CALS Report                                           Vol. 3 No. 1, January 1990
 

Victory over Paper: CALS EXPO '89 Explodes with Products

In a stunning turnout, CALS EXPO '89 doubled its technical attendees while its
exposition bristled with solid products for technical publishers and other
applications. Bucking the growing gloom in the defense community over budget
cuts, contractors were in a buying frame of mind and packed the show floor
from opening to closing. Although the technical sessions, particularly those
from armed service representatives, were usually packed, this EXPO will be
known for marking the transition of CALS from an issue-driven focus to a
product-driven focus.

------

MIL-HDBK-59A Coordination Draft is Out for Comment

MIL-HDBK-59A, a "for coordination draft," is being circulated for comment in
ASCII text format. The formal coordination of proposed Revision A to MIL-HDBK-
59, DOD Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistic Support (CALS) program
Implementation Guide (Project No.: ILSS-00l3) is considered a major milestone
in CALS. The draft is being distributed in digital form as a part of the CALS
initiative to introduce the use of digital technology to the process of
reviewing and coordinating standards. Comments on the draft will be collected
in digital form to more effectively and efficiently accomplish the
coordination process and to facilitate the return of comments.

------

Air Force Evaluating Use of Digital Product Models for Advanced Tactical Fighter

The Air Force Digital Product Models project is using the Advanced Tactical
Fighter (ATF) as initial implementation to evaluate PDES use in aircraft
design and production. The Air Force hopes to make the ATF the first major
application of the technology established by the Product Definition Data
Interface (PDDI) project and the national standard that is evolving from the
Product Data Exchange Specification (PDES) Committee efforts.  The intent of
the project is to demonstrate the potential for the use of digital product
models in place of paper engineering drawings that are currently required for
delivery of systems product data.  The Air Force has requested that the prime
contractors of the ATF define their approach to the application of digital
product data for product definition and determine their applicability as a
replacement for level 3 drawings.

-----

Data General Teams with Cincinnati Bell Info. Systems to Offer CALS Systems

Data General announced an agreement with Cincinnati Bell Information Systems
(CBIS) to market computer systems for CALS. The agreement was announced at the
CALS Expo '89, where Data General was exhibiting. The agreement calls for
Cincinnati Bell Information Systems to integrate its software, Data General
AViiON(tm) systems and other third-party software products into a CALS turnkey
information solution.  Under the agreement, CBIS will provide the technical
sales support, planning, installation and custom engineering for CALS
customers.  The products will be deployed on Data General's new AViiON(tm)
family of UNIX computer systems, servers, and workstations based on Motorola's
88000 RISC microprocessor, as well as on personal computers.

--------------------------------------

Sikorsky Aircraft Selects Xyvision to Provide Database Tech Publishing System

Xyvision, Inc. announced that it has been awarded a multi-million-dollar
contract to supply the Sikorsky Aircraft Division of United Technologies
Corporation with a comprehensive database publishing system.  Implementation
of the new system, which will be used by Sikorsky Aircraft's Technical
Publications and Training departments in Stratford, Conn., will occur in phases
beginning in December 1989. The Sikorsky acquisition was reputed to be a
coveted, state-of-the-art application, combining database management and
publishing. Xyvision, Inc. develops and manufactures professional systems for
commercial and corporate publishing as well as design-through-production
applications.

-----------------------

Intergraph Teams with Martin Marietta for NAVSEA CAD II Procurement

Intergraph Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation has announced a teaming
agreement to pursue the NAVSEA portion of the Navy's CAD-II procurement.
Valued at approximately $500 million, NAVSEA seeks off-the shelf, commercial
CAD (computer-aided design) and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) systems to
support the design, construction, maintenance, overhaul, alteration, and
repair of Navy ships and ship support systems.  Together, Intergraph and
Martin Marietta have agreed to provide system hardware and software, training,
networking, and integration services to the Navy. Intergraph is the world's
largest company dedicated to designing and manufacturing interactive computer
graphics systems. Martin Marietta is a leading aerospace and information
technology company.

---------------------

Survey: New Products Move CALS Compliant Tech Pubs to Personal Computers

A series of new products demonstrate the feasibility of Authoring and
Publishing CALS-compliant documents on Macintosh and IBM personal computers.
The personal computer-based technology lowers the entry cost for CALS
compliance and moves compliance closer to the point-of-creation.

----------------

Datalogics FOSI Testing Identifies Recommended Changes

Datalogics' testing of the new Formatting Output Specification Instances
(FOSI) has identified several changes needed to MIL-M-28001. The changes will
be communicated to DoD through the CALS Industry Steering Group. The suggested
FOSI changes to both parameters and methods will affect the formatted style of
the output. Datalogics appears to be the only vendor, so far, to have
implemented any part of the new FOSI requirement.

------------

IBM Announces CALS Publishing System Products

IBM has announced a suite of software products which support CALS-compliant
technical publications. The move is significant, since the secretive and
conservative IBM corporation's entry into a market often legitimizes it for
the industry at large.

---------

EDMICS First Site Concentrates on Raster Storage, Deferring IGES

The upcoming Electronic Data Management Information and Control System
(EDMICS) installations by the Navy represent a significant step in
implementing CALS on a broad scale.  As the digital repository of nearly 200
million engineering drawings and half a billion technical publications, EDMICS
is information exchange and integration. The EDMICS ability to acquire and
manage raster, vector, CAD/CAM and other types of data provides the basis for
the Navy's efforts to move to an all-digital environment. According to Advanced
Technology Inc. (ATI), the prime contractor, EDMICS' first site calls only
for raster storage, even though ATI has qualified its vector support
capabilities. ATI, based in Reston, Virginia, provides computer, systems
integration, engineering and management services to government and industry.

------------

Army CALS Uses ASYST For CALS CASE

The U.S. Army CALS program is a multiple phase acquisition.  Phase 1, Concept
Design, will involve four contractors in a competitive design process. In
anticipation of CALS Phase 1, the U.S. Army built a functional analysis of
CALS using THE DEVELOPER (CASE Workbench) from ASYST Technologies. A
contractor (CACI, Inc.-Federal) successfully delivered a comprehensive
functional analysis document, but perhaps most significant to the CALS design
process, the functional analysis was delivered also as a CASE repository
containing a database of CALS requirements, drawings, and their
interrelationships.

-----

Wizdom System announces IDEF Products and Services

Wizdom Systems, Inc. has announced the lastest release of IDEFine-0, Version
1.17D allows you to build IDEF0 models on the screen with key board and mouse.
IDEF0 is a methodology which models functions acting on data. IDEF1 and
IDEF1x, in common use by the CALS community, models the data structure which
is the target of that action. Wizdom Systems, Inc./Engineering Tools provides
products that help manufacturing companies define the most effective Computer-
Integrated Enterprise (CIE) and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
strategies for their operations, and to establish and implement realistic
short and log-range plans.

================================================================================

CALS Report                                          Vol. 3 No. 2, February 1990

LEPISTO: It's Time to Decide About IGES Subsets Now or PDES Later

In reaction to declining industry interest in bringing CALS IGES subsets to
production readiness, Bruce Lepisto, CALS Policy Deputy Director, cautioned
that the move on the part of industry may be short sighted and called on
industry to make a proper decision of where to put their resources. Bad
experiences with IGES in the past have persuaded some that IGES is not usable
and it is better to wait for PDES/STEP.  Lepisto made his comments in a
interview by the CALS Report. IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification)
is a drawing-oriented format for exchanging CAD data. CALS is refining the
standard through subsets and application protocols. PDES (Product Data
Exchange Specification) is a features-oriented standard with simplified
subsets and application protocols. STEP, the international PDES standard, is
not expected to be ready for production for years.

----

ISG Appoints Handbook & Data Dictionary Project Directors

Harold (Stormy) Stormfeltz, Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer, CALS
Industry Steering Group (ISG) has appointed project directors as follows:

o MIL-HDBK-59A Update - Pearly Eaton, Project Director
                        George Jenkins, Deputy Project Director

o Data Dictionary Task - Robert Kidwell, Project Director

All task groups will identify representatives to these projects.

----

CALS ISG Software Products Committee (SPC) Drafts Position Paper

The CALS ISG Software Products Committee (SPC) has drafted a position paper on
insuring CALS compatibility of software information products. The SPC will
address the impact of including software information products in the CALS
Technical Data standards (MIL-STD-1840 A and MIL-28000 series specifications)
and the impact of CALS on the software functional standards (DoD-STD-2167A and
DoD-STD-7935A).

---

ISG to review AECMA 2000M Specification

The CALS industry steering group has been requested by DoD to review the AECMA
Specification 2000M, defining the Materiel Management Processes and procedures
to be used in support of aircraft and other aerospace airborne and ground
equipment supplied to military customers. AECMA (Association Europeenne des
Constructeurs de Material Aerospatial) states that the standard is equivalent
to the Air Transport Association (ATA) documents Specification 2000
(Specification Integrated Data Processing-Supply) and parts of Specification
100 (Specification for Manufacturers Technical Data). The CALS ISG is now
studying which task groups should be assigned which sections for review and
comment. The standard is beginning to dominate European aerospace production
and producers there demand that the North American defense industry consider
harmonizing CALS standards with theirs.

----

CALS ISG Small Business Task Group Planning Outreach Program in 1990

The CALS Industry Steering Group (ISG)/Small Business Task Group (SBTG) is
planning a major outreach program in 1990, targeting defense-oriented small
business. DoD and the larger defense prime and sub-contractors are concerned
that small business will lack the capital to supply data in CALS-compliant
formats or required levels of integration. The CALS ISG/SBTG has been
preparing and testing pamphlets and presentations which might inform and
prepare small businesses for CALS at low cost. These outreach concepts will
now be put to use this year.

----

CALS Configuration Management Group works with EIA CALS Panel

The CALS Configuration Management Working Group has extended a Configuration
Management (CM) report from an Electronic Industries Association (EIA)
workshop for their contribution to the CALS handbook MIL-HDBK-59A update. The
results of the joint work were given to NIST at the CALS EXPO in Orlando, FL.
Dave Bettwy rushed the copy to printing in order to include it in the formal
handbook update review. The CM committee had been working and meeting jointly
with EIA for many months developing the report.

----

AIA CALS Phase II Survey Shows Low Level of Understanding, High Level of Concern

A survey conducted by the Aerospace Industry Association (AIA) on the
information processing impact of CALS Phase II survey shows a low-to-moderate
level of understanding and a high level of concern among their member
companies. CALS Phase II will provide government delivery of and access to
contractor product data bases, an area of AIA member concern. The survey was
conducted by the CALS/PDES Working Panel out of concern that member companies
might not be fully participating in CALS Industry Group Activities out of lack
of understanding of Phase II impacts. The survey was sponsored by Harris
Corporation.

----

CALS EDI Transaction Set held up by Technical Questions and Procedural Debate

The new CALS EDI transaction set 841, Specification/Technical Information, is
mired in a procedural debate in the X12 committee, arising out of technical
questions. EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) is a standard set of trade data
transactions defined in ANSI X12. The 841 transaction set is expected to be
the main EDI envelop for CALS data. The 841 went out a X12 ballot last Summer
and was approved. There was some discussion in October, 1989 while reviewing
the ballots, indicating the way the BIN Segment was placed within the 841 was
not optimum. The problems are expected to be resolved by June, 1990.

