RETHINK! You need open data, not only open systems

Then standardised datamodelling is the only way to go. You need to loosen up the current tight coupling between data and application. And you really need to get control of the data, and you need interoperability between standards.

But how? First of all, stop looking at proprietary solutions from your normal software suppliers. They won't give you any relevant answers and are responsible for today's isolated islands of information which is the main obstacle for business and process integration.

Better call EPM Technology right away. We'll deliver the EXPRESS Data Manager; the world's only database based upon the Express language that can promise real integration based on standardized data models.

We're small, aggressive, competitive and most important: responsive to customers' requirements. We are the Vikings, who envision to conquer this market - and we're on the right track. That's why our technology already is embraced by demanding companies like Veritas, Lockheed-Martin, Fujitsu, Rockwell, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Astra, ABB and Scania. Companies that need a commercial solution to the hurdles in their current value chain comprising partners, sub-suppliers, manufacturers and customers.

Our database technology opens up data bridging your systems. It's like a magic but dependable glue. The EXPRESS Data Manager can be used unmodified in such various businesses like the electrotechnical, automotive, aerospace, offshore, geographical, defence and medical industries.

EPM Technology is about to conquer the world..!

- The world doesn't really need open systems, EPM Technology's president Jorulv Rangnes says, - It needs unlimited access to open data. Instead of developing yet another stove-pipe application, my company has tackled the less glamorous end of the stick - making it easier to integrate the complete life cycle of a product.

President Rangnes explains: - Ever since CAD workstations started replacing T-squares and drafting tables, manufacturing industries have wanted to integrate data flow through the whole production process. The 1980s gave birth to the vision of designers sending their output to engineers, who in turn would interface to manufacturing - naturally everything integrated with logistics/quality. The major problem was that all the computer systems in this chain had to come from the same supplier. Not so anymore.

STEP is mature power

STEP is not just a data exchange format. It is a powerful new way of representing product data that will allow design and supporting information to be used more readily throughout the product life cycle. This new approach to sharing data will introduce a new era of "open data" where the entire development, production and operation process will be integrated.

This was the problem that automobile makers wanted to solve in the early 1980s by developing common product descriptions independent of IT vendors. Aerospace and other industries with similar needs also joined in this standarization work. The resulting norms were realized by the International Standards Organization in November 1994, formally as the ISO 10303-STEP standard. Today there are 32 multi-discipline, multi-industry STEP application protocols (AP) available.

STEP brings EXPRESS into action

A key element in STEP is its Express language for describing information and relationships. Mr. Rangnes: - Leading-edge US automakers and aerospace companies are now using this descriptive language and the technology it represents. Our database - the EXPRESS Data Manager - is aimed at users seeking to exchange, share and validate their data. The EXPRESS systems allows concurrent engineering by helping users build up a common and consistent product database. This also provides life cycle support for that particular product. In designing and building an aircraft, for instance, a simulator for the new plane would be a natural by-product.

Applicable to all areas, not only technical

At the core of the STEP standard lies its methodology for building data models. The standard is therefore applicable to a wide range of industries.

Mr. Kjell Bengtsson, who heads EPMT's sales and marketing, is convinced that the use of Express will extend far beyond engineering applications: - It's already being used for storing seismic data in connection with oil exploration.

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is another field even more remote from the original mechanical industry. It connects any relevant data, such as air pollution and land use, to geographic grids in order to understand interrelationships better. The GIS standardization body, ISO TC 211, has also decided on Express as its standard.

Using a broader term - e.g. Electronic Commerce - is probably a fair description of the trend to come. Advertising on the Web, electronic trading, shared business processes between enterprises and so forth will be the future - but it is happening today. This segment will be big, among others driven by the Internet wave. Experts predict that the Electronic Commerce markets in the US alone yearly will grow by 25%. In 1994 it represented 4.5% of total US commerce; by the year 2000 the figure will be some 16% representing a value of USD 1.650 billion!

Mr. Kjell Bengtsson: - This marketplace will definitely be dominated by applications with Express functionality.

Furthermore the fruit is ripe.

The EXPRESS Data Manager is here, today. Now we're challenging the world markets.