EPM Technology in joint projects with leading research institutes

- EPM Technology is stepping up its cooperation with leading research environments. This in turn leads to an increasing influence of STEP based technology in general, as well as to the fact that our customers and the end-users greatly enjoy new applications and usage areas - both in the short and the long term.

University of Leon, Spain

One of the European universities using STEP is The University of Leon in Spain. The university is developing a moulds project and uses the ISO 10303 standard for product data representation and exchange. This allows them to integrate all the information produced along the life cycle of a product, using only one information format based on STEP, substituting all the existing formats used in the past.

- In this case, CASE tools and other software tools based on STEP to develop and control the generated models, are of great help to reach the proposed objectives, says Joaquin Barreiro Garcia of the University of Leon. - The intention is to use the EXPRESS Data Manager to create a mould parts database, based on features to the automatic manufacturing of moulds (using the Parts Library ISO-13584 and the Application Protocol ISO10303-AP224).

Information Modelling in the design and manufacturing of moulds

• Develop a design and manufacturing protocol in the mould sector.
• Develop a computer aided system to be used in the mould sector and integrate this with a commercial CAD system.
• Implement this manufacturing protocol by using databases which let us share information and by using neutral files to exchange information.

The Department of Manufacturing Process Engineering at the University of Leon engages six people: Five industrial engineers and a computer professional. Associated with this area is the Automatics and Manufacturing Research Institute. The main objectives are teaching and research. Currently, the research department is working on several projects such as information modelling in the design and manufacturing of moulds, evaluation of the machining of ironsteels, and analysis of parameters in the wire electric-discharge machining. The use of EPM's EXPRESS Data Manager will lead to a more efficient project management and workflow.

Construction Research in the Netherlands

TNO is the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. TNO's primary tasks are to support industry, the authorities and other groups of the community in technological innovation, and to assist clients in solving problems. TNO does this by rendering services and translating technologies into practical applications, either for individual companies or for research associations. TNO Building and Construction Research is a part of TNO. The main research areas are structural engineering, mechanical engineering, equipment design, materials science, construction techniques, numerical mechanics, dynamics, information technology, fire prevention, indoor environment, climate control and installations, quality assurance and strategic studies in construction. TNO's annual revenue is ECU 350 million, with a staff of 3800.

Major projects

TNO Building and Construction Research uses Express/STEP in a number of major projects; Brite Euram CONCUR, ESPIRIT eLSEwise, and the ESPIRIT GEM and ESPIRIT VEGA projects. TNO uses EPM's EXPRESS Data Manager(EDM) in the latter two projects, and the EDM gives better and more structured systems by simplyfying the exchange of data and documents between engineers.