CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 1, January, 1993
CALS EXPO '92 Plenary Speakers Show Re-Engineering Policy Thrust
The Plenary Speakers at CALS EXPO '92 showed a concrete emphasis on
process
re-engineering as a primary vehicle for identifying CALS applications.
Although the discussion of process improvement is not new, there seems
to be a
clearer understanding that process change precedes and drives tool
acquisition
and not the other way around. The new emphasis is certain to shake
up the way
in which CALS products and services are marketed and shift new expectations
and responsibilities to the buyer.
------------
CALS EXPO '92 Record Attendance Sees Roadmap 2000 Span Product Lifecycle
The annual CALS EXPO technical program registration rose to a new record
attendance, 2410 conference attendees, with 4905 touring the exhibition.
The
exhibition featured the highly touted CALS Roadmap 2000 and the conference
had
many other panels and events of note. Sponsored by the CALS Industry
Steering
Group, in coordination with the DoD and DoC, the program is supported
by
National Security Industrial Association. The ISG/NSIA Executive Director
is
D. Brent Pope, PhD. Over 139 exhibitors purchased 35,106 sq ft of space,
nearly filled the San Diego, CA, Convention Center hall. Tutorials
were pre-
enrolled at about six hundred, but after on-site registration ballooned
to
over 1,200, Mary Carter, Tutorials Chair, had to turn away some late
registrants. Stan Dubowski of the CALS EIO, served as the Government
Chair and
Mary Anne Thompson of TRW, served as the industry chair for this year's
EXPO.
Total attendance, in all categories, was up by about 10% from 1991.
-----------
White Says Enabling Technologies for CALS Will Help Commercial Users as Well
Commerce Under Secretary for Technology Robert M. White told delegates
to the
CALS Expo'92 defense industry forum in San Diego today that standards
and
other technologies needed by CALS will be helpful to commercial firms
as
well and are currently under development or newly available through
commercial
or joint military-commercial initiatives. "We cannot think of CALS
without
also considering such key enabling elements as Concurrent Engineering,
Open
Systems, Product Data Exchange, High Performance Computing and Electronic
Data
Interchange," White said in his keynote address. "Industrial competitiveness
is determined by the effective use of technology and information. The
CALS
strategy of moving from a paper-intensive environment to a productive
digital
environment for integration and sharing information across enterprises
does
just that. Automated data creation, data integration, real-time information
sharing and standardization apply far beyond weapon systems." White
listed the
relevant standards as:
Operating Systems
User Interfaces
Program Services
Data Management
Data Exchange
Graphic Services
Network Services
White cited a Department of Defense and Department of Commerce agreement
to
adopt STEP, the emerging international product data exchange standard,
as a
Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support standard, as an example
of
how CALS can benefit from and cooperate with the commercial sector.
------------
CALS Standards to Migrate to DISA - Center For Standards
All current DoD CALS standards (1840 and 28000 series) and most emerging
CALS
draft standards are being transferred to Defense Information Systems
Agency
(DISA) Center For Standards (CFS). DISA/CFS was established to provide
leadership of standards processes and serve as the Defense Department's
Executive Agent for centralized management of information technology
standards. As part of the DISA, the Center maintains cognizance and
provides
the DoD central focal point for joint and combined standards processes.
This
includes validating, prioritizing, coordinating, controlling, resolving
conflict, integrating and guiding DoD activities as well as assigning
responsibility for specific projects. Jerry Smith of CFS and Bill Gorham
of
OSD CALS Evaluation and Integration Office (EIO) currently co-chair
a CALS
Transition Planning Team which is dealing with transfer issues and
developing
a transition strategy. MIL-STD-1388 is not being transferred at this
time.
------
Hewlett Packard CALS Solution Group & Supporting Channel Partners
================================================================================
CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 2, February, 1993
CALS Strategy Expected to Remain Unchanged Under Clinton Administration
Although Bush administration appointed and sponsored officials are departing
the Department of Defense and other CALS-related Government agencies,
the
basic strategy put in place for CALS is not expected to change under
Clinton
appointees, say most insiders. The CALS Evaluation and Integration
Office
(CEIO) will continue or possibly accelerate its migration of non-acquisition
responsibilities to more logical organizations, while strengthening
its role
assuring high-value-added data assets are prepared and integrated for
functional users. The long term need and payback for appropriately
acquiring
and managing such assets is clearly understood by DoD and service career
staff, who will, in time, educate administration officials. Long-term
savings
assumptions in budgets have hard-coded the use of CALS-related technologies
in
military planning firmware.
