Archive for June, 2019
Saturday, June 8th, 2019
Yes, they can. And we have demonstrated this within the framework of the SAMPL project. For almost three years PROSTEP, together with seven partners, has been developing an end-to-end solution for the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data. The key to this is the use of blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology. On 10 October 2019, we will be presenting the project results at a user conference being held at the Center of Applied Aeronautical Research (ZAL) in Hamburg.
Additive manufacturing processes allow components like prototypes and spare parts, for example, to be produced quickly, but they also raise a number of security and copyright-related issues. When it comes to safety-critical components in particular, it must be possible to guarantee that only authorized persons have access to the data, that only the original data is used for a defined number of components, and that this data cannot be misused to manufacture pirate copies. This is exactly what the Secure Additive Manufacturing Platform (SAMPL), which we developed together with partners as part of the SAMPL project, does.
SAMPL is a consortium project sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi). The aim of the project is to develop an end-to-end security solution that covers the entire process from creating the digital 3D print data to exchanging the data with 3D print service providers and their specially protected trusted 3D printers through to the tagging of the printed components (see www.sampl-3d.de). The consortium comprises the consortium head PROSTEP, the Hamburg-based companies NXP Semiconductors and consider it, 3D MicroPrint in Chemnitz, the University of Hamburg, the University of Ulm, Hamburg Technical University, the Frauhofer Institute ENAS in Chemnitz and Airbus, EvoBus and DWF associated partners.
SAMPL is based on PROSTEP’s secure data exchange solution OpenDXM GlobalX, which we have expanded to include a digital license management facility based on blockchain technology. The solution supports the entire lifecycle from transfer of the CAD and process data to the specially protected 3D printers through to documentation of the entire printing process. The parts can be identified with absolute certainty by means of RFID or other features to ensure that only the printed original parts were installed.
PROSTEP has already used the SAMPL demonstrator at a number of different events and trade fairs to show how digital license management works. The event being held on 10 October 2019 at the Center of Applied Aeronautical Research (ZAL) in Hamburg will not only provide an opportunity to present the project results but also industry partners, such as Weidmüller, will report on their experiences with the integration of 3D printing and blockchain technology in the SAMPL project. In addition, the legal firm DWF will provide information on aspects such as IPP protection and the protection of corporate data, which impact on the forgery-proof exchange of 3D print data. Lively discussions can be expected. We cordially invite you to participate in the event and submit your own contributions. To do so, please send an abstract of approx. 100 words to Christian Gentili by 30.07.2019.
Further information will soon be available on the SAMPL website. Or you can contact the relevant project team member, Christian Gentili, directly.
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Tuesday, June 4th, 2019
PROSTEP AG founds a new branch in Wroclaw, Poland (formerly Breslau). At the beginning of April, PROSTEP sp.z.o.o. started its business activities to support and strengthen the development team of the Berlin-based PROSTEP branch. It is planned to set up two Scrum teams that will develop specific solutions for major automotive customers.
PROSTEP decided to move to Poland because the country has a relatively large pool of qualified IT specialists who are becoming increasingly difficult to find in Germany. Wroclaw was supported by the fact that the city on the Oder River is the country’s second largest university location and that for historical reasons more people speak German than in other parts of the country. We are not going to Poland with the development for cost reasons, because Poland is no longer a low-wage country, but because we can find qualified personnel there with German language skills.
The Polish software developers will implement agile development projects on site in cooperation with their Berlin colleagues and in close coordination with the key developers and business analysts. The decentralized model has proven its worth in Berlin, where PROSTEP currently has a development team of more than 20 programmers.
The new branch in Poland will employ 15 to 20 people in the medium term. We are currently looking for personnel and intend to hire eight to ten new people by the end of the year. The first team leader will start work in September 2019. Filip Plochocki will be responsible for the new location, whose office will be located in a startup center in the center of Wroclaw during the first few months.
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Saturday, June 1st, 2019
Peter Pfalzgraf, head of the Products business unit at PROSTEP AG, has been named president of the 3D PDF Consortium. The global initiative is committed to establishing and further developing 3D PDF, and the PDF format in general, as an open standard for visualization, data communication and long-term archiving. The appointment of Pfalzgraf underscores PROSTEP‘s long-standing commitment to the dissemination of 3D PDF technology.
The 3D PDF Consortium was originally founded at the suggestion of Adobe to demonstrate the openness of the 3D PDF format. Thanks to its collaboration with the PDF Association and, in particular, recognition by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) of the Consortium as the US TAG Administrator for the PDF ISO standard , it has become the world’s most important organization when it comes to PDF standardization. In addition to Adobe and other leading software vendors – including the PLM consulting and software company PROSTEP – its members include large industrial companies such as Boeing.
On the one hand, the 3D PDF Consortium involves itself with the further development and consolidation of the various ISO PDF standards for archiving (PDF/A), engineering (PDF/E), electronic signatures (PSdES) and universal access (PDF U/A), which have been created within the framework of the ISO 32000 standard for the full function PDF. On the other hand, it provides software houses and industrial companies with support when implementing the 3D PDF standard. The 3D PDF Implementor Forum is a collaborative testing program designed to ensure the quality and usability of 3D PDF in engineering workflows by means of joint testing.
An important activity performed by the 3D PDF Consortium is the planned extension of the 3D PDF format that will allow STEP AP242 data to be embedded directly in 3D PDF documents without conversion to the internal PRC or U3D format and to be viewed with Adobe Reader. As Pfalzgraf says, “We expect this to lead to even broader acceptance of 3D PDF, especially with regard to the long-term archiving of 3D data. This option is of particular interest to manufacturers of products with very long lifecycles and strict obligations to provide documentation, such as the aerospace industry.” The 3D PDF Consortium therefore wants to work more closely with LOTAR International, an initiative for long-term archiving and retrieval launched by leading aircraft manufacturers.
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