-----

Analysis: EDI Could Eclipse CALS 1840A Mag Tape Format

Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) could soon eclipse the MIL-STD-1840A
magnetic tape format for use in most data transfers. EDI, sounds entirely
general, although its primary applications are for trade transactions and
usually by telecommunication. As the volume and speed of commerce and
associated transactions increased, the Transportation Data Coordinating
Committee (TDCC) developed EDI to be for trade transactions what electronic
funds transfer was to banks. Because of the cost of telecommunications, most
early, successful applications were for standard items or commodities, where a
simple number or code defined the item and the rest of the transaction was
standard. The advent of new, inexpensive, mass storage media, e.g., Optical
storage, makes possible EDI transactions with large volumes of internal
product data, and opens up a direction for CALS that could free it from media
considerations altogether. The EDI CALS transaction sets, beginning with 841,
may be one of the true turning points in CALS migration to the commercial
industrial base.

-----

New Video Describes Cals Program

NIST, in cooperation with the Department of Defense (DoD), has produced a new
video tape describing the CALS program.  The 19-minute videotape "A Strategy
for Change: CALS" describes the nature, methods, and goals of the CALS
program, emphasizing the need for close cooperation and coordination between
government and industry.

---

Federal CASE Conference 1989 Highlights Integrated Data Management, Standards

FedCASE '89 emphasis on integrated data management made clearer it's
relationship to CALS issues. CASE (Computer Aided Software Engineering) is a
family of methodologies for specifying, designing, and detailing software.
CALS interest in design knowledge capture and delivery is drawing attention to
CASE methods and tools emphasizing Conceptual Information Modeling. FedCASE
'89 provided reports from CASE users, identify characteristics of full-
function CASE tools, discuss standards applicable to CASE, and provide
demonstrations of CASE products. The conference addressed three key areas: 1)
case-related standards and industry trends; 2) data-management research for
software engineering; and 3) data-oriented CASE applications and
methodologies. Many of the talks reported CALS-related research. The
conference was sponsored by National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), in cooperation with IEEE and ACM. It was co-chaired by Dr. Margaret H.
Law and Wilma M. Osborne, of NIST.

----

Air Force Readies Life Cycle Software Tool

The Air Force has been developing a life cycle software tool, called Software
Life Cycle Support Environment (SLCSE, pronounced "slice") which is expected
to evolve into a full CASE and development environment. SLCSE is a computer-
based environment of integrated software tools which support the mission
critical computer system (MCCS) software life cycle. SLCSE support the various
phases and inter-phase activities, including requirements, specification and
analysis, design, coding, unit/integration testing, quality assurance (QA),
verification and validation (V&V), project management, and configuration
management.Details on the package and some of the lessons learned while
developing it, were given at the FedCASE 89 Conference in Gaithersburg, MD.

---

XEROX Announces First in a Series of CALS Compliance Solutions

Xerox Corporation has announced the Xerox CALS Compliance Service, the first
in a series of Xerox CALS solutions. It is intended for users seeking to
implement the CALS standard for electronic documentation. The service offers a
complete solution, from electronic input to hardcopy or tape output, supplied
and supported by Xerox.  By adding software to existing Xerox equipment, the
Xerox CALS Compliance Service will allow Xerox customers to produce CALS
compliant documentation.

-----

Mentor Graphics to share architecture with CAD Framework Initiative

Mentor Graphics has announced that it will share the architecture of its next
generation environment with members of the CAD Framework Initiative (CFI). In
addition, the firm will participate in the development of CFI's demonstration
for the 1990 Design Automation Conference (DAC) and will provide the services
of its OpenDoor Integration Laboratory to help create the DAC Demonstration.
The CFI demonstration at DAC will provide designers with the first view of
CFI's proposed standard data model and procedural interface that will allow
tools from multiple Electronic Design Automation (EDA) vendors to be
integrated together. CFI is a non-profit corporation composed of companies
dedicated to establishing guidelines and standards for CAD application
interfaces to their underlying software support structures.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                             Vol. 3 No. 3, March 1990

CALS Framework Working Group Trying to Link Architectures

A CALS Framework Working Group has been meeting to find ways of linking data
bases with architectural dependencies. The group's efforts underscore the
growing awareness in the CALS community that highly integrated databases,
particularly in applications lacking established data standards, will have to
utilize proprietary vendor architectural facilities and capabilities. These
architectural characteristics must be accounted for if online data access or
exchange between two systems is to be accomplished.

----

Navy ALPS System Documents Huge Savings

Efforts of a Navy publishing and printing operation in Washington state to
comply with DoD's CALS requirements, have saved $1,600,000 in just one year
with a $400,000 investment, according to its director, Doug Gamble.  Gamble
built a system to automate the creation and revision of technical manuals and
other documentation key to Naval operations. The system, calls ALPS (Automated
Logistics Publishing System), is developing an electronic publishing system
integrate into a logistical database operation. The system also cut costs by
70% and reduced worktime by 80% in less than six months. In one case, a job
expected to take six months, took six days. At the recommendation of his boss,
Mr. James L. Cherny of the Navy Publishing and Printing Service in Washington,
D.C., Gamble was given the Meritorious Civil Service Award. Savings were
calculated based on historical billings by outside contractors.

----

Navy Considering Ways to Encourage Broader PDES Support

The Navy is considering ways to encourage PDES support by broader, non-defense
elements of US industry. PDES (Product Data Exchange Specification) is a
features-oriented (as opposed to drawings-oriented) data exchange format.
RAdm. Guy M. Curtis III, Navy CALS Advocate, has said that the Navy is
considering ways to facilitate PDES development by non-government and
government groups. It is not entirely clear how this strategy would be
implemented or what funds would be available. The Navy has linked PDES to
their strategy for Total Quality Management (TQM).

----
 
Analysis: DICE Project Struggles to Orient Research Toward Contractor Needs

The DARPA Initiative in Concurrent Engineering (DICE) is trying to re-orient
its work to appeal to contractors who have immediate needs. Dice envisions a
Concurrent Engineering Environment that enables all disciplines important in
the life cycle of a product or system to cooperate interactively in its
definition, planning design, manufacture, maintenance, refinement and
retirement from service. Early results, however, have been criticized as too
theoretical and out of touch with existing commercial products and other DoD
initiatives. DICE is moving to remedy the discord, and preserve its planned
$89 Million program of research.

----

IEEE Compiling Database on CASE Software Tools

The IEEE-CS Task Force on Professional Computing Tools has, for some time,
been developing plans for a publicly-accessible software tools database.  The
two primary objectives for this effort are:

1. to improve the state-of-practice of software engineering;
and,

2. to increase user awareness of software-related standards, as they apply to
computing tools.

The scope of professional computing tools includes any special purpose
software package designed for use in creating computing systems or software.
General purpose tools, such as spreadsheets, word processing systems, and
graphical drawing packages would be excluded.

---

The Importance of Application Architectures: One Vendor's Perspective

by Malcolm Spence, Aerospace Marketing Group, Digital Equipment Corporation

edited by William G. Beazley

The DoD has four key initiatives with significant computer involvement, which
will set the tone for the business environment of the 90's:

1) Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS),

2) Concurrent Engineering,

3) Total Quality Management,

4) Advanced Cost Management,

These issues are not unique to Aerospace, Government or Defense. They are
common to all industries that create complex products, possibly team with
other firms to engineer them, manufacture globally at multiple sites, leverage
the information content to provide differentiation, and realize that paper as
a media of information exchange is no longer adequate. The criteria of the
90's for trading partnerships, suppliers and as customers etc., in value
chains will be based on how easy it is to extract value from the data already
created and how much useful information can be derived from that data.

----

ERC Announces CALS RFP Preparation Service

Evaluation Research Corporation (ERC) has announced a CALS Request for
Proposals (RFP) requirement preparation service. The new service included both
indoctrination and actual generation of CALS RFP materials. Subjects covered
include RFP strategies and tailoring; example SOW/CDRL/DID language; source
selection criteria, instructions to offerers, and award criteria; and possible
CALS related contract incentives. The service is designed for both government
and prime contractor support.

---

Daisy/Cadnetix Announces CALS Products/Plans for 1990

Daisy/Cadnetix (DAZIX) has announced its CALS Products/Plans for 1990. DAZIX
has a history of commitment to open systems and complete solutions to
customers' needs. DAZIX move toward CALS compliance is motivated by the long
term "trend toward concurrent engineering and digital transfer of data in
industry in general, regardless of the CALS initiative," said Steve Abbott of
DAZIX. "This trend will continue, both in and out of the DoD environment, as
more and more companies incorporate concurrent engineering methodologies into
their development and manufacturing schemes." DAZIX intends to be Phase I
compliant by the end of 1990.

----

Interleaf Announces Active Document Product

Interleaf, Inc. has announced a new technology, called Active documents, that
can access, evaluate, and act on information presented in it. Users of Active
documents can program all the text and graphic capabilities of Interleaf's
electronic publishing system and interact with other software applications,
all based on document, user and other information. The result is a kind of
dynamically programmable hypertext document. Active documents was introduced
at the Seybold Seminars in March, 1990.

---
 

New Automotive Electronic Reliability Software Available from SAE

The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has announced a new design analysis
tool, called PRELTM which more accurately determines the reliability of
automobile electronic components. PRELTM is derived from the statistical
analysis of empirical failure rate experience collected from manufacturers and
module types.  Through easy-to-use menus, PRELTM enables the user to build
electronic modules by selecting components and operating parameters; the
software then calculates prediction results.

---

NCGA to Release Graphics Display Performance Software

A software package that provides a standard method of measuring graphics
display performance will be released to the public at NCGA '90, the National
Computer Graphics Association's (NCGA's) annual conference and exposition,
March 19-22 in Anaheim, CA. The Software, called the Picture-Level
Benchmark (PLB) gives users a consistent way to measure how fast graphics
derived from their application software can be displayed on different hardware
platforms.  Development of the software is funded by the 12 vendors sponsoring
the Graphics Performance Characterization (GPC) project. NCGA is the
administrator for the project. At NCGA '90 the PLB will be officially placed
in the public domain.  The package will be available through NCGA for $300.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                             Vol. 3 No. 4, April 1990

Honeywell, ITI Announce MIL-D-28000 Class III Electrical IGES Pilot Implementation

Honeywell Inc. and International TechneGroup Inc. (ITI) have developed a pilot
methodology based on MIL-D-28000 Class III Electrical IGES, but requiring many
extensions. The methodology was developed to facilitate the communication of
information functions within Honeywell, specifically, between the engineering
and manufacturing functions for printed wire assembly (PWA) products. The
implementation experience gained has already led to many request for changes
(RFC's) now being balloted for IGES version 5.0. To further disseminate this
experience with IGES, Honeywell, ITI and Mentor Graphics are presenting a
symposium concerning the utilization of MIL-D-28000 Class III Electrical IGES
in support of the manufacture and assembly of Printed Wire Assemblies. One
goal of the symposium is to develop Class III into a full application protocol
(AP) suitable for inclusion in the MIL-D-28000 specification.
 
