Original Date: 05/08/1995
Revision Date: 01/18/2007

McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA)-St. Louis has linked disparate systems such as CAD, tooling, numerical control code, and a control and release system into a product data management system that provides access to a wide variety of data (Figure 2-5). The control and release system manages assembly layout packages and build-to-data packages on IBM, DEC and HP/Sun systems.

The experience gained in linking these different systems and environments has enabled MDA-St. Louis to also link external partners into its system, rendering the access of data almost seamless. The system not only allows users access to the design data for a product at various stages of the development cycle, it also allows them access to configuration control of individual products by serial number. This new capability has significantly improved logistic operations. Approximately 50 gigabytes of digital product data are stored on magnetic media, with another 70 gigabytes stored on optical media.

MDA-St. Louis used requirements from its Department of Defense (DOD) programs to guide evaluation of commercial Product Data Managers, resulting in selection of a product from the Sherpa Corporation. Integration of the Sherpa product into the MDA environment, and use of this capability for the management of Build-To Package data on production aircraft programs, has provided experience which is guiding MDA-St. Louis to expand the use of the Product Data Manager to other types of program data, and to seek a corporate site license for broader deployment of this capability.

MDA-St. Louis has used the experience gained in the creation of the internally-developed product data management system to evaluate commercial products. It has refined requirements from this experience and introduced the use of a commercial product data management system on upcoming MDA-St. Louis product lines.

For more information see the Point of Contact for this survey.