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Manufacturing
Lost
in Translation: $1 Billion
More
than the message gets lost in faulty translations of design
information and other computer files exchanged among manufacturers.
In the automotive industry alone, estimates a just-released
study commissioned by NIST,
"interoperability problems" when sharing product and engineering
data impose annual costs totaling about $1 billion.
Resources
expended to correct or re-create data files because of software
incompatibilities account for more than 80 percent of the
total, states the study conducted by the Research Triangle
Institute in North Carolina. Delays in the introduction
of new vehicles are responsible for almost 10 percent of
the cost. Other expenses include purchases of different
vendors' versions of software designed to perform similar
tasks and spending for data-exchange services.
"Solving
interoperability problems can improve competitiveness by
reducing costs and cycle time," the study concludes.
The
study also looks at various approaches to solving data-exchange
problems. One potential solution is STEP, the evolving international
STandard for the Exchange of Product model data, or ISO
10303. STEP is a neutral file format intended to support
computer-to-computer exchanges of all types of product data,
from initial design to maintenance requirements. NIST has
been a significant technical contributor in the development
of STEP as well as in other interoperability standards.
NIST also develops test methods and software tools to facilitate
industry's adoption and implementation of interoperability
standards.
To request
a single copy of Interoperability Cost Analysis of the
U.S. Automotive Supply Chain (NIST Planning Report 99-1),
contact Denise
Herbert, NIST
Program Office, (301) 975-2657.
Media
Contact:
Mark Bello,
(301) 975-3776 
Technology Partnerships
ATP
to Home Cutting Edge at Fall National Meeting
Attendees
from industry, academia and government will be able to sharpen
their views on some of the nation's leading technology R&D
opportunities at the
Advanced Technology Program's 1999 National Meeting, Nov.
15-17, 1999, in San Jose, Calif.
Building
on the theme "Accelerating Tomorrow's Technologies," the
conference will feature in-depth workshops across many technology
fields, including biosensors, tools for DNA diagnostics,
adaptive learning systems, combinatorial chemistry, membrane
separations, metabolic engineering, composite materials,
high-temperature superconductors, intelligent control systems,
motor vehicle manufacturing, surface engineering and semiconductor
lithography. The meeting will track five main research topics:
biotechnology, chemistry, information technology, electronics,
and materials and manufacturing. Other sessions will examine
ATP studies and economic assessments.
Highlights
of the meeting will include an exhibit hall showcasing the
results of successful ATP projects, opportunities for networking
and workshops on the ATP application process, as well as
strategies for moving the results of ATP research into the
market and building industry/university collaborations.
For more information and to track schedule updates, visit
the meeting web site at http://www.atp.nist.gov/nationalmeeting/.
Media
Contact:
Michael Baum,
(301) 975-2763
Electronics
NIST
Models Benefit Industry, Society
Society
has enjoyed important benefits from mathematical models
developed by NIST that simulate the performance of electronic
components called insulated-gate bipolar transistors (known
as IGBTs), according to a recently completed analysis by
the Research Triangle Institute of North Carolina.
The
models were introduced in 1990. Since that time, the payoff
to U.S. industry as a whole--and society in general--has
been estimated at about 23 to 1, meaning $23 of benefits
have been generated for every $1 spent on the modeling program.
These benefits are based on the reduced cost of designing
new products using simulation modeling.
IGBTs
are electronic switches that enable sophisticated electronic
circuits to use small amounts of electricity to control
devices that require much larger amounts of electricity.
Applications include automotive ignition systems, compressors
for refrigeration and air conditioning, and "adjustable
speed drives" that enable electric motors to run more efficiently
and provide more accurate control of precision equipment
such as robotics and X-ray machines.
The
mathematical models have helped industry decrease production
costs. Consumers have enjoyed higher quality products at
lower prices. The environment has benefited through the
increased energy efficiency of products using IGBTs. The
models were developed by Allen Hefner, an electrical engineer
in the Semiconductor
Electronics Division of NIST's
Electronics and Electrical Engineering Laboratory. They
are used in software to simulate how IGBTs perform, enabling
manufacturers to design and perfect "virtual prototypes"
before investing in the parts, material and labor needed
to build the actual prototypes.
Economic
and social benefits are detailed in a report, Benefit
Analysis for IGBT Power Device Simulation Modeling (NIST
Planning Report 99-3), which may be downloaded from www.nist.gov/director/planning/strategicplanning.htm,
or requested by e-mail to laura.gooding@nist.gov.
Copies also are available through the NIST
Inquiries Office, (301) 975-NIST, fax: (301) 926-1630.
Media
Contact:
Emil Venere,
(301) 975-5745
MEP
Iowa
Center Keeps Company Happy--and in State
Business
wasn't all that was expanding recently for Wayne Engineering
Corp. The 110-employee manufacturer of specialty vehicles
and equipment for the solid-waste industry was bursting
at the seams in its Cedar Falls, Iowa, facility and needed
to move. With space in Cedar Falls somewhat limited, Wayne
Engineering officials considered a number of options, including
relocation to larger quarters outside of Iowa.