------

Don Hall Tells New CALS/IGES Interest Group that DoD wants to make IGES work

Don Hall of the CALS Policy Office told the new CALS/IGES interest group in
January that DoD wants to make IGES work. The CALS Test Network (CTN) has
been supporting the new interest group which meets at the quarterly IGES/PDES
sessions, chaired by Jill Farrel of LLNL. As of the last meeting in New
Orleans, in January 1990, the CALS/IGES Interest Group had attracted over 75
people hoping to keep up to date and to learn more about IGES's role in CALS.
The interest group was formed to address concerns about CALS use of subsets
and protocols for IGES in government contracts.

------

AFTOMS to Become Tri-Service JUSTIS Program

The highly regarded Air Force Technical Order Management System (AFTOMS) has
been forced by DoD information management reforms to compete for funding as a
tri-service program, now renamed Joint Uniform Services' Technical Information
Systems (JUSTIS). The AFTOMS program was one of many targeted for mandatory
review as possible tri-service programs, in order to simplify and standardize
DoD procurement in the information management area. Currently, all three
services have signed up to the new program, but it must still seek funding
from DoD. JUSTIS is expected to be a showplace application of CALS Phase I
technology to receiving, storing and distributing technical information for
maintenance throughout the services.

      ----

PDES, Inc. Complete Phase I and Approves Restructuring Plan
 
Phase I of the PDES, Inc. Program was successfully completed in February
1990.  Significant events occurred as a result of PDES, Inc's efforts to
accelerate the development, validation and implementation of PDES. Several of
the major Phase I deliverables were:
 
- Context-driven Integrated Model (CDIM) Al (3-D product design data in a
configuration controlled environment) and CDIM B3 (3-D product design data to
NC programming systems)

- Five topical models were updated, completed, and documented - Topology,
Tolerances, Geometry, PSCM (product structure configuration management), and
PSIM (product shape integrated model),

- Two prototype software releases - a level 1 and 2 implementation
(file exchange and working form exchange) and level 3
implementation (shared database).

Preliminary releases of the Presentation Model and Form Features Model were
also delivered. Activities for Phase II include:  continued emphasis on CDIMs
(which are precursor to application protocols), the development of an
application interface and investigation of implementation strategies for a
shared database.

The PDES, Inc Executive Board  has approved a restructuring plan for the
organization that will attract new companies and projects. Projects
already identified are electrical/electronics, structures and sheet metal.

-----

CALS, Integration with LSAR Part of New MIL-STD-379D, Military Training Programs

The Naval Sea Systems Command has prepared a proposed revision to MIL-STD-
1379 (revision D) which contains language calling for integrations of training
data with Logistic Support Analysis Record (LSAR) data and delivery of
electronic materials in CALS formats. MIL-STD-1379 provides the general
requirements and specific task descriptions governing the acquisition of data
and services related to a military training program. This standard is
applicable to military departments, defense agencies, and to industry, and
should be applied in all military training program acquisitions and major
modification programs.  Tasks described would be selectively applied to DoD
contract-definitized acquisitions, solicitation documents (Statement of Work
(SOW)), and in-house Government developments requiring military training
programs.
 
-----
 
The Ten+One Commandments of Concurrent Engineering

Source: CALS/CE Industry Steering Group
 
1.  CREATE MULTIFUNCTION DESIGN TEAMS.
 
2.  IMPROVE COMMUNICATION WITH THE CUSTOMER/USER.
 
3.  DESIGN THE MANUFACTURING AND SUPPORT PROCESSES CONCURRENTLY WITH THE
DESIGN OF THE PRODUCT.

4.  INVOLVE SUBCONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS EARLY.
 
5.  SIMULATE PRODUCT PERFORMANCE.
 
6.  SIMULATE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES.
 
7.  INTEGRATE TECHNICAL REVIEWS.
 
8.  INCORPORATE LESSONS LEARNED FROM PREVIOUS PRODUCTS IN A NEW DESIGN.
 
9.  CREATE A DIGITAL PRODUCT MODEL.
 
10. INTEGRATE CAE TOOLS WITH THE PRODUCT MODEL.
 
11. CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE THE DESIGN PROCESS.

---
 
IDA Paper Recommends Better Supportability Specs to Drive Early Design Phases

The recently released Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) Paper P-2150,
"Product Supportability Issues in the Early Design Phases," has recommended
several improvements to supportability specs to drive their consideration
earlier in design. The report, authored by Siegfried Goldstein, David Owen,
and Karen J. Richter, was prepared for the Office of the Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition (Research and Advanced Technology) and supported by
the Air Force Human Resources Laboratory Wright Patterson AFB, OH as part of
the Unified Life Cycle Engineering (ULCE) program. The term supportability
implies supportability design features that include the attributes for
reliability, maintainability, testability, manpower, and skill considerations.
Better supportability specs and specs would be more usable by the enhanced
design environments being developed to support CALS, Concurrent Engineering
and other initiatives.

----

Letters Received

----

D Appleton Releases CALS/LSA Data Model Poster and ModelPro 1388-2B Views

 
D Appleton Company, Inc. (DACOM), has released a color coded wall size poster
of the CAL/LSA Data Model developed as the foundation for the draft MIL-STD-
1388-2B standards and a computer-based version for their data modeling
product. In 1989, D Appleton supported significant data modeling efforts in
the PDES and LSAR standardization programs which led to the development of the
CALS/LSA Data Model, now considered the starting point for CALS Phase II.
DACOM completed this project as part of a task awarded to the Battelle/DACOM
team under a task order contract managed by NIST for the OSD CALS Office. Data
models are essential tools providing the government certain Contractor
Integrated Technical Information Services (CITIS), including creation and
maintenance of an Integrated Weapon System Database (IWSDB).

----

D Appleton Co Announces MODELPRO, a New Data Modeling Tool for PC

D Appleton Co. has announced a new  Microsoft Windows-based modeling tool,
running on IBM PC's and compatibles. Data modeling tools let analysts
visualize and present data models more clearly and help generate and maintain
data base dictionaries.

----
 
ArborText Announces CALS Plan At TechDoc Winter'90
 
ArborText, Inc. of Ann Arbor, Michigan disclosed its plans at the Winter 1990
TechDoc Conference in Santa Monica, CA, for delivering a complete Phase I CALS
solution in 1990.  Based on the company's advanced electronic publishing
system, THE PUBLISHER, the ArborText CALS solution will build on its existing
SGML foundation with support for IGES, CGM and CCITT Group 4.
 
------
 
XGML Announces New Pricing and Another New SGML Product

Software Exoterica Corporation has announced a major new pricing strategy for
their end-user SGML applications and a new product. The pricing strategy is
intended to align better with other PC-based SGML tools. The new product is
XGML ValidatorTM, an entry level validation tool, parses a document on a
single pass with a complete list of all errors. Parser/Validators check that
documents are tagged correctly and in accordance with their Document Type
Definition (DTD). Software Exoterica Corporation is a widely respected firm in
developing sophisticated SGML technology.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                               Vol. 3 No. 5, May 1990

McGrath Predicts CALS to be Normal Business Practice for DoD by 1995

Michael F. McGrath, Director of the DoD CALS Policy, has announced a timetable
that shows requiring compliance with CALS to be "the normal way DoD does
business" with the defense contracting community by 1995. The timetable
indicates a gradual development and testing phase lasting through 1995,
involving standards, Contractor Integrated Technical Information Services
(CITIS) Requirements and infrastructure development. McGrath made his comments
at the Asociation for Information and Image Management (AIIM) show in Chicago.

-----

CTN Plans Aggressive Testing but Formal Compliance Tests Still a Long Way Off

A formal suite of test files and protocols for confirming "CALS Compliance" of
a vendor's product still seems a long way off, according to a panel at the
Association of Information and Image Management (AIIM) show. The panel
consisted of Dave Bettwy, NIST; Pam Genusa, Datalogics; and Mel Lammers, AF
CALS Test Network (CTN) and was moderated by Phyllis H. Bruce, Babcock &
Wilcox Nuclear Service Co. The panel was addressing CALS Electronic Delivery
and in particular, the cals compliance testing question.

---

MMAS Requirement Creates Big Demand for Product Data

The DoD requirement for a Materials Management and Accounting System (MMAS)
is creating a growing demand for product data, including indentured Bills of
Material (BOM's), Master Production Schedule (MPS) and related data. MMAS is a
set of ten requirements on contractors to document and control their
acquisition and billing of materials. The requirements have accelerated the
use of commercial Material Requirements Planning (MRP) software in contractor
facilities. Some contractors have already developed systems to maintain the
required data in a product database to meet CALS requirements for input,
output and integration. The requirements and their impact on contractors was
the subject of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS),
Aerospace & Defense Symposium, in Washington DC.

---------

The Oak Ridge Prototype CALS System

by Al J. Klien, Technical Project Officer, Data Systems Research and Development
Program Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc, P.O.Box 2009, Oak Ridge, TN 37831

On November 15, an Oak Ridge team consisting of Martin Marietta Energy Systems
(Energy Systems) Data System Research and Development Program (DSRD),
Administrative Services, and Energy Systems subcontractors, successfully
demonstrated a prototype micro-based CALS system for the conversion and
automated tagging of Department of Energy (DOE) and military documents per
MIL-STD 1840A standards. Energy Systems is an operating contractor to DOE.
 
----
 
CEN/CENELEC IT Steering Committee Sets European strategy

A new report, "Directory of European Standardization Requirements for Advanced
Manufacturing Technology", has now been formally accepted by the CEN/CENELEC
IT Steering Committee as the European strategy in this area. The requirements
document emphasizes the adoption of international standards as mandatory
requirements in Europe, wherever possible.  Separate European initiatives are
only launched to meet specific regional requirements, and the results will be
released into the international community. CEN is the European Committee for
Standardization, CENELEC is the European Committee for Electrotechnical
Standardization, and ETSI is the European Telecommunications Standards
Institute. The document, ITSTC N 1129, is copyrighted by CEN/CENELEC and
ETSI.
 
---

NIST Hypertext Competency Project Seeks Hypertext Standards
 
The Hypertext Competency Project at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology (NIST), National Computer Systems Laboratory (NCSL) is a joint
effort between personnel from two Divisions -- the Information Systems
Engineering Division, and the Systems and Software Technology Division.  The
general objectives of the project are:
 
*  Develop NIST/NCSL competence in the areas of hypertext hypermedia, and all
related informational and computational structures;
 
*  Determine the importance and priority of hypertext technology before it
diverges from existing information technology standards;and
 
*  Prepare to lead efforts toward the development of voluntary industry
standards for hypertext systems.
 
The proposed 5-year project, now into the second year, is staffed by four to
six people.  Much of the effort in the first year of the project was toward
"undirected learning" in multiple directions.  The staff developed several
applications showing the integration of hypertext technology with expert
systems, database, graphics, and publishing.
 
---

Advanced Technology Competes EDMICS Testing, Installs First System

Advanced Technology, Inc. has successfully completed first article testing of
the U.S. Navy's Engineering Data Management Information and Control System
(EDMICS) in March, 1990. The system is now installed at the Naval Ordnance
Station in Louisville, KY. Louisville is the first site to receive EDMICS,
which will replace manual repository systems at 47 Navy, Marine and Defense
Logistics Agency sites. The optical-disk-based system acquires, edits, stores,
retrieves, reproduces and distributes engineering data and drawings. EDMICS
will use CALS standards for input, output and storage formats.

