Chapter 12: Standards and de Facto Standards in PDM and SCM

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Overview

The best thing with standards is that there are so many to choose from. —C. Northcote Parkinson

We have seen that PDM and SCM systems usually consist of several tools that exchange or use common data. We have also seen the importance of the ability to integrate these tools with other engineering tools. As these tools have neither common data nor a common information model, exchange of information is one of the major problems in their use. To avoid this interoperation problem, tool providers and, in many cases, tool users define the standards with which these tools comply. Many of these standards originate in defense industry applications. As early as the 1960s, U.S. defense industries addressed the problem of poor quality and high costs caused by ordering and integrating inappropriate parts by introducing rules and later standards in CM. The introduction and application of these standards has significantly improved development procedures and production quality. CM became an established concept in the defense industry and spread to other industries; NASA adopted the first standard for CM, AFSCM 375-1 [1], for development of the Saturn V spacecraft. Later, many CM standards appeared internationally on civilian commercial level. Organizations such as ANSI, ISO, and IEEE introduced many standards related to SCM and CM.

In addition to formally established standards, de facto standards are used in many tools. Most of the de facto standards originate in large companies with a major influence on the market. The de facto standards have origins in other communities (e.g., the open source community). De facto standards have become so important for a large range of users that all tool providers have been forced to use them.

Standards and de facto standards vary considerably in their scope, in their purpose, in the formality of their acceptance, and in their use.

With respect to PDM and SCM systems, we can classify standards as those used for information exchange in its broadest meaning or those that specify processes in particular domains. Further, some standards are applicable to SCM only or to PDM only, or standards that are valid for both PDM and SCM and, in many cases, for other domains. Several CM standards were acquired by SCM. Finally, some standards can be directly implemented by software (typically, the implementation of particular protocols or the management of particular data formats); others involve human activities and can possibly be supported, but not automated, by tools (usually processrelated standards).

Models are closely related to standards. Models may specify a particular activity, process, or technology in a manner similar to standards, but may be of a more general nature and not as precisely specified as standards.

In this chapter, we present certain standards, de facto standards, and models that are extensively used in PDM and SCM.

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