VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE PRODUCT INFORMATION MODEL

The ESPRIT project VEPRIM has developed models and software to help manufacturers reduce the lead times and costs between customer requirements and customer satisfaction by improving the availability, communication and quality of product information. It supports the exploitation of electronic commerce, although it does not actually involve trade in goods and services. The focus is on 'trading' information between or within enterprises.

There is a need for better information sharing in manufacturing industry throughout the European Union. Developments such as "Electronic information trading" are therefore becoming increasingly important and more widely used by the industry. This should improve the competitiveness of European industry and create new business opportunities, especially for SMEs.

By improving the Logistics Support Analysis (LSA) functions through information trading, VEPRIM reduces the Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) costs and time by up to at least 50%. It improves the quality of the technical product information and reduces the process time (i.e delivery time, support training, maintenance etc.) with sub-contractors, logistic suppliers and customers. It also reduces the time taken to find the relevant information and eliminates errors by improving the LSA functions.

The VEPRIM architecture consists of:

  • a client node for presenting the data on the client's browsing system, which converts the raw data into a format supported by that system;
  • data exchange models for processing of the data;
  • an archiving layer for managing the archive operation;
  • an information archive to store all information that should be archived in a stable format like ISO STEP (Standard for exchange of Product Data).

    The VEPRIM system provides applications and tools for electronic catalogues and directories, information retrieval and categorisation, document handling, electronic contracts, network application for multi-person interaction.

    Further information about terms and conditions for using the results can be obtained from Mr B.L Persson.