------------------
Four Power CALS Steering Committee to Facilitate Nato Liaison, Funding
The official charter for the Four Powers CALS Steering Committee (CSC)
was
signed at CALS EXPO '92. The charter is expected to facilitate coordination
between the most active NATO allies, France, Germany, UK and US, and
their
joint funding of special studies and studies. The text of the charter
was
drafted in UK on 21 September 1992. Major General Edward R. Baldwin,
Defense
CALS Executive, said, "This gives us a better liaison to NATO 301 Sub-Group
D."
-----------------------
Analysis: FCIM Illustrates the New, Preferred Approach to Automation
The new Flexible Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (FCIM) illustrates
the new
approach to systems development emerging from the influence of the
Corporate
Information Management (CIM), which emphasizes process analysis and
re-
engineering, over systems design. This trend, which is growing in strength,
could change the role of the Joint CALS project, which follows the
traditional
large system requirement/development/deployment approach.
FCIM, which follows the RAMP program, is seeking to develop a new approach
to
flexible automation. It is pioneering a Process Validation Enterprise
(PVE)
concept, in which a process considered more efficient is implemented
in a
small setting to test and validate its utility in other industrial
settings.
------------
DARPA Planning Broad Defense Conversion and Dual Use Technology Initiatives
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is running several
initiatives to facilitate defense conversion and dual use technology.
According to LTC Erik G. Mettala, Ph.D. of DARPA/SISTO, DARPA and other
Defense and non-defense agencies have several current initiatives and
are
soliciting ideas for other ways to facilitate dual-use technologies.
Mettala
made his comments at AutoFact '93 in Detroit, MI.
----
Editorial: NIPDE Progress Highlights Need for Broad Participation and Input
The National Initiative for Product Data Exchange (NIPDE) first presentation
of the baseline results seemed to emphasize how narrow the participation
has
been from the engineering community. The general thrust of results
seemed, at
least to this editor, to show an overwhelming bias toward the design
and
manufacturing community, to the neglect of management, testing, training,
logistics, maintenance, and other non-CAD/CAM issues. NIPDE, which
was
formally announced at last year's CALS Expo in Phoenix, is an industry-led,
government-facilitated organization established to accelerate development
and
use of product data exchange. According to Bill Conroy, the initiative
is
"STEP"-centric", in the sense that STEP will become a quilt uniting
all
product data exchange needs, even if certain patches are well served
by
existing standards. Understandably because of the extensive leadership
and
progress made by STEP on the technology of data exchange and sharing
(with, of
course, lots of help from their friends) , STEP-centricity has also
embedded
the STEP legacy of CAD-design-manufacturing focus.
---------------
SUN CALS Products and Services
-------
Standards Briefs
MIL-STD-974 is the formal number for the CITIS standard.
FIPS 177, IGES, is now available from NTIS.
The IGES/PDES Organization will drop active development of IGES after
Version
6.0 is completed, according to a vote by its steering committee.
Electronic technical manuals are required by the 1990 Amendments to
the Clear
Air Act, says EPA.
California and Federal EPA has expressed an interest in using CTN to
test EDI
delivery of required documentation, says EDI/CALS expert Bud Orlando
of TRW.
All users must register with DTIC in order to receive their services
and pay
fees based on use, corrects the Administrator, Kurt N. Molholm. The
November
1992 issue of the CALS/CE Report, Volume 5, Number 11, pages 13-14
had
reported them as free to the DoD community and their contractors.
-------
Products and Services News
CSC is commercializing the JCALS technology.
DEC announced two additions to their OpenDATA STEP/EXPRESS Products.
DEC's
(Digital Equipment Corporation) products are:
OpenDATA Express Language Processor
OpenDATA STEP Integration Kit
InterCAP prospers by adhering closely to standards and remaining embeddable,
says President and CEO A.G.W. (Jack) Biddle, III.
A new publication, The Gilbane Report on Open Information and Document
Systems
has been started by industry SGML expert Frank Gilbane.
