enable companies to effectively exchange, heal, reuse, integrate and automate sharing of engineering product data among diverse software applications used throughout a manufacturing enterprise and its supply chain.  Interoperability means much more than data translation to ITI TranscenData.  A look at ITI TranscenData indicates a company that is customer and solution focused.  We consult with companies in assessing their current interoperability needs, plan appropriate solutions and execute and manage the delivery of these projects in a professional manner.  We look forward to working with our customers for the next 25 years.

About ITI TranscenData

ITI TranscenData is the product data interoperability business within International TechneGroup Incorporated (ITI). ITI TranscenData provides interoperability solutions that enable companies to effectively exchange, reuse, integrate and share engineering product data among diverse software applications used throughout a manufacturing enterprise and its supply chain. ITI TranscenData solutions are aimed directly at reducing and eliminating non-value-added time and costs associated with reusing product data. ITI TranscenData solutions are distributed worldwide through a combination of direct sales, resellers, and strategic vendor/OEM partners. Included among ITI TranscenData’s customers are ABB, Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, EADS, Ford, Honeywell, Lego, Lockheed Martin, NASA, MAHLE Powertrain, Pratt & Whitney, Raytheon, Renault, Rockwell Collins, Rolls Royce, Samsung Electronics, Siemens Automotive, Snecma, Spirit AeroSystems, Thales, ThyssenKrupp, US Air Force, US Army, Xerox and others.

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