Semantic design

Design engineers spend an inordinate amount of time searching through design data in the course of their work.

But all that looks set to change. Because now, a new semantic engineering environment developed by European researchers promises to save time and boost productivity.

By incorporating a semantic layer into a product lifecycle management (PLM) system and enabling users to visualise products, components and materials, the new development promises to save engineers and designers time, reduce costs and raise productivity.

‘Many companies still store information on paper files, while others keep key design data in obscure databases and repositories where it is either hard to find or cannot be accessed at all. Engineers still have to pick up the phone to call colleagues who worked on past projects to obtain information that should be readily accessible to them. It takes a lot of time and reduces productivity,’ explained Mikel Renteria, the director of technology at Semantic Systems in Spain.