================================================================================
CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 3, March, 1993
Strassmann: CALS Role is Outsourcing for "Information Superiority"
The former Director of Defense Information, Paul A. Strassmann, in a
farewell,
lessons-learned review of the CIM program he directed, outlined a role
for
CALS in outsourcing information transactions related to weapons systems
and
services to contractors and other firms. Only then, could DoD match
the
efficiencies achieved by private industry and have "information superiority"
over potential adversaries. Surprisingly, CIM's successes were accomplished
through a series of advances and setbacks, dictated as much by moves
outside
Strassmann's chain of command as within. Strassmann made his comments,
"The
Policies and the Realities of CIM - Lessons Learned", in a Plenary
session at
the 4th AFCEA Computing Conference in February, 1993.
---
CIM Policy Legacy is DoD 8000 Directive Series on Information Management
The former Director of Defense Information, Paul A. Strassmann, has
made
clear that his proudest accomplishments in the CIM program are the
policy
changes embodied in the DoD 8000 series on Information Management.
Strassmann
reviewed several events led to the DoD 8000 Directive Series on Information
Management and, thus shaped its eventual thrust.
-------
DoD 8000 Directive Series Information Management
-----
Berteau Memorandum Transfers Control of AFIPS to DPS
A memorandum (February 8, 1993) from David J. Berteau, Principle Deputy,
Assistant Secretary of Defense Production and Logistics, transferred
control of
the Air Force Information Publishing Service (AFIPS/902-S) to the Defense
Printing Service (DPS). The Deputy Secretary of Defense memorandum
of
September 19, 1991 directed the transfer of departmental printing procurement
from the Military Departments and Defense Logistics Agency to DPS.
Berteau
reminded the Air Force that, "Intrinsic to this mission, the DPS: 1)
is
responsible for establishing requirements for printing and duplicating;
and 2)
is to be the single interface with the Government Printing Office."
The move
effectively reasserts CALS and CIM coordination oversight of the service
program.
--------
NIAG Study Team to Review EDI and Electronic Commerce
NATO Industry Advisory Group (NIAG) Study Group (SG) 35 Study Team 2
will
research the current status of EDI and Electronic Commerce, according
to their
draft Terms of Reference (Draft Version of 13 November 1992). The prime
focus
of the project is the role of EDI and E-Mail, often collectively known
as
Electronic Commerce, applied to the "commercial/contractual nexus".
The two to
five year study will examine all levels of the customer supplier chain
and
cover all commodities. It is not concerned with classified information
or with
technical documentation transfer.
----------------------------
CTN Leads CALS Solutions Showcase Demonstration at Interop '93 Spring Expo
The CALS Test Network (CTN) Office at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
(LLNL) is leading a demonstration of CALS interoperability at the Interop
'93
Spring Exposition, March 10 - 12, at the Washington DC Convention Center.
Carolyn Wimple, Deputy Director of CTNO/LLNL, is the Chair of the CALS
"Solutions Showcase Demonstration," and Nick Mitschkowetz, Lead Raster
Analyst, CTNO/LLNL, is the Technical Director of the event. Interop
is the
largest networking and communications conference and exposition in
the United
States, drawing over 80,000 attendees annually to two shows.
This year,
Interop is moving beyond showing the fine points of networking to include
applications that operate using networks. Interop selected CALS
as its first
application to showcase.
--------
Standards Briefs
A NATO Standards Harmonization Assessment Workshop is scheduled in 1993
to
establish the feasibility and plan for achieving the harmonization
of existing
AECMA and CALS-related military specification into single entities
supported
by unified data definitions.
MIL-M-28001B. MIL-STD-CITIS, and MIL-HDBK-59B are expected to be finalized
in
the next several months, says the ISG Standards/PDES Division.
The CALS Digital Standards Office is preparing a CALS Standards Management
Plan that documents the CALS standardization document development and
approval
process, and outlines a CALS standards development roadmap for the
CALS
Evaluation and Integration Office.
-----------
Products and Services News
SGML Open is a new consortium being formed by SGML Vendors to broaden
the
commercial market, says Loni Hijagos of Frame Technology.
================================================================================
CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 4, April, 1993
CITIS Standard Completes Comment Disposition
The long-awaited CALS standard for CITIS (Contractor Integrated Technical
Information Service) has completed its comment disposition review.
