Technologies for the 21st Century Information-driven Manufacturing

	Manufacturing challenges Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications Manufacturing Systems Environment Standards Development Environment Testbeds/Technology Transfer Environment VRML technology Information exchange standards Prototype collaboration technology
Manufacturing challenges	Technological innovations and advances are rapidly changing today's manufacturing infrastructure. U.S. manufacturers are being challenged daily to become more productive through shortened product development cycles, increased responsiveness, and flexibility. At the same time, they must continually raise quality and control costs. Information is the key issue in addressing these manufacturing challenges. Manufacturing firms not only must design and maintain comprehensive databases ranging from designs and processes to supplier performance and customer requirements. They must also have the tools to access the right information at the right time and in the proper format.   Continuing leading-edge R&D focused on setting standards and providing technology solutions to manufacturing systems integration challenges has been pioneered by NIST and other Federal agencies and promises to lead to the realization of virtual enterprises, seamless manufacturing information interchange, and distributed collaborative engineering. With the availability of interoperable systems and effective information management capabilities within and across enterprises, these information interface solutions will lead to innovative business models and reduced time-to-market.
Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications	NIST's Systems Integration for Manufacturing Applications (SIMA) program is an ongoing effort whose goal is to apply state-of-the-art information technologies to the manufacturing systems integration challenges faced by industry. SIMA's primary focus is developing and testing of standards-based information interface solutions to these challenges. The program is also exploring techniques to provide easier access to the scientific data and analyses needed in the development of new products and processes, as well as improving technology for remote collaboration and interaction. The program's projects are organized into three major categories: the Manufacturing Systems Environment (MSE), the Standards Development Environment (SDE), and the Testbeds/Technology Transfer Environment (TTTE).
Manufacturing Systems Environment	MSE projects focus on developing integration technologies and standards that support a broad range of industrial manufacturing domains including mechanical products, electronics, construction, and chemical processing. Systems of interest within these domains include design (product, process, and enterprise), planning, scheduling, process modeling, shop control, simulation, inspection, assembly, and machining. Typical integration and interface technology solutions include information protocols for product and process data, information repositories, and frameworks.
Standards Development Environment	SDE projects facilitate industry efforts to test evolving information exchange and interface specifications using the Internet and to accelerate industry deployment of consensus standards. One of the goals of SDE projects is to provide effective support environments for developing standards as well as harmonizing the broad spectrum of those standards required for enterprise integration.
Testbeds/Technology Transfer Environment	Transfer Environment TTTE projects develop technology infrastructure that provides access to government research results and test prototype collaboration technologies in partnership with industry and academia. Testbeds developed under TTTE auspices are intended to serve as collaborative testing and demonstration sites and as focal points for disseminating information.
VRML technology	Human modeling applications, engineering analysis applications, and factory simulation applications are being integrated using VRML technology.
Information exchange standards	This complex fuel filter assembly model is being used to verify the efficacy of new product data exchange technology standards in the automotive supply chain.
Prototype collaboration technology	A prototype Web-based environment enabling remote collaborative experimentation with the hexapod machine tool in NIST's National Advanced Manufacturing Testbed is under development.