Standards and methodologies for the integration of CAE in the engineering life cycle

The engineering life cycle is being supported by more or less isolated methods and tools. For the application area of automation technology for hybrid processes in plant engineering, this paper discusses newly developed and upcoming standards covering more than just interfaces. They refer to the entire life cycle, the infrastructure, or to the lowest level of data structures. As practice in this manufacturing industry shows, not only the users' view on the tools needs integration, but also the underlying methodologies that give rise to appearance as well as to functionality. By extending methodologies to adjacent processes or pooling methods with consistent contexts, breaks can be avoided in using these tools during the life cylce stages. Copyright (C) 1998 IFA.