The review
process for the CITIS specification is being managed out of the CALS
Digital
Standardization Office (CDSO) at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH. The National
Technical Information Service (NTIS) of the Department of Commerce
and the
CALS/CE Report had distributed floppy disks of the draft standard for
Final
review and comment. Comments were consolidated by CDSO, after which
the
CALS/ISG Standards Group led the Comment Disposition Meeting, in March,
1993.
---
CSRCs Planning Major Expansion to Seven Centers
The Air Force managed CALS Shared Resource Centers (CSRCs) are planning
a
major expansion from two to seven centers. The central mission of the
planned
system of CSRCs is to provide CALS outreach and education to Government
and
small business. The CSRC Project Office (CPO) of the Air Force CALS
Program
Office in Dayton, Ohio is directing the acquisition process for five
(5) new
CSRCs to be installed at designated locations in the U. S. in FY 93.
The
existing contracts for the two existing CSRCs, Johnstown, PA and Palestine,
TX
are expected to be renewed as they expire. CSRC Specialized Technology
areas
(see accompanying table) are:
1. Johnstown, PA, Metalworking;
2. Palestine, TX, Scanning and Conversion;
3. Fairfax, VA, Information Technology;
4. Cleveland, OH, Automated Manufacturing;
5. Dayton, OH, Automated Design;
6. San Antonio, TX, Automated Business Practices;
7. Orange, TX, Commercial Technology.
Congress has funded each center with $2 million core funding, with additional
$7 million possible through optional task assignments.
---
Anticipated CSRC Specialized Technology Areas and Locations
(Source: AFMC/ENC Draft SOW)
----
Object Oriented Technology Solves Many DoD Management Problems
DoD is looking to Object Oriented Technology (OOT) to manage dissimilar
data
consistently. According to Huet Landry of the DISA/CFS, "Object Oriented
Technology is a solution to applications where managing complex items
is an
issue. For example, the combined managing of graphics, maps and voice,
etc.
It is more that just its presentation as, say, a compound document
or
hypertext."
Two tasks are underway currently to formulate DoD's approach to object-
oriented technology:
Task 1 - CIM is developing a migration strategy to OODBs and other
applications.
Task 2 - JIEO is evaluating the impact of this transition on standards.
---
Office of Technology Assessment Policy to Favor "Application and Diffusion"
US Technology Policy will favor application and diffusion of advanced
practices into the industry infrastructure, over "mission" oriented
megaprojects, says Dr. John A. Alic, Senior Associate, Congressional
Office of
Technology Assessment. U.S. government R&D support, which, according
to
Batelle, in 1992 will exceed $65 billion, accounting for nearly 45
percent of
all U.S. R&D spending, flows from more than a dozen federal agencies.
Alic
said, "Our science and technology policies should not de-emphasize
generation
of new knowledge, which is indispensable for maintaining a high-wage
economy.
Rather, the United States should raise technology application and diffusion
to
a comparable priority, as the listing above is intended to suggest."
Alic made
his comments at a special annual session on dual-use technology at
AutoFact
'92 and in the book:
Beyond Spinoff: Military and Commercial Technologies in a Changing World,
(Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1992), coauthored with Lewis
M.
Branscomb, Harvey Brooks, Ashton B. Carter, and Gerald L. Epstein.
-----
An Open Letter to Les Aspin
----------------------------
Standards Briefs
General Baldwin has requested an extension of his tour as the DoD CALS
Executive from 31 March to 1 July, reportedly to see JCALS through
to
Milestone 2, stabilize CALS under the Clinton Administration, etc.
Ms. Elaine
Litman has been appointed Acting Director of the CALS Evaluation and
Integration Office: Marianne Piatras has taken a leave of absence.
The CALS Digital Standardization Office (CDSO) has released a revised
development schedule for MIL-HDBK-59B.
---
The new version B of MIL-STD-499 is expected out in June, says John
Kordik of
ASC/ENS. It has undergone extensive review and revision since its coordination
release in July, 1992.
The new version B of MIL-STD-490B - Program Unique Specifications, Preparation
of, is expected this fall, says Mike Lucino, AF Configuration Manager.
Notice 1 of MIL-STD-973 - Configuration Management (December, 1992)
is
available from Philidelphia, says Linda Burger of the CALS EIO.
