Support of PC s in Concurrent Engineering

Summary

The DICE (DARPA Initiative in Concurrent Engineering) Network is a collection of architectural services that support the usage of concurrent engineering (CE) practices in manufacturing organizations. Leading corporations depend heavily on supplier industries for up to 60 to 70 percent of their product components. These supplier industries connect PCs in their shops over local area networks (LANs). This paper discusses existing and future scenarios in PC-LANs and possible integration strategies and implementations using readily available commercial software packages. The PC user could exploit the advanced facilities provided by the DICE Network such as the Electronic Design Notebook, the DICE Blackboard, the sending of messages and pictures. At the same time users at Unix workstations could execute application on the PCs enabling access to thousands of applications available at a relatively cheaper price. The support of PCs in concurrent engineering provides a relatively inexpensive alternative in terms of hardware and software for manufacturing industries.