Electronic product-description database for concurrent design

An effort was made to identify the major barriers to developing an effective electronic product-description database and to identify solutions where possible. The electronic description can be used directly by all who want to analyze the design, thus eliminating the need to maintain multiple copies of the data. The single database also eliminates the requirement of writing a separate translator for every tool; only a method of retrieving the data from the database is required. This reduces the number of translators that have to reside in the designer´s workstation. Requirements, barriers, and solutions associated with the development of the database are discussed