-------
Products and Services News
Over 1,000 Intergraph seats have been delivered under the NAVSEA CAD-2
contract, says Intergraph.
The Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) at Albany, GA, became the ninth
site to
receive and EDMICS system on January 4, 1993, says PRC, the EDMICS
Prime
Contractor.
================================================================================
CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 5, May, 1993
PRC and CSC Agree to Harmonize JEDMICS and JCALS as "Open Systems"
Citing competitive pressures to design open systems, PRC and Computer
Sciences
Corporation (CSC) have agreed to pursue a cooperative approach to facilitate
interoperability between their two CALS flagship programs, PRC's Joint
Engineering Data Management Information and Control System (JEDMICS)
and CSC's
Joint Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistic Support (JCALS) program.
The
approach, set forth in a Memorandum Of Agreement (MOA), was termed
by the two
contractors as a demonstration of "industry's combined support for
the
Department of Defense's CALS initiative." JEDMICS and JCALS have a
combined
value of almost $1 billion over the next decade. The memorandum of
agreement
was announced at the CALS ISG Workshop in March, 1993.
----
ARPA et. al. Technology Reinvestment Project to Disseminate CALS Technologies
The new APRA Technology Reinvestment Project (TRP) will disseminate
several
CALS-Relelated technologies through a suite of cost-sharing programs
designed
to move DoD technologies to industry and vise-versa. TRP was authorized
under
the Defense Conversion, Reinvestment, and Transition Assistance Act
of Fiscal
Year 1993, and other legislation, to stimulate the transition to a
growing,
integrated, national industrial capability which provides the most
advanced,
affordable, military systems and the most competitive commercial products.
TRP
programs are structured to expand high quality employment opportunities
in
commercial and dual-use United States industries and demonstrably enhance
U.S.
competitiveness. This will be accomplished through the application
of defense
and commercial resources to develop dual-use technologies, manufacturing
and
technology assistance to small firms, and education and training programs
that
enhance U.S. manufacturing skills and target displaced defense industry
workers. TRP addresses defense industry and technology base activities
under
eight separate statutory programs.
Five Agencies are collaborating in the Technology
Reinvestment Project:
Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) of the Department of Defense,
Department of Energy/Defense Programs (DOE/DP),
Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST),
National Science Foundation (NSF), and
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
The TRP is administered by the Defense Technology Conversion Council
(DTCC),
chaired by ARPA and will conduct a future solicitation of proposals.
There are eight statutory divisions of funding within Title IV of the
Fiscal
Year 1993 Defense Appropriations Act. They are listed in the following
Table:
Table 1
Fiscal Year 1993 Title IV Appropriations for TRP Programs ($ millions)
Defense Dual Use Critical Technology Partnerships
$81.9
Commercial-Military Integration Partnerships
42.1
Regional Technology Alliances Assistance Program
90.5
Defense Advanced Manufacturing Technology Partnerships
23.5
Manufacturing Extension Programs
87.4
Defense Dual Use Assistance Extension Program
90.8
Manufacturing Engineering Education: Grant Program *
43.6
Manufacturing Experts in the Classroom
4.6
Small Business Innovative Research Program
7.2
Total
$471.6
* Includes $20.1 million of FY 1992 funds for Manufacturing Engineering
Education: Grant Program.
Three programs under Title IV will be executed by separate mechanisms:
Agile
Manufacturing and Enterprise Integration; and Advanced Materials Synthesis
and
Processing; and, U.S.-Japan Management Training.
----
JCALS News
The JCALS Deployment Working Group (DWG) has defined its strategies
and
activities for setting up JCALS at each site. Technical manual functionality
is used as the model application as the first joint requirement of
JCALS. It
also served to establish an information baseline for the working group.
The PM
JCALS deployment strategy is a nine-step approach which maintains continuous
deployment momentum through centralized management:
1 - Pre-deployment Activities
2 - Physical Site Survey
3 - Engineering Installation Plan
4 - Equipment/Service Acquisition
5 - Site Preparation
6 - System Installation
7 - Initial Training
8 - Test and Acceptance
9 - Site Initial Operational Capability
The deployment process was accepted and published in the System Deployment
Plan (SDP). Deployment activities at the nine JCALS Test Sites have
already
started. Orientation visits and functional site surveys are underway.
