Seamless technical solutions and cost-effective structuring of data

Through evaluation of large engineering projects, the Norwegian organisation NORSOK claims that it is possible to save 50% on time and cost, most of which will come from the introduction of new technology. A STEP compatible Data Warehouse as that prototyped in the VÅV Take-Up project is one of the means to achieve this.

The Product Model paradigm - a key characteristic of STEP - helps to achieve three main objectives of Data Warehousing:

• Cost efficient information management. An IDC study of 62 Data Warehouse users in the US and Europe shows an average of impressively 401% ROI (Return on Investment) concerning projects that span over three years.
• A standard dictionary. An underlying data model eases the exchange of data and interoperability between clients in the value chain.
• Life-cycle support. Consistent and potentially concurrent access to product information throughout the project's life-cycle.

The purpose of the above mentioned neutral IDC study was to reveal the financial advantages of Data Warehousing, and the results were interesting:
More than 90% of the organisations included in the study reported ROIs of more than 40%, half reported more than 160%, and 25% had ROIs in excess of 600%.
Average ROI period for Data Warehouse applications was 2.3 years, at an average cost of $2.2 mill. These figures may be impressive, yet it is believed that they only represent the tip of the iceberg.

New technology may give enormous gains

NORSOK, a non-profit organisation which aims to improve the competitiveness of the Norwegian Shelf activity, has defined 30-50% reduction of time and cost as necessary for new project development to be successful.
Of these 30-50%, only 3% are expected to be a result of traditional «productivity improvement methods». The remaining 27-47% will come from the introduction of new technology and team integration efforts, in which the virtual enterprise support offered by Data Warehouses should play a major part.

STEP compatible Data Warehouse

STEP is primarily about the exchange and integration of complete product information. However, the technology is scaleable and the exchange applies to the initial release of the standard - not the technology. The first Data Exchange Warehouses have been demonstrated in the European process plant industry. Next generation for Data Access Warehouses is planned and should provide industry with large business benefits when one considers the fact that e.g. within oil & gas exploration and production as much as 60-80% of the activities are related to information management!

STEP based Data Warehouse supports product life-cycle

The purpose of a STEP based Data Warehouse is to have full support and access to product data throughout the project's life-cycle. Currently Data Warehouses are installed in e.g. the process-, the automotive- and the aerospace industries, examples of which are the ETAP Data Warehouse, the VÅV Data Warehouse and Hägglunds Vehicle Project. The Norwegian VÅV offshore project is an example making use of the EPISTLE framework based on highly generic data models, class libraries for standards and typical solutions, and specifics for the real-world implementation.

Dictionary driven approach

Further, a STEP Data Warehouse offers a dictionary driven approach. By using descriptive and implementation methods as well as data models from STEP, one may also develop flexible, generic software modules to manage data in the Data Warehouse. Such software will typically enable the Data Warehouse to import/export bulk data using the ISO 10303-21 file format, to validate datasets, to consolidate and to map between the Data Warehouse and legacy systems.