A Framework for Supporting Business, Data and User Interface Integration between Multiple CAD and PDM Systems

Many multinational manufacturers have product development process in geographically dispersed locations. In this environment, it is likely that multiple CAD software packages and PDM systems have been deployed. Usually these systems have been developed independently, written in different languages and run on different platforms. Accordingly, these diversities result in difficulties in integration among them due to heterogeneous networks, applications and platforms. In this paper, we propose a framework that supports business, data, and User Interface (UI) integration between multiple CAD and PDM systems. In this framework, Web services technology is adopted to encapsulate the major functions of CAD and PDM systems so as to implement business integration. In addition, a CAD unified interface method is introduced to help wrap multiple CAD and facilitate product metadata exchange. Finally, a UI model-driven approach is provided for supporting UI integration. To validate the feasibility of the proposed framework, a prototype has been developed based on the suggested approach.