The first incremental JCALS Critical Design Review (CDR) was expected
to be
passed, pending completion of certain action items.
JCALS documentation was modified by the CDR Joint Document Review.
At this
time, 12 technical documents have been updated to reflect the new
requirements:
o Data Base Management System Specification (DBMSS)
o Functional Description (FD)
o Hardware Architecture Configuration Document (HACD)
o Interface Control Document (ICD)
o Interface Design Document (IDD)
o Software Design Document (SDD)
o Software Requirements Specification (SRS)
o Software Test Plan (SWTP)
o System Segment Design Document (SSDD)
o System Segment Specification (SSS)
o System Test Plan (SYTP)
o Telecommunications Segment Specification (TSS)
An evolutionary test program for JCALS has been defined. The JCALS core
system
will be developed and tested in three segments:
1. Initial Segment, includes connectivity, data management, the technical
manuals "process strings" of manage, acquire, improve, and part of
publish
(create reproducible master) and a system capable of handling sensitive
unclassified data.
2. Second Segment, will include stock, distribute and the remaining
portions
of publish.
3. Third segment, will provide the capability for meeting security
requirements up to secret data, the requirements for administrative
publications, and the vehicle to procure additional hardware and software
needed to provide the JCALS capability for up to 600 sites.
A List: Standards Defining the Acquisition Process in a Digital Environment
MIL-HDBK-59 Computer-aided Acquisition
and Logistic Support
Implementation Guide
MIL-STD-499 Engineering Management
MIL-STD-881 Work Breakdown Structure
for Defense Materiel Items
MIL-STD-973 Configuration Management
MIL-STD-974 Contractor Integrated Technical
Information Service (CITIS)
MIL-STD-1388-1 Logistic Support Analysis
MIL-STD-1388-2 DOD Requirements for a Logistic Support
Analysis Record
MIL-STD-1777 Internet Protocol
MIL-STD-1778 Transmission Control Protocol
MIL-STD-1840 Automated Interchange of Technical
Information
MIL-D-28000 Digital Representation for
Communication of Product Data:
IGES Application Subsets
MIL-M-28001 Markup Requirements and Generic
Style Specification for
Electronic Printed Output and Exchange of Text (Standard
Generalized Markup Language (SGML))
MIL-R-28002 Requirements for Raster Graphics
Representation in Binary
Format
MIL-D-28003 Digital Representation for
Communication of Illustration
Data: CGM Application Profile
DODD 5000.1 Major and Non-Major Defense
Acquisition Programs
DODI 5000.2 Defense Acquisition Management
Documentation and Reports
DOD 8320.1-M-1 Standard Data Element Development, Approval,
and Maintenance
Procedures
FIPS-PUB-127 Structured Query Language (SQL)
FIPS-PUB-146-1 Government Open System Interconnect Profile
(GOSIP)
FIPS-PUB-151-1 Portable Operation Systems Interface for
Computer
Environments (POSIX)
FIPS-PUB-152 CIM Technical Reference Model
FIPS-PUB-161 Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)
JCALS has two basic features designed to protect data and to restrict
or deny
system access. The features are:
Physical Security.
Personnel and Administrative Security.
CADA Tools will speed up Data Acceptance (DA). Computer-Assisted Data
Acceptance (CADA) Tools, developed by CALS Technology Center (CTC)
personnel,
are the first automated tools which provides the means to accept CALS
data,
but, primarily, the Tools have automated to a large degree a very labor-
intensive manual DA task. In order to accept CALS raster data at this
time,
the data must be imported into an image management system such as Digital
Storage and Retrieval Engineering Data System (DSREDS), Engineering
Data
Computer Assisted Retrieval System (EDCARS), or Joint Engineering Data
Management Information and Control System (JEDMICS) and converted to
that
system's native format. Then each image has to be expanded and
displayed for
visual Quality Assurance (QA) inspection on a high-resolution monitor
at an
imaging workstation. This process is labor-intensive and the
DOD has tasked
the CALS Test Network Office (CTNO) and the CTC, under the direction
of PM
JCALS, to investigate the technologies that can be used to automate
the
acceptance process.
PM JCALS has developed and tested algorithms that evaluate the image
quality
and determine the correctness of key identification data (ID) such
as Drawing
Number, Size, and CAGE Code within the engineering drawing image area.
