Data Management System

The Space Shuttle and early Space Station projects provided a major inducement for devising technology and systems integration sources. Huge databases chock full of information from contractors, the tracking numbers of space hardware, and a wealth of related facts and figures must be maintained.

To support these information-handling needs, a product data management, electronic document management and workflow system was designed at Johnson Space Center.

Working with NASA, CENTRA 2000 Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Auto-trol Technology in Denver, Colorado, obtained permission to use the original software, helping to move the system into the commercial market place. Initially, just 33 database tables comprised the original management software, which was later expanded to about 100 tables.

This system is called CENTRA 2000™. "Linking your business to your information" is Auto-trol Technology's slogan that underscores the proficiency of CENTRA 2000.

CENTRA 2000 offers the ability to start simple and then grow as an enterprise grows. Designed for quick implementation, the data management system uses menu driven setup functions. Organizational structures are easily established and initial data can be batch loaded. Many users of CENTRA 2000 are in production within 90 days of installation. That speedy process demands fewer people, less time and less money. Pressures are indeed strong today to bring products to market more quickly, with greater quality and using fewer personnel.

CENTRA 2000 supports the engineering process from preliminary design through release-to-production. The data management tool enables its user to be fully confident carrying out configuration management, project management and informational management jobs.

Designed as a tool to assist companies with standards and regulatory compliance, CENTRA 2000 also can handle audit histories and provides a means to ensure new information is distributed.

Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 has the ability to interface to external applications, such as computer-aided design packages like Pro/ENGINEER® (Pro/E) applications and its related modules. Users can check in and check out parts, assemblies, drawings and layouts, all to the benefit of the workflow process.

A CENTRA 2000 satisfied user is NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. who operates Alberta's 13,300-mile-long, high-pressure pipeline. That stretch of pipeline is one of the world's most technologically advanced gas transportation systems.

Auto-trol's CENTRA 2000 was successfully put in place, succeeding an older NOVA custom drawing file system. The new data handling system will facilitate NOVA's engineering work to manage large quantities of engineering drawings, many of which are considered active at any point in time. Pipeline operators now have quick and easy access to drawings and related text documents. An ongoing expansion program is underway, with CENTRA 2000 able to link disparate databases and applications used in NOVA's engineering and purchasing operations. NOVA's design-to -production cycles are expected to be greatly streamlined.

The CENTRA 2000 product has 30 production sites worldwide, says Susan Floyd, president of Centra 2000, Inc., in Houston.

"The data management system is being used widely in the petrochemical industry to enable companies to adhere to ISO 9000 [an industry standard of quality]. It is also being used in the discrete manufacturing industry to provide configuration management of processes, products and documentation," Floyd says.

CENTRA 2000 is a trademark of Centra 2000, Inc.

Pro/ENGINEER is a registered trademark of Parametric Technology Corporation.