More transparency in Engineering IT

Digitalization is making openness in the linking of IT solutions increasingly important. The Code of PLM Openness (CPO), developed by the ProSTEP iViP Association, supplies a concrete approach for achieving precisely that. Fraunhofer IAO has now developed an effective certification for companies, which helps them comply with the CPO criteria.

Industrie 4.0 requires intensified collaboration between various tools and systems. Only when IT service providers support open and independent interfaces in addition to their manufacturer-specific interfaces and standards does communication between the various systems become possible. Otherwise, data losses and incompatibility are the consequence.

An initiative by ProSTEP iViP e.V., the Code of PLM Openness (CPO) seeks to establish a shared understanding about IT systems in the area of product lifecycle management (PLM). The CPO defines criteria for the openness of IT solutions that are used in PLM. Besides interoperability for efficient communication, this also includes infrastructure and functional extensibility. In addition, the CPO defines interfaces and standards for data formats and promotes transparency in system architecture.

Independent evaluation creates trust and reliability

Since publication of the CPO by ProSTEP iViP, 77 companies from across different sectors and countries have signed up. However, how each of these companies applies the CPO depends on its business strategy. This makes it difficult for IT customers to evaluate the openness of the various systems according to independent criteria.

To help them, Fraunhofer IAO has developed a certification handbook, which creates the basis for an independent statement about the fulfillment of CPO criteria. The handbook on CPO certification is a company-independent tool for transparency in matters of openness. It is available as of immediately to any organization that is interested.

Presentation of certification handbook and initial results

The results of the first certification will be presented at the ProSTEP iViP Symposium on May 17, 2017 in Essen. In addition to presentation of the certification approach, pilot users from the IT sector will also report on their experiences with the certification method and procedure.

The Board of ProSTEP iViP e.V. commissioned and supervises the overall project. The initiative enjoys the patronage of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

Contact:
Michael Hertwig
Fraunhofer IAO
Nobelstraße 12
70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone +49 711 970-2288
Michael.hertwig@iao.fraunhofer.de

http://www.es.iao.fraunhofer.de/de/forschungsfelder/engineering-4-0/zertifizieru…
http://www.prostep.org/en/cpo.html