Issues and characteristics of testing as part of the design process in mechanical engineering

The design process is a fundamental part of a product development project lifecycle. However the design is not yet finished after the final CAD models and engineering drawings have left the CSCW tools. The design process is highly interconnected with subsequent project phases, especially testing. As, e.g. in the automotive industry, testing is one of the major cost drivers in product development, multiple departments across the company have to collaborate to achieve optimal efficiency. One of the most promising ways to reduce cost in testing is the use of the aspiring simulation technology instead of performing all tests physically. Since most of the data and models needed for the simulations are already created during the design process, it is important not to lose this information, but to allow consistent reuse. For this purpose we present the architecture of a Consistent Data Management Layer (CMDL), our approach to a service-oriented and workflow-driven data management solution, which enables to overcome the heterogeneity of tools and data sources even across different project phases and organizational boundaries.