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The interaction between the Engineering Service Bureau (ESB) and the client company (a Small Manufacturing Enterprise or SME in the context of TIGER) is essentially an interactive, design-oriented one.
The ESB needs to be able to accept product description files in many different formats. This may means some translation work from neutral file formats to STEP standards will have to be subcontracted to firms such as STEP Tools, Inc.
The ESB needs to wrap solution tools in such a way as tool shield the clients from the gory details of the tools, but still make available suitable intermediate analysis results (screens showing analysis variables of interest, output files from tools such as ANSYS, graphical representations of analysis results, etc.). The ESB must also provide a means (hopefully a GUI) to enable the SME to manipulate the product description in some fashion as they "do design".
Finally, the ESB must be able to prepare the results of the analysis and design in a format suitable to the SME and make the final results securely available to the SME. (Note that in the case of TIGER, the final results may be both an AP210 file describing layer details of the PWB and a suitably formatted P21 file for submission to the NF.)
Product Data - AP210 files, Solution Tool Neutral Files (e.g. Mentor Graphics neutral format).
NF Issues - NF Schema.
The following resources are required as a minimum:
| Mini Computer (PC) | Unix Workstation.
|
$20,500 |
| Monitor | 17" or larger fine pitch Color Monitor |
$1500 |
| WWW Server Software | Netscape Enterprise 2.x and up or similar
|
$2000 |
| Electronic Commerce Software | Should be able to accept on-line electronic payments | $1000 |
| Solution tool front ends | Dependent upon user needs | $2000/year |
| The solution tools themselves (i.e. ANSYS) | Dependent upon user needs | $20000/year |
| Internet Connection |
|
$70+ per month |