PRODUCT BOOKS : Archiving for information use and re - use , a replacement for CAD databases

A key problem facing engineering companies is the capture, control and recall of product design information from design and manufacturing staff. A solution to the problem proposed in this paper is the integration of design schematic diagrams with all other design documentation into a system of product books. This system unifies the many editors and computer tools used by engineering and ancillary staff to create and store design information. Thus books of information about products are created, updated and archived, each constituting a text or multimedia database known as a product book. The product book concept turns engineering database structures upside down, by being are primarily text based and therefore human oriented. The Product Book system has been implemented using the object oriented paradigm and so is open to computer based enquiry as well as human enquiry. A demonstrator is discussed that has been implemented using an object oriented document publishing system known as Interleaf.