-----
 
Information Dimensions Inc. Announces CALS Repository Plans
 
Information Dimensions, Inc. (IDI) has announced that BASISplus, its Text
Information Management Systems (TIMS), will support a CALS-compliant
electronic repository for technical documentation on Department of Defense-
contracted weapons and support systems. IDI made the announcement at the
Federal Office Systems Exposition (FOSE'90). Along with the CALS Phase I
interchange standards implementation currently underway, BASISplus supports
the CALS specification for SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language).

------
 
SEA Announces New Predictive Analysis Tools to Support Concurrent Engineering
 
To help electronics engineers simultaneously consider both thermal and
reliability issues early in the design process, Systems Effectiveness
Associates, Inc (SEA) has integrated comprehensive reliability and thermal
analysis modules with its RAMCAD programmable CAE/CAD/CAM systems interface.
Called PREVIEW, the new software can accept input data directly from computer-
aided engineering (CAE) systems and perform reliability and thermal analyses
on sub-assemblies and complete systems. PREVIEW is said by SEA to be the first
commercially-available predictive analysis software package which embraces
concurrent engineering principles.
 
------

C-TAD Demos 3-D Interface Between AUTOCAD and Big 3 US Automotive CAD Systems

C-TAD Systems has announced the first ever translation of complete car body
data from Ford, GM and Chrysler's CAD/CAM systems into Auto CAD Release 10.
The results accurately define the sculptured surfaces which make up the car's
body panels and may be displayed with the AutoSHADE rendering package from
Autodesk. The translated data was displayed at the Spring National Design
Engineering Show in Chicago. C-TAD Systems, Inc. is a consulting and software
development firm specializing in accurately translating complex 3-D data
between dissimilar CAD systems.

----

Powertronic Systems Announces Release of Reliability Program revisions
 
Powertronic Systems, Inc. announces the release of two revisions of its
popular Reliability Prediction Program (RPP), Version 3.2 for MIL-HDBK-217E and
Version 4.0, the first program to implement MIL-HDBK-217E Notice 1. RPP builds
systems structures, computes part reliability, and generates reports
containing systems and part failure rates. Support is provided for optional
part data libraries, global editing of system data, part stress derating
analysis, and CAE/CAD data importing. These CAE tools are used to
substantially reduce the time required for reliability analysis in accordance
with the part stress method of MIL-HDBK-217E and MIL-HDBK-217E Notice 1.  RPP-
4.0 is the first program of its kind to implement MIL-HDBK-217E Notice 1,
which was officially released in January 1990.
 
-----
 
Andersen Consulting Unveils New Software for Automated Quality Assurance
 
Anderson Consulting has announced its new NONCONFORMANCE tracking application
software module, an on-line automated set of quality assurance tools.  The
product runs on IBM mainframe computers and is the latest addition to the MAC-
PAC/D family of products, Andersen's integrated engineering, manufacturing and
financial systems for the aerospace and defense industry.  NONCONFORMANCE
tracking is an automated corrective action and dispositioning system for
nonconforming material.  The software produces on-line nonconformance records
that are integrated with existing shop orders, inventory records and supplier
information, eliminating manual documenting, reviewing and reconciling
discrepancies.
 
----

Point Control Says IGES Popular Translator for Its Numerical Control Software

Point Control told the CALS Report that Initial Graphics Exchange
Specification (IGES) is the second most popular CAD translator for its
SmartCAM Integrated CAM system. SmartCAM translators are part of the CAD
Connections translators used to import CAD data for Computer Numerical Control
(CNC) tool path planning. SmartCAM produces machine ready CNC code. CALS has
defined an IGES subset for Manufacturing and N/C (MIL-D-28000 Class IV), which
is almost fully supported by SmartCAM on input.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                              Vol. 3 No. 6, June 1990

Navy Projects $2 Billion Savings From $200 Million CALS Investment

The Navy has projected a $2 Billion savings from CALS investments totaling
$200 Million. The savings have been incorporated into the budgets submitted to
Congress during the latest round of negotiations. This disclosure silenced an
audience of several hundred CALS Industry Steering Group members at their
recent Task Group Meeting in Gaithersburg, who contemplated both the magnitude
and the leverage of the Navy's commitment. The announcement was made by Judy
Rumsey, who reports to RAdm. Guy H. Curtis, III, USN, Assistant Deputy Chief of
Naval Operations (Logistics) and the Navy's CALS Advocate.

-----

RAMCAD Interest Group Continues On Demand for Software Tools, Framework

Although the original charter of the RAMCAD (Reliability and Maintainability
in Computer-Aided Design) has been fulfilled and formal oversite by the Joint
Logistics Commanders' Joint Policy Coordinating Group has been terminated,
interest in the area continues on demand for new RAMCAD targeted Concurrent
Engineering software tools and application frameworks. The RAMCAD project was
a tri-service initiative to develop, among other things, a software
environment integrating R&M and CAD. The dissemination of this work, which now
nears completion, has attracted presentation on similar work, leading to a
continuing forum for RAMCAD technology. The RAMCAD meetings have been
organized by the Society of Logistics Engineers (SOLE).

----

French Ministry of Defense Establishes CALS Center of Interest

The French Ministry of Defense has established CALS Center of Interest to
monitor CALS developments and provide direct liaison with the DoD activity.
The center is headed by Engineer General Raymond and is located in Paris. The
US contact for the activity is Patrick Fermier of the French Embassy in
Washington DC.

-----

DICE CERCnet Concurrent Engineering Network Debut Scheduled for June

The Concurrent Engineering Research Center (CERC) Information Exchange System
Network (CERCnet) is scheduled to go on-line date on 1 June 1990.  When
CERCnet is available on-line the subscriber will then have access to a
powerful text retrieval system which includes full conferencing/Email,
bulletin board features in addition to CE abstracts/bibliographical
information. CERCnet will serve as the single abstract and bibliographic
resource for the Concurrent Engineering sub-task groups of the CALS/CE
Industry Steering Group. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
is funding the CERC and related programs under the DARPA Initiative in
Concurrent Engineering (DICE) program. CERCnet has already prepared and
distributed a diskette of Concurrent Engineering References collected and
abstracted to date.

------

Biedenbender Says Contractor Financing of CALS Investments Already Available
 
As CALS moves to full scale implementation on defense contracts, many
contractors face front end investments in some areas to be CALS compliant.
Dick Biedenbender, who heads ERC's CALS RFP and Proposal Preparation service,
points out that one way to reduce this potential burden is through the use of
contract incentives.  Biedenbender advises, "While OSD and the ISG have been
studying the issue of CALS related contract incentives generally and various
proposals have been or are in the process of development, current Value
Engineering (VE) clauses and the Industrial Modernization Incentive Program
(IMIP) are available now for possible use."  IMIP incentives normally only
apply to changes within the scope of the contract while VE incentives normally
apply if a change to the contract is required.
 
-----
 
Analysis: Atwood Memo on Corporate Info Mgt May Affect More CALS Programs

A review and restructuring ordered by Donald J. Atwood, Deputy Secretary of
Defense, may continue to affect the CALS infrastructure initiatives. The
action was outlined in a memorandum issued, October 4, 1989, and sent to the
Secretaries of the Military Departments, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff and other DoD officials. DoD Corporate Information Management (CIM) is a
rallying cry for the need to improve the standardization, quality and
consistency of data from DoD's multiple management information systems. AFTOMS
(Air Force Technical Order Management System) has already been placed into
review service interests in line with this initiative (see CALS Report, April,
1990). DoD spends about $9 billion annually on information technology and
additional sums in the DoD business areas these systems support.
 
-----

PDES Product Life Cycle Support Committee Nears Release of Information Model

The PDES Product Life Cycle Support Committee is close to releasing their
PDES information model. The model should capture life cycle support
information in the same product databases used by CAD, CAM and CAE. Product
Definition Data refers to features needed to completely determine the function
and configuration of a product. Product support data determines the
infrastructure needed for the product to function throughout its life cycle.
The PDES Product Life Cycle Support Committee information model will cap a
multi-year effort to incorporate MIL-STD-1388 2B and other support data into
the broadly commercial PDES standard effort.

------

Ten Vendors Tell CALS/IGES Interest Group about CALS IGES Products

The CALS/IGES Interest Group, meeting at the recent IGES/PDES Organization
(IPO) session, heard about CALS MIL-D-28000 IGES subset products from ten
vendors. The vendors, ranging from CAD/CAM vendors to specialized tool
developers and consultants, described products designed to address several
aspects of CALS compliant file production. The CALS/IGES Interest Group, now
Chaired by Lisa Deeds of the Navy's David Taylor Research Center (DTRC), is
serving as a liaison to the CALS program to organize reviews of CALS
standards, specifications and methodologies. Minutes of the meeting were
prepared by the former chairperson, Jill Farrell, of Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratories.

----

Lepisto Receives Award for Outstanding Contribution to SCAE

The Society for Computer Aided Engineering (SCAE) has conferred its 1990 Award
for Outstanding Contribution to SCAE to Bruce Lepisto of the DoD CALS Policy
Office. Bruce was recognized for his many agenda reviews, presentations and
other efforts which helped SCAE hold many successful educational programs on
CALS and Concurrent Engineering. SCAE is an affiliate of the Fabricators and
Manufacturers Association (FMA) and the honor was part of their annual awards
banquet in Detroit.

----

IGESPEEK Source Code Library, CALS IGES Class I Utility Now Available

IGESPEEK, the shareware utility for examining IGES files, has had a source code
update to include routines to write IGES files. All entities in IGES Version
4.0 (including the CSG entities) are supported. A sample driver, IGESCOPY.C,
can be linked to the library to produce a program which will read an IGES
file and write a copy of it. This source code can be used to create filter or
reflavoring tools for IGES files, such as modifying line-weights, layers,
status fields, etc.  This code can also be used as the nucleus of an IGES pre-
or post-processor, or it can be used to build an interactive IGES file editor.

-----

HP Offers CALS Special Promotional Pricing

Hewlett-Packard is offering promotional discounts on products from selected
members of the their CALS Solution Group. The 10% discounts last 10% though September
30th, 1990. HP has also extended an additional 10% discount to buyers who stop
by their booths at AFCEA in Washington, DC or AIA in Danvers, MA, both June 5-
7, 1990 and place their orders within 30 days. None of the discounts can be
combined with any other discounts or offers.

------

ANVIL-5000 CADD/CAM/CAE Software Now Available on DECStation 5000 Workstation
 
The ANVIL-5000 CADD/CAM/CAE software system from Manufacturing and Consulting
Services Inc. (MCS) of Irvine, Calf., is now available on Digital Equipment
Corporation's DECstation 5000 workstations. ANVIL-5000 is a modular, 3-D
CADD/CAM/CAE software system for mechanical engineering. It integrates
wireframe, surface and solids modeling; drafting; geometry analysis; pre-and
postprocessing of finite-element analysis; and numerical control machining in
a single database.
 