Many
techniques had to be evaluated before they could be included in the
Tools.
Some of these are: CTN Tape Tools (verifies MIL-STD-1840 CALS
format),
Approximate Orphan Analysis, Orphan Analysis, Border Clipping, Run
Length
Analysis, Verticality Analysis, Fill Factor/Compression Ratio, Blob
Analysis,
and Peak Tile Noise. All of the image techniques selected were
developed
and/or integrated at the CTC for the Government and are property of
the
Government.
MIL-HDBK-59B has direct references to JCALS as the DOD Infrastructure
that
acquisition managers must consider in developing their Government Concept
of
Operation (GCO) and subsequently use when interfacing to CITIS.
================================================================================
CALS Report Vol. 6 No. 6, June , 1993
James A. Abramson, Chairman of Oracle Corporation, to Chair CALS-CE ISG
James A. Abramson, Chairman of the Board at Oracle Corporation, has
agreed to
chair the CALS-CE Industry Steering Group (ISG). He replaces Mr. R.
Noel
Longuemare, Vice President and General Manager, Westinghouse Electric
Corporation. The CALS-CE ISG was formed out of the support given by
the
National Security Industrial Association (NSIA) to DoD and DoC to
institutionalize CALS in the US Industrial Base.
----
Canada to Establish own Canadian CALS Industry Steering Group
After six months of hard work by industry, government and the EDI World
Institute, the Founding Meeting of the Canadian CALS ISG will take
place June
22-23,1993, in Montreal. CALS industry steering groups (ISGs), known
by a
variety of names, have been formed or are forming in many countries,
such as
the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, Japan and others.
They
exist to coordinate their national CALS efforts and to provide input
to the
international forum. Already their impact has been felt in commercial
and
government programs in NATO and the European Community. Except for
a few
individuals, to date Canadian industry has not had representation -
a voice -
at this level, despite being the largest US defence trading partner
and
Canadian companies' sub-contractor relationships to large multi-nationals,
e.g. aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, pharmaceutical. In collaboration
with the global CALS ISG community, the EDI World Institute is assisting
in
the formation of a Canadian CALS ISG.
---
EIA Panel Trying to Reconcile CITIS with new Configuration Management Standard
The EIA G-33 Panel on Data and Configuration Management has been struggling,
through a series of intense workshops, to reconcile the requirements
of CITIS
(Contractor Integrated Technical Information Services) and new revisions
to
MIL-STD-973, Configuration Management. MIL-STD-973 was approved on
17 April,
1992 and Change 1, containing essentially administrative changes, was
approved
and released in December 1992., Revision 1 will eliminate some detailed
material, which is being incorporated in the Handbook, MIL-HDBK-61,
Guidelines
for Configuration Management, and will also be used to harmonize MIL-STD-973
with MIL-STD-490, Specification Practices, and MIL-STD-499, Engineering
Management, which is also under revision. Revision 1 is currently being
prepared and is targeted for release with MIL-HDBK-61 in July, 1994.
-----
Selected Portions of MIL-STD-973
----------
Clinton's FY 1994 Budget Requests Large Increases for NIST Technology
Efforts
President Clinton's FY 1994 budget request of $535.2 million for the
Commerce
Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
is a $151.2
million, or 39 percent, increase over the current appropriation of
$384
million. Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown said, "This funding for
NIST will
expand several technology initiatives that have already proven successful."
NIST is the only federal laboratory with the primary mission of supporting
the
international competitiveness of U.S. Industry. The figures might be
revised,
after rejection of Clinton's economic stimulus package.
------
STEP News Briefs
by Brad Smith, NIST
The initial release of STEP was judged to be technically complete,
by
unanimous vote of ten member countries, of the International Organization
for
Standardization (ISO) Subcommittee TC184/SC4. SC4 decided to register
all
documents of the STEP Initial Release as Draft International Standards
(DISs).
Twelve documents make up the Initial Release:
Part
STEP Part Title
====
===================
1
Overview & Fundamental Principles
11
EXPRESS Language
21
Clear Text Encoding of the Exchange Structure
31
Conformance Testing - General Concepts
41
Product Description and Support
42
Shape Representation
43
Representation Structures
44
Product Structure Configuration
46
Visual Presentation
101
Draughting Resources
201
Explicit Draughting
203
Configuration Controlled Design
The Initial Release addresses two priority application areas, drafting
and
product configuration management.