Luckily
for the Hawkeye State, an opportunity arose to build a new
plant in Cedar Falls. For assistance in designing a suitable
plant layout—and ensuring that the company would be able
to stay in Iowa—Wayne Engineering contacted the Iowa Manufacturing
Technology Center, an affiliate of the nationwide NIST
Manufacturing Extension Partnership network.
IMTC
sent in specialists who documented existing facility capacities
and cycle times, utilized and guided employee teams in the
development of plant layout alternatives, and assisted in
the selection of appropriate material handling equipment.
Data gathered were used by the Wayne/IMTC team to create
a proposed plant layout.
IMTC
specialists then built baseline models of the old facility
and put new and expanded work patterns in place to see where
changes were most needed. They also helped Wayne Engineering
employee groups benchmark other large-equipment plants in
Iowa and develop work cell designs to match specific needs
to available space. Finally, computer simulation modeling
was used to put it all together into the perfect facility
layout.
The
result? Wayne Engineering now has a plant design that enhances
productivity and can accommodate future production and expansion
plans.
The
NIST MEP is a nationwide network of manufacturing extension
centers helping smaller manufacturers in all 50 states,
the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Smaller manufacturers
can call (800) MEP-4-MFG (637-4634) to reach the MEP center
serving their region or check out the MEP World Wide Web
site at www.mep.nist.gov.
For more information on the Iowa MTC, call (515) 965-7125
or send e-mail to iowamtc@exnet.iastate.edu.
Media
Contact:
Jan Kosko, (301)
975-2767
Weights and Measures
Workshop
to Focus on Parcel Shipping Scale Regulations
Billions
of dollars worth of packaged goods are shipped between businesses
and customers every year with fees based on the weight of
the shipped goods. Established regulations and protocols
exist to ensure the accuracy of all scales used in the United
States for these business transactions.
However,
in recent years, some package shipping services have claimed
that another law, the Federal Aviation Administration Act
of 1994, prohibits states from inspecting their scales.
In response to concern from state inspectors, NIST's
Office of Weights and Measures and the National
Conference on Weights and Measures will hold a workshop
to clarify inspection policies and related issues. This
one-day workshop will be held June 3, 1999, at NIST in Gaithersburg,
Md. Weights and measures officials, representatives of federal
regulatory agencies, parcel shipping companies and other
interested parties are invited to attend.
Presentations
will cover the U.S. system of measurement, weights and measures
requirements, and inspection policies. Representatives of
parcel shipping companies will give an overview of the industry
and the FAA Authorization Act of 1994. Participants will
help identify issues that need resolution in order to ensure
uniform national inspection policies.
The
NIST Office of Weights and Measures provides technical advice
and training to state, federal and industry representatives
and, in collaboration with the National Conference on Weights
and Measures, develops inspection procedures to assure accurate
weights and measures. The National Conference on Weights
and Measures is a voluntary standards organization that
works closely with NIST to ensure uniform weights and measures
in the United States.
For
more information or to register, contact Tom
Coleman, (301) 975-4868; fax: (301) 926-0647.
Media
Contact:
Linda Joy, (301)
975-4403
Information
Technology
Biometric
Groups Merge, Unify Interface Development
The
field of biometrics develops ways of identifying or authenticating
a person by using distinguishing physical traits or behavioral
characteristics such as fingerprints, hand geometry, iris
structure, voice identification, facial characteristics,
vein patterns found on the back of hand and keystroke dynamics.
NIST
recently played a key role in the unification efforts of
two industrial groups developing Biometric Application Programming
Interfaces (abbreviated API). The merger of the BioAPI Consortium
and the Human Authentication (known as the HA-API) Working
Group will result in a unified biometric API development
under a restructured BioAPI Consortium.
The
development of a single API assures biometrics application
developers, service providers and users that require interoperable
biometric solutions that the specification will receive
broad industry input and review and will emerge as an international
industry standard.
The
agreement to merge was facilitated and organized by NIST's
Information Technology Laboratory and the Biometric Consortium.
The Biometric Consortium serves as the federal government's
focal point for research, development, test, evaluation,
and application of biometric-based personal identification
and verification technology.
The
multileveled biometric API is expected to bring platform
and device independence to application programmers and biometric
service providers. Current HA-API customers will be supported
through the inclusion of HA-API function calls into the
new BioAPI specification.
This
new API development will facilitate the integration of biometric-based
authentication services into leading computer security frameworks
such as The Open Group's Common Data Security Architecture.
For
more information, contact Fernando
L. Podio, (301) 975-2947
Media
Contact:
Philip Bulman,
(301) 975-5661
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