----
 
IDI announces document handler interface for BASICplus text system
 
Information Dimensions, Inc. (IDI) has announced the release of the Document
Handler Interface (DHI) module for BASICplus, its text information management
system (TIMS).  IDI's new DHI is a toolkit that enables BASICplus users in
Digital environments to transparently access, interchange and display
documents created using Digital word and document processing systems.  DHI
effectively handles documents of all sizes ranging from alphanumeric records
to long documents containing images or binary large objects (BLOBs).
 
-----
 

Institute of Business Technology Announces TQM Software
 
The Institute of Business Technology (IBT) announces TQM Focustm, Total
Quality Management modeling software.  TQM Focus software focuses the
continuous improvement efforts in your TQM activities on the constraint or
bottleneck workstation in your factory or business process.  Manufacturing
companies model factories and other processes with TQM Focus to evaluate the
results of improvements and to find "how much" improvement is needed to
alleviate the constraint.  By identifying the highest priority constraint
workstation in you factory, TQM Focus guides the company in reducing their
manufacturing cycle time.
 
------

Unisys to Offer Intercim's Factory Data Manager Software
 
Unisys and Intercim Corporation has announced that Intercim's Factory Data
Manager software will be made available to users of Unisys U Series UNIX OS-
based computers. FACTORYnet FDM (Factory Data Manager) is a key element of a
total manufacturing information management system.  Scanned images, CAD
drawings, NC programs and process instructions are collected to form complete
shop packets.  FACTORYnet FDM transfers the packets to hardened shop-floor
workstations, facilitating information flow from design concept to the point
of production.  Shop packets, which frequently are voluminous, inaccurate and
out-of-date when delivered, can now be transmitted electronically.  With
Factory Data Manager, timeliness and accuracy is assured and the packet
information is always legible and easily accessible.
 
-----
 
CIMCORP Announces CIMCENTER Shop Floor Management System
 
CIMCORP Factory Controls Inc. has recently introduced a state-of-the-
art shop floor control system called CIMCENTER Shop Floor Management.
CIMCENTER Shop Floor Management is a modular system which controls, monitors
and tracks production personnel, equipment, materials, documentation, and
related production resources.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                           Vol. 3 No. 7, July 1990
 

McGrath Says Focus on Enterprise Integration and Multi-Enterprise Frameworks

Mike McGrath, Director of the DoD CALS Policy Office, has termed the current
focus of the CALS initiative on "Multi-Enterprise Integration Frameworks," where
product data is exchanged between integrated trading partners.  Multi-
enterprise integration frameworks consolidate DoD CALS interest in Electronic
Data Interchange (EDI), Contractor Integrated Technical Information Services
(CITIS), and other topics which deal with access to and sharing of data during
a contract or other business relationship.  Refinements to prior CALS
technology, including CALS standards, plans for infrastructure development and
R&D, are reflecting this multi-enterprise focus.  McGrath made his comments at
the recent IDEF Users Group meeting in Washington, DC. IDEF (Integrated
Computer-Aided Manufacturing DEFinition Method) refers to a family of
techniques used to model enterprise functions (IDEF0), data structures, and
business rules (IDEF1 and IDEF1x).

-----

CALS Data Dictionary Concept Expands to Consider Directory Services

A model for CALS Directory/Data Dictionary Services is emerging from
the CALS Industry Steering Group (ISG) Task Force (TF) charged with its
development. The task force was initially called the Data Dictionary TF and is
still called that, though their findings lean toward a more general level of
functionality. Their current charter is to assist "in the fundamental
definition, requirements, and methodology for achieving universal
directory/data dictionary service in a fully integrated CALS environment."
Their interim report is expected about July, 1990. The TF is chaired by Bob
Kidwell of Syscon.
 
-----

EIS Developing Common Exchange Format for Electronic Designs
 
The Engineering Information System (EIS) is developing a Common Exchange
Format (CEF). CEF will be part of the Engineering Environment Services
(EES) provides general tools which support the engineering design of
electronic components and systems. The CEF is the vehicle by which any data
managed by an EIS can be moved to another EIS. It may also be used by a single
EIS to transfer data to and from attached system over heterogeneous networks,
systems over heterogeneous networks, and by attached tools to facilitate data
exchange. The EIS is being developed by Honeywell, Xerox, TRW, MDAC, CLSI, ASU,
under contract to the Air Force and was reported in a recent EIS Update
newsletter.

-----

NIST NCSL Begins Validation Testing for Formats, Interfaces, Languages
 
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Computer
Systems Laboratory (NCSL) is planning to offer validation testing services for
a number of national and international standards. The standards slated for
testing include:

o GKS (Graphical Kernel System).
o PHIGS (Programmer's Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System).
o Ada, COBOL, Fortran & Pascal.
o SQL (Structured Query Language).
o CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile).

The testing, performed on a fee basis, is in various states of readiness,
depending on the particular standard. CALS planning has made extensive use of
SQL. The draft of MIL-STD-1388-2B (Logistics Support Analysis Record) is based
on a relational data base model and the GFE LSAR software will use SQL queries to
contractor furnished DB software. Other CALS developments plan use of SQL as
well. The CALS specification for CGM, MIL-D-28003, still awaits a test suite.
 

-----

Proceedings Available for NIST Hypertext Standardization Workshop

The proceedings of the National Institute of Standards and Technology/
National Computer Systems Laboratory (NIST/NCSL) Hypertext Standardization
Workshop held on January 16-18, 1990 have just been published and contain:

o  Those contributed papers which were deemed of highest quality and general
interest, and which were featured in the opening plenary session;

o  Summaries of the deliberations and conclusions of the three discussion
groups (Hypertext Models, Hypertext Data Interchange, and Hypertext User
Requirements), authored by the presenters; and

o  A comprehensive Hypermedia Bibliography, 1989, reprinted by permission
from Paul Kahn of the Institute for Research in Information and
Scholarship, Brown University.

The major conclusions of the workshop were that:

o    Individual discussion groups should continue their respective
technical efforts;

o    NIST/NCSL should sponsor at least one more Workshop to provide a
forum for public discussion of progress; and

o    The name of future workshops should specify Hypermedia instead of
Hypertext to emphasize the multimedia component of Hypertext.

-----

Mentor Graphics Offers "Real-Time" Reliability Prediction
 
Mentor Graphics has announced Reliability Predictor, a software tool for
interactively monitoring the reliability of electronic systems during the
design process. The tool automates reliability calculations and tracks
reliability predictions throughout a product's entire design cycle. Because
of the tight tool integration made possible by Mentor Graphics' Concurrent
Design Environment, design engineers can actively monitor changes in design
and analysis data and automatically perform reliability calculations.
Predicted reliability can be monitored early in the design cycle, when design
changes are least expensive and can be made quickly. Reliability Predictor is
priced at $10,000 and available in the fourth quarter of 1990. Mentor Graphics
Corporation, based in Beaverton, Oregon, was established in 1981 to design,
manufacture, market and service electronic design automation (EDA) systems.
The company recently merged with Silicon Compiler Systems Corp.
 
-----

EDMICS System Using FORMTEK Software as Image Editor and IGES Converter
 
FORMTEK is providing Engineering Drawing software for the U.S. Navy and
Defense Logistics Agency's Engineering Data Management Information and Control
System (EDMICS). The software was included in the first installation of
EDMICS, which took place at the Naval Ordnance Station in Louisville,
Kentucky. The software is based upon FORMTEK's existing commercially-sold
software, modified by FORMTEK to meet the specific requirements of EDMICS.
Two of the major application areas addressed by FORMTEK are raster editing and
IGES-to-raster conversion. Raster editing is performed on larger engineering
drawings to rigid performance requirements. Raster technology plays a
central role in EDMICS since it provides the means to easily and efficiently
capture and modify documents in electronic format, and distribute them to
remote locations. FORMTEK, Inc., a Lockheed Company, develops and supplies
software products which enable end-users to capture, store, manipulate, manage
and distribute hardcopy or computer-generated engineering information.
 
-----

Information Dimensions to Support Digital's Document Management Strategy
 
Information Dimensions, Inc. (IDI), a Digital Cooperative Marketing Program
(CMP) participant, today announced a series of enhancements to BASICplus in
support of Digital's Document Management Strategy.  BASICplus provides
integrated storage, retrieval and management of document-based text and
multimedia information. Information Dimensions, Inc. is a subsidiary of
Battelle Memorial Institute, headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.
 
BASICplus supports Digital's Compound Document Architecture (CDAtm) and
Digital Document Interchange Format (DDIFtm) standards for managing text,
graphics and images and provides advanced content-based retrieval (CBR)
capabilities.  It handles documents possessing rich text, images and graphics,
putting "true form" information in the hands of users.
 
IDI's announcement includes plans for text/image application support for
DECimagetm Application Services, Digital's image management subsystems, using
BASICplus to integrate images on Digital storage devices with textual
databases residing on Digital 3000 series VAXstationstm.  Through
DECwindowstm, BASICplus users will be able to retrieve digitized images
handled by DECimage services and stored on Digital's optical and magnetic
media.  In addition to the DECwindows front-end for BASICplus, IDI is
developing an extension of the BASICplus "ALL-IN-1" integration kit to include
future support for the "ALL-IN-1" Phase II desktop.
 
-----

D&E Compiling Worst Case Part Data for Electronic Components
 
Design & Evaluation, a Laurel Springs, NJ firm specializing in Worst Case
Analysis (WCA) is compiling a database of extreme parameter values for analog
and digital electronic components.  Worst case analysis evaluates the
performance of a design under worst case operating conditions which included
all part parameters and unit interfaces (PWR, LOADS etc) varying to their
extreme drift values simultaneously. By considering how component performance
varies and drifts throughout a system's life cycle, WCA "designs in"
reliability for military aerospace, and severe environment industrial systems
to ensure long life and trouble-free field operation.  WCA is required by task
206 of MIL-STD-785B.
 
-----

Optigraphics System Selected by ESRI for World Mapping Project
 
An Optigraphics 3100 Conversion System has been selected by Environmental
Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI) to help build the first complete
digital base map of the world under a $10 million contract with the Defense
Mapping Agency (DMA). ESRI, a leading provider of Geographic Information
Systems (GIS), chose the Optigraphics 3100 system to allow creation of the map
database through scanning and automatic recognition techniques. San Diego-
based Optigraphics Corporation is a leading supplier of technical document
image products and systems.
 
-----

Optigraphics Introduces New Scanning/Conversion, Scanning/Drafting Systems
 
Optigraphics Corporation has announced the introduction of four new turnkey
scanning/conversion systems. The systems feature Optigraphics high performance
scanning, drawing revision and CAD conversion technologies at special prices.
Optigraphics Corporation has also announced the introduction of the
OptiDRAFTtm Scanning System, a turnkey large-format document scanning
system developed to meet the data capture needs of mapping professionals,
facility managers and mechanical and manufacturing engineers. San Diego-based
Optigraphics Corporation is a leading supplier of technical document image
products and systems.

