We live in a new manufacturing era that has been called the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is characterized by the digitization of manufacturing and the increased use of data. In this era, digital information plays a central role. How the product’s design and manufacturing information is authored, exchanged, and processed will determine who will succeed in this era. The "digital thread" that integrates and drives modern design, manufacturing, and product-support processes can be exploited to reduce cycle time and achieve first pass success. Moreover, it is the only feasible way to deal with the complexity of today’s products. A "bi-directional" digital thread, based on emerging, open standards, will raise the competitiveness of small-to-medium, U.S. manufacturing enterprises. These standards provide 3D-geometric models enhanced with product and manufacturing information that is semantically rich and machine readable. Yet the digital thread flows in one direction only currently, and gaps in the thread prevent enterprise-wide utilization of information. This project will conduct research to 1) identify the required communications and their information content, 2) formalize and promulgate descriptions of those requirements, and 3) support development of tools and standards for the exchange and use of that information. The results of this project will accelerate the design-to-production timeline and, more importantly, at reduced costs.
This GitHub repository is a collection of tools developed by the project. The project is currently developing several tools for use in the project's research. Those tools will be published to this repository once they reach a baseline level of maturity. Below is an overview of the tools available in this repository.
+---DMC-Toolkit (Digital Manufacturing Certificate Toolkit)
¦ +---Executables
¦ +---Source
¦ +---TestFiles
+---MBE-Capabilities-Assessment (Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) Capabilities Assessment)
+---README.md (this documentation)
Thomas Hedberg, tdh1@nist.gov, 301-975-4247
Allison Barnard Feeney, abf@nist.gov, 301-975-3181
The use of any software or hardware by the project does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by NIST.
The use of the project results in other software or hardware products does not imply a recommendation or endorsement by NIST of those products.
We would appreciate acknowledgement if any of the project results are used, however, the use of the NIST logo is not allowed.
NIST-developed software is provided by NIST as a public service. You may use, copy and distribute copies of the software in any medium, provided that you keep intact this entire notice. You may improve, modify and create derivative works of the software or any portion of the software, and you may copy and distribute such modifications or works. Modified works should carry a notice stating that you changed the software and should note the date and nature of any such change. Please explicitly acknowledge the National Institute of Standards and Technology as the source of the software.
NIST-developed software is expressly provided “AS IS.” NIST MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, IN FACT OR ARISING BY OPERATION OF LAW, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND DATA ACCURACY. NIST NEITHER REPRESENTS NOR WARRANTS THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. NIST DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF THE SOFTWARE OR THE RESULTS THEREOF, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR USEFULNESS OF THE SOFTWARE.
You are solely responsible for determining the appropriateness of using and distributing the software and you assume all risks associated with its use, including but not limited to the risks and costs of program errors, compliance with applicable laws, damage to or loss of data, programs or equipment, and the unavailability or interruption of operation. This software is not intended to be used in any situation where a failure could cause risk of injury or damage to property. The software developed by NIST employees is not subject to copyright protection within the United States.