For more information, contact: Reid Maness, Communications Director 919-541-7044, FAX 919-541-9737 [email protected] http://www.rti.org
Faulty Computer Files Cost Automobile Manufacturers $1 Billion
More than the message gets lost in faulty translations of design information and other computer files exchanged among manufacturers. In the automotive industry alone, estimates a just-released study commissioned by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), "interoperability problems" when sharing product and engineering data impose annual costs totaling about $1 billion.
Resources expended to correct or re-create data files because of software incompatibilities account for more than 80 percent of the total, states the study conducted by the Research Triangle Institute (RTI) in North Carolina. Delays in the introduction of new vehicles are responsible for almost 10 percent of the cost. Other expenses include purchases of different vendors' versions of software designed to perform similar tasks and spending for data-exchange services.
"Solving interoperability problems can improve competitiveness by reducing costs and cycle time," the study concludes.
The study also looks at various approaches to solving data-exchange problems. One potential solution is STEP, the evolving international STandard for the Exchange of Product model data, or ISO 10303. STEP is a neutral file format intended to support computer-to-computer exchanges of all types of product data, from initial design to maintenance requirements. NIST has been a significant technical contributor in the development of STEP as well as in other interoperability standards. NIST also develops test methods and software tools to facilitate industry's adoption and implementation of interoperability standards.
"Interoperability Cost Analysis of the U.S. Automotive Supply Chain (NIST Planning Report 99-1)," is available as a PDF file on RTI's web site (http://www.rti.org, click "publications," then "economic analysis of technology").
For hardcopy, single copies are available from contact Denise Herbert, NIST Program Office, (301) 975-2657, [email protected].
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