================================================================================

CALS Report                                           Vol. 3 No. 8, August 1990

Donnelly to Congress: Transition to EDI & CALS 'Inevitable', 'Complementary'

Richard Donnelly, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Production Resources,
OASD(P&L), DoD, told a joint meeting in June of two House small business
subcommittees that DoD believes the transition to EDI and CALS is "inevitable"
and DoD's programs in the area are "complimentary". DoD will try to provide an
environment for small business participation. The Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Production and Logistics is the DoD CALS Policy
Office. The two Subcommittees, 1) Exports, Tax Policy and Special Problems
(Chaired by Norman Sisisky, D-Virginia), and 2) Environment and Labor (Chaired
by Esteban Torres, D-California) have been showing increasing interest in CALS
and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) impacts on Small Business. Sources close
to congressmen indicate that they are searching for incentives and other
vehicles for acquiring CALS and EDI technology which would be acceptable to a
budget-conscience congress. Donnelly's testimony is the first significant
policy statement from DoD to Congress since the 1988 report. Torres, Sisisky,
and others have introduced legislation to study the problem further.

----

Donnelly Testimony

-----

Optical Disk Standards Fall Short of CALS Needs

Despite the progress made in standards for optical disk, further work is
needed to implement them in a CALS environment. Current standards address
physical and data formats for a variety of disk sizes and technologies,
however, no standard has been adopted for the operational (e.g., Data Access
of CD-ROM where CD-ROM is the Archive) format of the disk. Until such
standards are developed, any application of optical disk technology to CALS
data access or archival delivery will require use of a proprietary or de facto
standard (e.g., ORACLE) for data organization of the disk.
 

----

NIST, Industry Work Together for Automated Quality Inspection
 
     Six industrial firms have joined forces with the National Institute of
Standards and Technology (NIST) in a cooperative research program to develop an
automated inspection system for manufactured parts.  The effort is part of
NIST's "Quality in Automation" project to assist U.S. industry in developing
quality assurance techniques vital to global competitiveness.
 
     CADKEY Inc., Automation Software, Sheffield Measurement, Renishaw Inc.,
CMX Systems Inc., and ICAMP Inc. are contributing resources to the automated
inspection project.  NIST researchers plan to incorporate software and
hardware products loaned by these firms into one of the first fully integrated
part design and inspection system to use the recently developed ANSI
Dimensional Measuring Interface Specification (DMIS) standard.  The entire
software system will run on a single low-cost personal computer.

------

Audre Recognition Systems Inc. is Selected as Support Contractor for CTN
 
Audre Recognition Systems Incorporated has announced that it has signed a
contract with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, whereby AUDRE will
provide standards testing and technical support for the CALS Test Network
(CTN).  The consulting contract, the second to be received by AUDRE from
Lawrence Livermore, is initially for $147,000 and covers a period of twelve
months.

-----
 
Data Storage for USS SEAWOLF
 
By Bruce Calkins, NAVSEA CAD/CAM Operations Support Detachment
(Reprinted from the SEACOST Status Report May 1990)
 
In an attempt to get a better understanding of the data storage requirements
for CAD data in the not too distant future, I requested an estimate of the
amount of vector (CAD) digital data being developed for the Navy on the USS
SEAWOLF (SSN21).  My reasoning was that this ship is one of the first
completely CAD designed and CAM manufactured Navy ships, and therefore a good
representative of size and scope of electronic data requirements.
 
The response was surprising on two counts.  Firstly, the Navy does not
currently plan a digital data delivery for the USS SEAWOLF.  Secondly, if it
were, it would take approximately 578,000 Megabytes of electronic storage
(that's 32,000 magnetic tapes of 18 Megabytes per tape).  These statistics
were provided by the Design Agents, Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) and
General Dynamics, Electric Boat Division (EB Div) via PMS 350A.
 
As for the first part, delivery of the data is a contractual issue that will
require further study to determine the desirability of the data and the
projected cost benefits to the government....

... By the end of the century, shipyards with overhaul requirements of ten to
twenty ships might conceivably need 80 to 100 Gigabytes of fast access
capacity with extended capabilities to access the remaining 200-300 Gigabytes
of relevant data.

----
 
IGES Piping Application Protocol
 
By Bruce Calkins, NAVSEA CAD/CAM Operations Support Detachment
(Reprinted from the SEACOST Status Report May 1990)
 
Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES) Version 4.0 attempts to
provide the basis for the transfer of various presentations of both 2D and 3D
graphic data represented in supporting vendor's CAD systems...The Computer
Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS) Office with the assistance of
the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) is fostering a
slightly different approach to the use of IGES.  In their view, IGES is most
effective when the application, for the data is know.  If you know the
application, it is possible to use a subset of IGES described entities to meet
all your requirements. The only remaining drawback is that your intent for
the data is not carried with the IGES data file, and hence an Application
Protocol (AP) is necessary... The scope of future IGES files will be identified
by Application Protocols to which they conform.

----

European Fighter Aircraft Tech Doc Deliveries to 1840A

British Aerospace (Military Aircraft) Ltd at the Warton Unit in Lancashire, UK,
are in the process of proving their Digital Data Exchange mechanisms by the
delivery of trial Technical Publication source material for the European
Fighter Aircraft to partner companies.  The delivery, which took place at the
end of June, is believed to be the first formal exchange in Europe which is
based on the CALS standard MIL-STD-1840A.
 
Four European nations are involved in the development of the European Fighter
Aircraft (EFA) - the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain with a workshare of 33%,
33%, 21% and 13% respectively.  There are two management companies responsible
for the project - Eurofighter GmbH with responsibility for the airframe and
EuroJet GmbH for the engine, both with headquarters in Munich.

----

PDES, Inc Efforts Continue with Sheet Metal Project

Since PDES, Inc.'s beginning in 1988, the development of PDES (Product Data
Exchange Using STEP) has come a long way.  PDES, Inc. and its twenty three
member companies are working towards accelerating the development and
implementation of the proposed international standard, STEP (Standard for the
Exchange of Product Model Data).  As of May, 1990, the member companies
include Boeing, General Dynamics, General Electric, Grumman, Lockheed,
McDonnell Douglas, Northrop, DEC, FMC, IBM, LTV, Computervision, Rockwell,
Martin Marietta, General Motors, Westinghouse, Newport News Shipbuilding,
Honeywell, United Technologies, TRW, Hewlett-Packard, Rolls-Royce, and British
Aerospace.

================================================================================

CALS Report                                         Vol. 3 No. 9, September 1990

Atwood to Give Keynote to CALS EXPO '90, Exhibits Expected to Sell Out
 
Donald Atwood, Deputy Secretary of Defense (P&L), has agreed to give a keynote
address for CALS EXPO '90.  Exhibit space is expected to sell out, according
to Exhibit Coordinator, Jo Tanner. The conference and exposition, whose theme
is, "The Time is Now, " will be held 4-6 December 1990, at the Infomart
facility in Dallas, Texas. The CALS EXPO is the major forum for DOD & industry
to discuss and demonstrate Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistic Support
(CALS) capabilities. Program highlights include vendor demonstrations,
technical and managerial sessions focusing on using CALS standards to
integrate government/contractor data bases and the delivery of technical data
in digital form. Over 125 speakers are scheduled for the technical sessions.
There will be a large military section with more that twenty contractors
displaying their deliverables and DoD products. Registration packages will be
mailed in September.
 
-----

First Public Showing of CFI Interface Integrates CAD Tools of 22 Vendors
 
A procedural interface (PI) was demonstrated publicly for the first
time at the June Design Automation Conference (DAC) in Orlando, FL, allows
"producer" and "consumer" tools to share access to common data without the
need for translation into another format. The procedural interface is the
first proposed standard introduced by the CAD Framework Initiative (CFI). The
PI allows such multi-vendor CAD tools (such as schematic editors and logic
simulators) to exchange design data freely. CFI is a consortium of 52 design
automation vendors, computers and semiconductor suppliers, and CAD tool end
users organized to develop integration standards for design automation tools.
For the DAC demo, 22 CFI participants have developed interface code for the
CFI PI.

----

Digital Equipment Join's MCC's CAD Framework Lab
 
The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC) has announced
that Digital Equipment Corporation has become the eighth company to join the
MCC CAD Framework Laboratory (CFL).  Previously announced CFL affiliates are
Cadence Design Systems, Harris, Hewlett-Packard, Texas Instruments, NCR,
Motorola and National Semiconductor. The CFL was formed in 1989 to support
efforts within the CAD industry to standardize the interfaces between CAD
tools and the software frameworks that support them.  In particular, the CFL
and its affiliate companies have been very active in providing technical
support to the CAD Framework Initiative, Inc. (CFI), an international
industry association working to define interface standards for CAD frameworks.

----
 
DICE Project Selects PTECH/ONTOS to Support Concurrent Engineering
 
The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Initiative in Concurrent
Engineering (DICE) has selected the combination of Ptech methodology modeling
and the ONTOS object database as part of their $100-million research and
development program in concurrent engineering. DARPA is the high-technology
arm of the U.S. Department of Defense. The DICE program is awarding contracts
to several universities and high-technology industrial firms in a coordinated
effort to develop a prototype CE environment. Ptech is a designer toolkit
produced by Associative Design Technology (ADT), of Westborough, Mass. ONTOS
is an object-oriented database from Ontologic, Inc., headquartered in
Burlington, Mass. DICE is located at the Concurrent Engineering Research
Center (CERC) in Morgantown, WV.
 
----

VHDL Products Proliferate at IEEE Design Automation Show

VHDL (VHSIC Hardware Description Language) is a new HDL that is rapidly
becoming the industry standard. Maintained as IEEE Standard 1076-1987, the
language is mandated for use for documenting the structure and behavior of all
new military application-specific integrated circuits in MIL-STD-454, Part 64.
This mandate has led to an acceleration of VHDL product development and
support within existing Electronic Design Automation (EDA) systems. VHDL is
considered a CALS standard and is expected to be incorporated into MIL-STD-
1840B when released this year.

-----

ISO TC 184 is working on Framework for CIM Systems Integration

The International Standards Organization (ISO) is working on a "Framework for
CIM Systems Integration". The framework project was proposed by Germany, F.R.
to the Secretariat of ISO Technical Committee (TC) 184, Industrial Automation
Systems and Integration. The framework is expected "to provide a means of
describing enterprises in a computer processable description, to make the
computer integration requirements and the forthcoming permanent changes in the
discrete parts manufacturing industry manageable."
 
-----

UK Trade Associations CALS Initiative Announced
 
Six major UK Trade Associations have joined together to form a focus for UK
Industrial discussion and action on the US CALS initiative was conceived by
the US Department of Defense to achieve two phased aims. Firstly, to reduce
the reliance on paper by wider adoption of the electronic medium. Secondly,
and more long-term, to integrate both technical and management information
associated with the development, production and support of equipment, within
and between Industry and Government, by the use of electronic data interchange
(EDI) technology.
 
The UK Trade Associations involved are:

o British Naval Equipment Association,
o Computing Services Association,
o Defence Manufactureres Association,
o Electronic Components Industry Federation,
o Electronic and Business Equipment Association and
o Society of British Aerospace Companies.

The joint initiative is called the UK Trade Associations CALS Committee
(UTACC).

----
 
European Aerospace Industry Establishs EDI Committee

The Association Europeenne des Constructeurs de Material Aerospacial (AECMA),
which brings together 9 National Aerospace Associations, has established a
Standing Committee for Electronic Data Interchange (SCEDI). Its task is to
examine the requirement for a European Aerospace Industry Total Business
Information Architecture providing a system of data management and interchange
for the complete life cycle of projects and programs. The aim, particularly in
collaborative projects, is to improve efficiency by the standardized use of
Information Technology (IT), and thus to be more competitive in the world
market.

