New software from Lloyd's Register allows exchange of data and designs

ShipRight^IS is an integrated software system which will be installed in LR's plan appraisal centers in 14 key shipbuilding countries around the world, for use in checking ship structural strength for compliance with LR's design rules and direct calculation procedures. It will also be available to shipbuilders and consultants for ship design.

Jerry Goodwin, head of LR's Systems Development Group, said: "ShipRight^IS is a product model solution, with tools for developing the ship structure definition and applying rules based criteria and FEM analysis to determine scantlings. Data exchange with our clients has always been a necessity, but in the past this has been carried out in a traditional way using ship plans and drawings. LR chose EPM Technology's EXPRESS Data Manager to provide a STEP interface for ShipRight^IS.

"The persistent data repository, pre-compiled schemas and Part 21 file formatter provide a means to import and export structural definition data in a way which is seamless to the user. By including a STEP interface to ShipRight^IS from the very beginning, LR is able to provide a tool to ship designers which enables them to save their data in a neutral format, and take advantage of developments in the shipbuilding STEP AP's to exchange data with their CAD/CAM systems without the need for manual re-processing."

John Kendall, LR's technical manager of the SEASPRITE project which is developing data exchange and data sharing technology based on STEP, said: "A significant milestone has been reached in SEASPRITE with the export of ship plating system data from DNV's Nauticus program, Kockums Computer Systems Tribon Hull, and the NAPA system."

In each case the ship product data was successfully read into ShipRight^IS, using EPM Technology's STEP interface. During the next few months, the scope of the data exchange will be further developed to include structural details, profile sections and hull form shape definition.

These exchanges were based on subsets of AP218 which are being developed as business case protocols in conjunction with the European Marine STEP Association (EMSA).

Details of the ShipRight Integrated Software system can be obtained directly from LR's London office: fax: +44-171-423-2061 or see LR's web site http://www.lr.org/software/shipright/shipright-index.html.

Details of the SESASPRITE project can be obtained from the SEASPRITE web site http://www.lrtpdd.demon.co.uk

Intergraph's Notia - the first POSC/CAESAR data warehouse

Intergraph's Notia is the first commercially available data warehouse utilizing the POSC/CAESAR product data model. Software from EPM Technology is embedded in Notia to enable sharing and exchange of data.

Notia was developed last year for the VÅV¹ pilot project, sponsored by the three Norwegian oil and gas companies Statoil, Norsk Hydro, and Saga Petroleum. The objectives of the VÅV project were to develop a common technology for an asset information warehouse, implement the POSC/ CAESAR standard product data model, and to develop tools for the transfer of data from a legacy system into this new data warehouse.

EXPRESS Data Manager inside

Based on the POSC/CAESAR product data model and the Reference Data Library, Notia implements Intergraph's Asset and Information Management (AIM) system. Integrated are also modules from EPM Technology's product line EXPRESS Data Manager, namely EDMdeveloperSeat which includes the EDMinterface and EDMpart21handler, and EDMmodelConverter based on EXPRESS-X. The EXPRESS Data Manager software embedded in Notia as a run-time license, is the enabler for the actual importing and exporting of data in the Notia data warehouse.

Better than expected

Hans-Øivind Slettebø, project manager for the VÅV project, said: "We are very pleased with the Intergraph AIM data warehouse solution. The acceptance test, structured and accomplished in a very professional manner, was run successfully and on time. We are most satisfied with the quality which was actually better than expected."

The integrated solution will be implemented in Statoil's Åsgard B ó a USD 1.1 billion offshore oil and gas field development project. All engineers will be able to access all information about standard instrumentation equipment by using this highly advanced Intranet application.

Saga Petroleum and Norsk Hydro will soon be following with new implementations of the data warehouse solutions.

More information at:
http://www.intergraph.com/iss/products/pds/notia/

1)The VÅV project derives its name from the three oil fields Varg (Norsk Hydro), Åsgard (Statoil), and Visund (Saga Petroleum).

POSC/CAESAR is a joint industry project for creating standards for electronic data exchange and sharing in order to reduce life-cycle costs and development time of oil and gas facilities. For further information visit:
http://www.posc.org/caesar/

IBM with first mapping tool for POSC/CAESAR IBM's "Mapping Magician" has become the first tool to migrate existing data into a data warehouse utilizing the POSC/CAESAR product data model. Software modules from EPM Technology form a vital part of "Mapping Magician".

"Mapping Magician" was developed for the VÅV project. The VÅV project management awarded the contact to IBM to design an overall solution, to find and test the necessary software components for mapping and translation, and to develop a new generic tool set for mapping a legacy database into the POSC/CAESAR structure.

The purpose of the new mapping tool was to hide the complexity of the actual product model and to assist the user by offering interpretation templates. Few people have the skills required to develop data migration code and IBM's role was therefore to come up with a tool that would allow technicians to migrate existing data into a POSC/CAESAR-based system without having to learn complex programming languages.

For this purpose IBM developed the "Mapping Magician" tool. In doing so, the EXPRESS Data Manager from EPM Technology was essential, more specifically the EDMdeveloperSeat and EDMmodelConverter (See page 8) provide the libraries and the required EXPRESS-X technology in the "Mapping Magician" software. IBM's "Mapping Magician" allows the user to develop EXPRESS-X mapping specifications with just three basic resources: the source schema; the basic principles of the POSC/CAESAR data model; and the class library contents (reference data). Knowledge of the EXPRESS-X language is not required.

"We are pleased that IBM has responded to the challenge of developing a mapping tool in a very short time. The tool is open and generic which is of great value to the industry," commented Hans-Øivind Slettebø; project manager for the VÅV project.

IBM's "Mapping Magician" and Intergraph's Notia manage technical data which accounts for more than 80 per cent of the total information generated throughout the life of an oil and gas facility. Savings of up to 10 per cent in total operational costs are anticipated through the use of new technologies.

Project participants estimate that a standard definition of data could reduce the time required to fabricate a new offshore platform and to start operation for that platform significantly. That means savings equal to the value of oil pumped by the platform each day, multiplied by the time gain.

For more information, please see http://www.ibm.com/solutions/petroleum