Part 202 addresses the area of Associative Draughting where there is
a
specified connection between the annotation found on the drawing and
the
underlying product definition data.
New Application Protocol projects were approved by SC4:
10303-215 Ship Arrangement
10303-216 Ship Moulded Forms
10303-217 Ship Piping
10303-218 Ship Structures
10303-219 Dimensional Inspection Process Planning
EMAIL mailing lists have been set up to improve communications within
the SC4
committee. These mailing lists are often called "Email exploders"
or "Email
reflectors" because each message received by one of these addresses
is sent
back out to every address on the related mailing list.
ISO 13584 (Parts Library) documents are ready for review, says SC4/WG2.
The Standard will be documented in several parts which together comprise
the
technology for representing and sharing library information.
Parts in the
series include:
ISO 13584-1 Overview and fundamental principles
ISO 13584-10 Conceptual model of parts library
ISO 13584-20 General resources
ISO 13584-24 Logical model of supplier library
ISO 13584-26 Identification of library suppliers
ISO 13584-31 Programming interface
ISO 13584-42 Dictionary methodology
ISO 13584-101 Geometrical view exchange protocol by parametric
program
ISO 13584-102 Geometrical view exchange protocol by ISO 10303
conforming
model specification
-----
ISO TC/184 SC4 Committee
List of Approved Projects, Project Leaders and Document Editors
------
DISA/CFS Document Interchange Standards Symposium Said to Prefer SGML
A recent DISA/CFS Document Interchange Standards Symposium to decide
DoD
document interchange needs generally endorsed the used of Standard
Generalized
Markup Language (SGML) over Open Document Architecture (ODA). The symposium
of
selected internationally known experts were invited to:
o clarify DoD needs for document interchange;
o evaluate the suitability of existing de facto or proprietary solutions;
and
o assess the quality, maturity, and cost of available implementations
of
existing standards.
The symposium was sponsored by the Defense Information Systems Agency,
Center
for Standards (DISA/CFS).
----
Standards Briefs
A new version of the CALS "Blue Book" is close to publication. The famous
CALS
briefing is undergoing final review by the DoD CALS office, CALS-CE
ISG
Education Committee, and other groups.
Ed Guilbert, the founder of the EDI movement, died Sunday May 16th after
a
lengthy battle with cancer.
ASC X12 has voted to adopt the EDIFACT syntax by 1997.
RAMP PDES/STEP Process Planning beat out paper methods in a "bake-off"
study
by an SCRA-led team.
Legacy Data Management is addressed by "Manual for Data Administration",
by
Judith J. Newton and Daniel C. Wahl, Editors.
Six test cases for the Japanese-promoted IMS program are underway, without
US
funding. IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing System) was thought to be a
"trojan
horse" to transfer US and EC technology to Japan, but the test cases
were set
to see if cooperation can be mutually benificial. The test cases are:
1. Clean Manufacturng in the Process Industries.
2. Global Concurrent Engineering - Evaluation and Implementation.
3. GLOBEMAN 21: Enterprise Integration for Global Manufacturing Towards
the
21st Century.
4. Holonic Manufacturing Systems: System Components of Autonomous Modules
and
Their Distributed Control.
5. Rapid Product Development.
6. PROJECT GNOSIS: Knowledge Systemization - Configuration Systems
for Design
and Manufacturing.
The German CALS Committee (DSIC) under IABG has merged with the much
larger
industrial association, BDI.
EIA has released a study of Dual-Use Technology. EIA (Electronic Industries
Association) cites DoD acquisition and procurement policies and practices
as
-------
Products and Services News
Over 40 exhibitors have already signed for CE & CALS Washington
'93, which has
moved to the Washington Convention Center.
CALS EXPO '93 may feature a speech by Al Gore, says Brent Bope of the
National
Security Industrial Association (NSIA).
A Formtek-based system will be used to capture and deliver CALS-compliant
documents for the C-130 Hercules Transport, says the vendor.
CALS CGM is now supported by CIMLINC's Linkage 3.1 Multimedia Work Instructions
software, says the vendor.