---

CALS EUROPE '90 Scheduled
 
The World Computer Graphics Association (WCGA) in coordination with the U.S.
Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) and the International Society of Logistics
Engineers (SOLE) will sponsor the first annual International Conference
and Exhibition on CALS and Information Integration in Europe, entitled "CALS
EUROPE '90", November 5-7, 1990 in Brussels, Belgium, at the Crown Scandia
Hotel.  NATO's SIXTEEN NATIONS, of the Monch Publishing Group and devoted to
covering aspects of NATO policy, strategy and armaments, is co-sponsoring CALS
EUROPE '90.  The Association of Europeene des Constructeurs de Material
Aerospatiel (AECMA) is also lending its support to this event. CALS EUROPE '90
will address U.S. and European concepts and strategies in concurrent
engineering, information management, PDES/STEP, logistics processes,
standards, industry case studies, products availability and future directions.

-----
 
Data Security Issues Highlighted at SCAE-sponsored Conference
 
The sixth in a series of technical conferences sponsored by the Society for
Computer-Aided Engineering Events (SCAE), will be held September 12-14, 1990,
in Arlington, Virginia. "CALS Phase II: Data Security Issues & Concurrent
Engineering Applications" focuses on the difficulties of data protection in a
CALS Environment and the most recent developments in Concurrent Engineering
(CE) technology. Over 15 technical presentations will examine topics such as
concurrent engineering applications, CALS acquisition strategy and
contracting, countermeasures for database protection, Statement of Work (SOW)
terminology in MIL-HDBK-59 and CALS data protection and integrity. In
addition, a panel of leading CALS/CE professionals will share their hands-on
experience of implementing or managing a CE environment and the successes and
the pitfalls they've encountered.

-----

SOLE & CERC to Cosponsor SCAE CALS/CE '91 Conference & Exposition
 
The Greater Washington Area Chapter of the Society of Logistic Engineers
(SOLE) and the Concurrent Engineering Research Center (CERC) have teamed up
with the Society for Computer-Aided Engineering (SCAE) to cosponsor CALS/CE
'91 Conference and Exposition, June 12-14, 1991, at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in
Washington, D.C. By presenting this all new industry event, SCAE, CERC, and
the Washington Area Chapter of SOLE plan to foster the growth, development and
implementation of combined CALS/CE technologies.

----
 
New Software Predicts Product Failures More Accurately Using Latest DoD Data
 
Systems Effectiveness Associates, Inc. (SEA) has released new versions of its
reliability analysis software reflecting the enhancements found in Notice 1 of
MIL-HDBK-217E just issued by the Department of Defense. MIL-HDBK-217E 1
Notice provides new data to more accurately determine the failure rates of
integrated circuits, optical electronics, and semiconductors. It also
provides updated information to predict reliability in space-flight
environments.  To comply with the new edition of the DoD publication, SEA
revised and released three reliability analysis software packages: REAPtm,
REAPmatetm, and REAP BASICtm.

-----
 
Optigraphics Successfully Completes CTN Tests
 
Optigraphics Corporation has successfully completed preliminary tests for
compliance with the federal government's CALS format for raster image files.
Optigraphics' test was evaluated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
a main test facility for the CALS Test Network.  The test confirmed
Optigraphics ability to generate a Type I (MIL-R-28002) raster file consisting
of an engineering drawing.  Optigraphics is continuing to test the Type 2
raster format that will eventually be required under CALS, said John De
Aguair, senior engineer of the Optigraphics CALS team. Type 2 format consists
of tiled compressed raster files. Optigraphics embeds many of their raster
handling techniques in firmware on proprietary accelerator boards.
 

================================================================================

CALS Report                                         Vol. 3 No. 10, October 1990

CALS Offices Reorganizes as Joint Service Program

The Services are planning to reorganize their CALS offices and form a new
joint service CALS Office, announced Mike McGrath, Director of the DoD CALS
Policy Office. The new management structure will place all service CALS
coordination under the direction of a central organization and management.
The main thrust of the joint office is infrastructure modernization, within
the services. The OSD CALS office will continue to coordinate overall DoD
policy. Details of that structure and which programs move to the new
organization is still being worked out. McGrath made the announcement at the
Federal Computer Conference (FCC) '90 in Washington, DC.

----

Gorham Says DoD is Studying CALS Data Protection Options

William C. Gorham, Jr., of the DoD Defense Systems and Programs Office, said
that they are studying several data protection issues that arise in CALS.
Gorham indicated that a formal study is underway to develop policy objectives
and a data protection strategy for CALS implementation. Close coordination is
being maintained with the DoD Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) initiative to
insure a uniform interface with industry. The report is expected to be
completed in January, 1991. Gorham made his comments at the Society for
Computer Aided Engineering (SCAE) conference on CALS/CE in September, 1990 in
Washington, DC.

CALS attention to Data Protection is driven by national requirements:
 
o  National Security Interests (classified)
o  Privacy Act (1985)
o  Copyright Provisions (USC Title 17)
o  Computer Security Act 1987 (Sensitive Unclassified)
 
These require that CALS data bases must:
 
o  Protect classified & sensitive unclassified data
o  Examine, for sensitive information:
   * Definitions and relationship
   * Threats, Vulnerabilities & Risks
   * Effective, Affordable Countermeasures
 
CALS will require a Risk Assessment analysis of CALS sensitive unclassified
data, along with Threat/Vulnerability and Countermeasures Analyses. Contract
working for these tasks will be included in MIL-HDBK-59B in the FY91
timeframe.

------

CITIS Spec Negotiates Compromise Bridge Between Legacy DID's and Integration

The forthcoming Contractor Integrated Technical Information Services (CITIS)
specification is crafting a careful compromise between existing contract
deliverables and fully integrated government/contractor databases. Deliverables
in contracts are defined in Data Item Description (DID) documents, which are
cited in the Contract Data Requirements List (CDRL). The defense contracting
culture has developed acquisition, management and financial systems around the
itemized CDRL. The long range CALS integration objectives represent a break
with this legacy. The CITIS spec strikes a balance by defining levels of
Information Access Service and integration compatible with both. The
coordination draft of the spec is expected by CALS EXPO '90 in December.
 
------

CALS Handbook to Split into Two Parts

The CALS Handbook, MIL-HDBK-59, "CALS Implementation Guide," is expected to be
split into two parts, one reflecting business issues and the other technical
issues. The business part, currently referred to as the CALS Acquisition
Guide, will retain all the guidance on preparing Request For Proposal (RFP)
and Statement Of Work (SOW) documents. The acquisition guide has been under
development by a joint industry/government task force.  The final draft will
be forwarded to the CALS Policy Office on 22 Oct 90.

------

SGML and SDIF Mandated as European Standards
 
ISO 8879 Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) (including amendment 1)
was approved as a European standard by CEN/CENELEC in November 1989, being
given the number 28879.  The following month (December 1989 saw the approval
of ISO 9069 SGML Document Interchange Format (SDIF) as 29069. These standards
are now mandated within the European Community where there is a need for the
facilities embodied in the standards.  It should be noted that  28879
incorporates the whole of ISO 8879, that is all defined features and
facilities and is in no way a subset of the ISO standard.  This reflects the
European view that all the optional features of SGML should be available for
use.

-----
 
Concurrent Engineering Research Center Initiates CERCnet on-Line Service
 
The Concurrent Engineering Research Center (CERC) has announced the
initiation of the Information Exchange System Network (CERCnet) on-line
service.  The network provides the following features:
 
a. Text retrieval data bases, i.e. abstracts and bibliographic information
on Concurrent Engineering (CE) - related material;

b. Bulletin board features for information and forthcoming symposia,
conferences, tutorials, etc., related to CE;

c. Subscriber dictionaries;

d. Conferencing capabilities to provide a forum for organizations such as
the CALS/CE Industry Steering Group

CERCnet is available to you at no charge and is accessible either by modem (1-
800-331-3808) or through INTERNET service.  CERCnet is sponsored by the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under contract No. MDA972-88-C-0047
for the DARPA Initiative in Concurrent Engineering (DICE).

LMSC CALS Laboratory Demos CALS-Compliant Document Preparation for Air Force
 
by Jeff Hill CALS Lab Assistant Project Leader, Lockheed Missiles & Space
Company, Inc., 0/19-52, B/102, 1111 Lockheed Way, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-3504.
 
During the first quarter of 1990, Lockheed Missiles & Space Company (LMSC)
provided a CALS-compliance demonstration as part of a final design review to
support a major LMSC program.  The attendees included representatives from the
Air Force Space Systems Division, the Air Force Plant Representatives Office
(AFPRO), the Air Force CALS Program Office, and the Sacramento Air Logistics
Center (SM-ALC).  The CALS portion of the demonstration was conducted by
members of the LMSC CALS Lab, a research and support group established to
assist LMSC organizations and programs in planning for optimal and cost-
effective CALS solutions.

-----

Industrial CALS Training Criteria Proposed

A comprehensive set of industrial CALS training criteria has been proposed by
The Professional Development Sub-Committee of the Education Training Committee
of the CALS/CE Industry Steering Group (ISG). The criteria were prepared at a
conference sponsored by The Society of Logistics Engineers (SOLE) at Luray,
Virginia, in July, 1990. The objective of the committee was to develop
criteria which OSD will issue for a family of CALS courses which will be
offered by professional societies, colleges, and individuals at military
education and training facilities, schools, conference centers, company
facilities, and colleges. The Sub-Committee is chaired by Richard A. Romer,
C.P.L. of Mantech. The DoD CALS office is applying to the Patent and
Trademarks Office for a "Service Mark" to be licensed to courses meeting these
criteria.
The family of CALS courses is targeted for the following groups:

EXECUTIVES, 2-6 hours, for Vice-Presidents, Program Managers, and Deputy
Program Managers

MIDDLE LEVEL MANAGERS, 2-4 days, for Project Managers and Functional Managers

TECHNICAL MANAGERS, 5 days, for those charged with preparing CALS-Compliant
data.

================================================================================

CALS Report                                         Vol. 3 No. 11, November 1990

MIL-STD-1388-2B Nears Completion: On-Line Access Left for CITIS

The long awaited MIL-STD-1388-2B Logistics Support Analysis Record (LSAR)
revised standard is ready for formal issue, with concentration on the
definition of data elements and relations and their delivery to DoD. The
question of on-line access to data has been left for the CALS Contractor
Integrated Technical Information Services (CITIS) specification to work out.
All dependencies of 1388 on Structured Query Language (SQL), an on-line
database definition and access language, have been removed. In the final
version, there will be no Government-furnished Joint Services LSAR ADP
Software, therefore, it will be the responsibility of the contractor to
program the data elements and relations in a contractor-supplied data definition
language and program for the output of the proper reports and Master Files,
for delivery to DoD as required. MIL-STD-1388 is maintained by the US Army
AMC/Materiel Readiness Support Activity (MRSA) in Lexington, KY.

