Computer Technology
Data Management System
The Space Shuttle and early Space Station projects provided a major
inducement for devising technology and systems integration sources. Huge
databases chock full of information from contractors, the tracking numbers
of space hardware, and a wealth of related facts and figures must be maintained.
To support these information-handling needs, a product data management,
electronic document management and workflow system was designed at Johnson
Space Center.
Working with NASA, CENTRA 2000 Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Auto-trol
Technology in Denver, Colorado, obtained permission to use the original
software, helping to move the system into the commercial market place.
Initially, just 33 database tables comprised the original management software,
which was later expanded to about 100 tables.
This system is called CENTRA 2000™. "Linking your business
to your information" is Auto-trol Technology's slogan that underscores
the proficiency of CENTRA 2000.
| Auto-trol Technology's CENTRA 2000 manages
huge amounts of data documentation, computer drawn images, and other project-related
work information. |
CENTRA 2000 offers the ability to start simple and then grow as an enterprise
grows. Designed for quick implementation, the data management system uses
menu driven setup functions. Organizational structures are easily established
and initial data can be batch loaded. Many users of CENTRA 2000 are in
production within 90 days of installation. That speedy process demands
fewer people, less time and less money. Pressures are indeed strong today
to bring products to market more quickly, with greater quality and using
fewer personnel.
CENTRA 2000 supports the engineering process from preliminary design
through release-to-production. The data management tool enables its user
to be fully confident carrying out configuration management, project management
and informational management jobs.
Designed as a tool to assist companies with standards and regulatory
compliance, CENTRA 2000 also can handle audit histories and provides a
means to ensure new information is distributed.
Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 has the ability to interface to external applications,
such as computer-aided design packages like Pro/ENGINEER® (Pro/E) applications
and its related modules. Users can check in and check out parts, assemblies,
drawings and layouts, all to the benefit of the workflow process.
A CENTRA 2000 satisfied user is NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. who operates
Alberta's 13,300-mile-long, high -pressure pipeline. That stretch of pipeline
is one of the world's most technologically advanced gas transportation
systems.
| CENTRA 2000 can help manage information
on employees, including images. |
Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 was successfully put in place, succeeding an
older NOVA custom drawing file system. The new data handling system will
facilitate NOVA's engineering work to manage large quantities of engineering
drawings, many of which are considered active at any point in time. Pipeline
operators now have quick and easy access to drawings and related text documents.
An ongoing expansion program is underway, with CENTRA 2000 able to link
disparate databases and applications used in NOVA's engineering and purchasing
operations. NOVA's design-to -production cycles are expected to be greatly
streamlined.
The CENTRA 2000 product has 30 production sites worldwide, says Susan
Floyd, president of Centra 2000, Inc., in Houston.
"The data management system is being used widely in the petrochemical
industry to enable companies to adhere to ISO 9000 [an industry standard
of quality]. It is also being used in the discrete manufacturing industry
to provide configuration management of processes, products and documentation,"
Floyd says.
™ CENTRA 2000 is a trademark of Centra 2000, Inc.
® Pro/ENGINEER is a registered trademark of Parametric Technology
Corporation.
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