TMR Technology Update: Intranet Solution Simplifies PDM and ERP Integration

January 12, 1998

Technology Update

Intranet Solution Simplifies PDM and ERP Integration

Silicon Graphics' new Information Connection Architecture (ICA) is an intranet-based solution to simplify the integration of PDM and ERP applications.

Silicon Graphics (Mountain View, Calif.; www.sgi.com) has developed the Information Connection Architecture (ICA), intranet-based software and services designed to simplify the integration of product data management (PDM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. ICA includes prepackaged adapters that enable faster time-to-integration between applications such as Oracle, Sherpa PIMs, QAD MFG/PRO and Workgroup CMS. Adapters to Baan, Parametric Technology's Pro/Intralink, Computervision and Dassault Systemes CATIA Data Manager are also in development. Compatibility with the ICA enables applications to plug-and-play with each other and provides the mechanism for building new information retrieval solutions. Manufacturers can connect multiple data sources, enabling a user on any computer to log on to an intranet site, make a single query, and see the results presented in a dynamic Web page almost immediately. Users may implement applications compatible with the ICA at any time with full confidence of its connectivity to the others. The major benefits of using the ICA, according to Silicon Graphics, are reduced integration cost and time, an open architecture, and the fact that no data needs to be migrated or converted. End users will be able to share information, gain global accessibility, and take advantage of cross-platform availability, while seeing a reduction in the amount of time spent searching for information.

The ICA can be broken into three classifications of software: Webware, middleware and dataware:

Webware is software that provides Web authoring and publishing functionality, such as Cosmo Create and Netscape software. Webware includes the software tools necessary to build an HTML and/or Java code-based GUI, and the viewing tools needed to make graphical data useful. The browser itself is Webware.

Middleware is software that acts as an information hub between the GUI and the data sources, and includes a hub and adapters (wrappers around the application programming interface of dataware software).

Dataware is any software application that can be considered a source of information. Examples include document management, PDM, MRP, ERP and legacy systems.

Several Webware products are used in the prototype to access and view information. Netscape Navigator is used for browsing, and Rosetta and VRML are used for viewing. The middleware product selected specifically for the manufacturing market is DataMap from CSE Inc. Dataware applications with read-only adapters connecting them to the middleware are Workgroup Technology, Sherpa and Oracle. Adapters to other PDM and ERP packages are already in development. More information is available at the ICA Web site at www.sgi.com/Technology/infoconnect

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