----

MRSA Lists 42 Validated LSAR ADP Systems Under MIL-STD-1388-2A

The US Army AMC/Materiel Readiness Support Activity (MRSA) now lists 39
validated LSAR ADP systems under MIL-STD-1388-2A. MRSA validates, but does not
certify LSAR software. Validation confirms that software produces correct
outputs from test inputs, certification implies that internal algorithms are
correct. MRSA validation is required to use a particular LSAR software product
on a DoD contract. MRSA also supports the Joint Service LSAR ADP system, which
is in the public domain and not classified. To get it, you fill out a form
available from MRSA. The software can be resold or released to non-defense
firms here and overseas.

-----

Bids Solicited for NIST CALS Support Contract

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is soliciting bids
for its 1991 CALS Support Services Contract. The highly coveted contract will
cover work in five areas:

CALS Architecture Development
Technical Data Interchange Standards and Technology
CALS Implementation Planning
Management Support
Acquisition Policy Development

Acquisition Policy Development is a new area added this year.

-----

National IGES User Group to Start at AUTOFACT '90, IGES Version 5.0 Available

The initial meeting of the National IGES User Group is scheduled for Tuesday,
November 13, 1990, 11:00 AM - 1:00PM at AUTOFACT '90. The user group is being
established under the direction of the IGES/PDES Organization (IPO) Steering
Committee and the National Computer Graphics Association (NCGA), the
administrator of the IPO. AUTOFACT '90 is an internationally recognized event on automation and
Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), sponsored by Society of Manufacturing
Engineers (SME).

----

GIMADS Integrates Design Processes for Integrated Diagnostic Functions
 
GIMADS (Generic Integrated Maintenance Diagnostics) has emerged as a strong
example of integration of design processes for consideration of a logistics
function, i.e., integrated diagnostics.  The GIMADS project has developed a
methodology for systematically developing diagnostic requirements in a weapon
system based on operational need at the beginning of a program and detailing
them in step with the design configuration as it evolves.  The GIMADS program
is planning to use CALS standards and integration techniques to accomplish
their methodology.

----

Geographic Information Systems May Have CALS-Like Payoffs for DoD

According to Henry Tom of NIST, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) may have
CALS-like payoffs for DoD. GIS technology seeks to organize data that is
spatially related. "It is an information system," says Tom, "that answers the
question of 'where'." Tom heads the GIS Standards Laboratory at NIST concerned
with developing standards for GIS, including information interchange.

----

Rock Island Arsenal Demonstrates BCL Format Role in CIM Strategy

The US Army at Rock Island Arsenal successfully downloaded a dimensioned IGES
file and Binary Cutter Location (BCL) format file and machined and inspected a
part from the data. The demonstration was part of the BCL users' Group meeting
at Rock Island, IL, in June, 1990. The two files were downloaded from the
Naval Weapons Center at China Lake, CA. The BCL data was used to cut the part,
which was then checked against the IGES drawing. BCL is a machine-independent
Numerical Control (N/C) language similar to CALS' IPC (Institute for
Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits), except they apply to
mechanical and electrical parts, respectively. The 32 bit BCL file format is
defined in Electronic Industry Association standard, EIA RS-494, "Binary
Cutter Location Data Exchange Format for Numerically Controlled Machine
Tools". Rock Island Arsenal is using BCL as part of their "Renovation of
Armament Manufacturing/Computer Integrated Manufacturing System" or REARM/CIMS
project to link design and manufacturing functions.

----

ANALYSIS: BCL Could Meet Many of the Goals of RAMP for Mechanical Parts

Binary Cutter Location (BCL), a machine-independent language for Numerical
Control (N/C) may fulfill many of the goals of the Navy RAMP project for
rapidly machining arbitrary mechanical parts from digital data. RAMP (Rapid
Acquisition of Manufactured Parts) plans to generate or take delivery of
product definition data from weapon system designers. When a part was needed,
a production facility would be selected (RAMP is developing such a facility),
a process plan developed to make the part on available machine tools, and the
part would be generated. BCL, which would be produced to drive an N/C machine
chosen by a particular process plan, could provide some of the multi-facility
benefits of RAMP immediately at substantially less cost.

----

More Than 400 Attend McDonnell Douglas ECAD Demonstrations

McDonnell Douglas has announced that more than 400 technical employees
attended the corporation's demonstrations Electronic CAD (ECAD) for
avionics/electronics specification and design users.  The demonstrations of
the McDonnell Douglas Electronic Product Automation Program (EPAP) were
conducted this spring in three locations: St Louis, MO; Cypress, CA; and
Mesa, AZ. EPAP's major goal is to integrate electronic product design and
fabrication processes in an automated open system environment.  Compliance
with standards is the primary prerequisite imposed by the program for hardware
and software vendor participation.

****

CALS Report Welcomes Product Data International Newsletter

The CALS Report welcomes a new newsletter, Product Data International. The new
publication, written by the respected consultant, Barbara Warthen, focuses on
standards work for the encoding of product data. These standards include
Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES), Standard for the Exchange of
Product Data/Product Data Exchange Using Step (STEP/PDES) and others. Warthen
is also the convener of ISO Working Group TC184/SC4/WG3, the STEP working
group responsible for all product modeling. This WG includes geometry,
features, drafting, Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC), mechanical,
electrical/electronics, manufacturing, etc. She still chairs the AEC IPO
committee.

================================================================================

CALS Report                                         Vol. 3 No. 12, December 1990

Congress Moves to Strengthen OASD CALS, CIM Infrastructure Oversight

Congressional budget action has strengthened the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense (OASD) for Production and Logistics (P&L) CALS Policy
Office oversight over service infrastructure system acquisition, although some
adjustments to the move will be needed to carry out congressional intent. OASD
has been given the budgets listed by the services for infrastructure
Acquisition and Procurement to either the CALS program or the the Corporate
Information Management (CIM) initiative. These budgets include such funds as
DSREDS, DLA's portion of EDMICS, and other important acquisitions. The
operational budgets stay with the services. Estimates vary on the CALS funds
placed under OASD control (some say that it is close to $100 Million in FY
'91). Mike McGrath, speaking at the CALS Europe '90 in Brussels, said that DoD
CALS infrastructure spending will be $1 Billion over the next five years.
While congress stated their full support of CALS, their comments and rationale
for efforts to centralize CALS oversight and budgets seem based on the belief
that CALS technical data standards is embodied in the selection of a standard
CALS EDP system. This belief and the specific split of funds between CALS and
CIM may require further work.

-----

CALS EXPO'90 to Distribute New CALS Standards & Drafts

The upcoming CALS EXPO '90 will distribute new versions of many CALS standards
and guidance documents, some approved, others for review and comment. The CALS
report has prepared a summary of these plans from comments by the NIST CALS
Project Office and status reports by George Jenkins and Jim Crawford, Co-
chairs of the CALS Industry Standards Working Group (ISWG). The ISWG Standards
Roadmap Project is close to finishing a CALS Standards Development Plan (SDP).

----

Security Working Group Drafts Data Protection Matrix of Access Controls

The CALS Industry Working Group on Systems/Data Protection has drafted a
matrix identifying the categories of company owned data vs security
implications. The CALS Data Protection Matrix for Data Exchange is presented
in two parts. Part I defines four categories of company sensitive information
and presents guidance on when and how to classify. Part II presents examples
of controls appropriate to the four categories of data. Terminology used in
the matrix is generic in nature and does not reflect any one company's
policies and procedures.

-----------
 
CALS Test Network TechDoc '90 Demonstration Tests CGM Capabilities
Reported by Bruce Garner, CGM Lead Analyst, CALS Test Network

Demonstrations conducted at the August TechDoc'90 conference in Washington DC
included data exchange tests of technical publications with Computer Graphics
Metafiles (CGM's) as Illustration Files. Participants in tests were able to
prepare fully formatted pages from two test publications in MIL-STD-1840A
format with illustrations transferred in the form of Computer Graphics
Metafiles (CGM's). Demonstration of vendor processing of CGM files prepared in
accordance with MIL-D-28003 completes public demonstration of all publishing
CALS formats. Because this was a first time test with CGM it was planned as a
learning experience with no formal scenario: each recipient to learn what
their system could do or what changes were necessary in order to process the
test data.

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AGFA CAPS Announces IGES and CGM Viewing and Manipulation
 
Agfa CAPS has announced that an IGES and CGM input translator and viewer will
be available to new and existing CAPS customers in the fourth quarter of this
year. This feature allows a user to view and manipulate the graphic
representation of any and all IGES files.  Developed in conjunction with IGES
Data Analysis, Berkeley, IL, the new CAPS translator and viewer allows users
to examine and manipulate IGES files before conversion to editable form,
inclusion in a CAPS or CAPS/CALS document, or imaging to output.  This new
translator and viewer, which will run on standard Sun Microsystems hardware,
was successfully demonstrated at TechDoc '90 this week in Washington D.C. AGFA
Compugraphic, based in Wilmington, Mass. is a leading developer and marketer
of electronic and photographic prepress systems for professional use.

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Audre Document Conversion System Being Evaluated by Army and Air Force Sites

Audre Recognition Systems Inc. has set up its Document Conversion System at
the U.S. Army's Logistic Support Test Bed Facility at Fort Monmouth, New
Jersey. "AUDRE's equipment is being evaluated by the Army as it relates to
the technology required for defense contractors to meet the Computer-aided
Acquisition and Logistics Support (CALS) standards established by the
Department of Defense," stated Thomas F. Casey, AUDRE's Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer. AUDRE is a leader in the field of automated conversion. The
Company designs, develops and markets a line of proprietary artificial
intelligence-based software systems to convert paper or microfilm drawings,
blueprints, technical documents and maps into computer-intelligent formats.

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ITI IGES to CALS MIL-D-2800 Class 1,2,3, and 4 Specifications
 
International TechniGroup, Inc. (ITI) has announced release of CALSfx software
designed to convert IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification) data into
the MIL-D-2800 specification for delivery of CALS (Computer Aided Logistic
Support) data.  CALSfx supports all four CALS specifications including:

o Class One (Technical Publications),
o Class Two (mechanical design),
o Class Three (electrical design) and
o Class Four (numerical control).

The Class One converter performs file flattening to generate the required 2-D
geometric data and decomposes dimension and other entities not allowed in
Class One into their base geometry and text.  Color, level and font attributes
are also modified to meet CALS requirements.  Class Two, Three and Four
converters perform a similar function although their wider range of allowable
entities means that less filtering is required.  Entity files for each class
are controlled by easily modifiable ASCII tables.

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Carberry introduces enhanced Conversion Product, Receives Navy Order
 
Carberry Technology, Inc. has announced the next major release of CADleaf,
CADleaf 2.0 with Preview. CADleaf is a inter-CAD and CAD-to-CAP graphics
translation engine. CADleaf 2.0 now provides bi-directional conversion of
Interleaf ASCII format (including micro-documents) into CGM, offers 10 filters
for Interleaf and Sun users, and introduces previewing capability. Preview
enables users to preview the IGES, DXF, CGM, or plot file, prior to conversion.
This powerful capability gives the engineering and manufacturing manager
control over the process of converting CAD designs between systems or into
publishing format.  Any CAD file can be viewed as the translation process is
underway, while the previewed file is being converted to CGM format.  Once
translated, the user can move the file into a CAM or CIM application to be
included in a manufacturing processing sheet or product document. Carberry
Technology develops and markets advanced CAD/CAP graphics engines and concept
publishing software.