REPID Database and Software solution
The REPID methodology is supported by a database and a software solution. The database is the foundation of all functionality in the REPID system. Chalmers IMI has refined the database model from the RAVEL project. The model supports a structured management of design projects. These designs can be analysed and compared in order to generate reports and achieve environmental targets.

SEMCON has developed a web interface that will be used for the creation and input of product structures and materials, to create designs for analysis and to generate reports. The interface is based on the RAVEL workbench tool, and will be the first generation of the REPID tool.

SEMCON will develop a structure for formatting data from product handling systems. This will facilitate the import of product structures and material information into the database for analysis. The standard will also make it possible to generate reports and extract data from the tool into other systems. The first step will be an integration with CatiaV5 to show the possibilities of the application.


Figure 1, Structure for the REPID IT tool and Database

The web application is mainly to be used by railway operators and sub-suppliers and the integration tool is mainly to be used by the manufacturers.

Web application
The purpose of the web application is to:

• Handle different designs of a product through projects
• Calculate design scores based on the EPI:s.
• Show information about materials
• Generate reports on calculations

SEMCON has based the web application on the RAVEL workbench application as a starting point of the work.

CatiaV5 integration
Main point:
In its current form the analysis tool only supports manual creation of product designs. This is a major limitation when it comes to practical usefulness of the tool, as is the case in other DfE tools.

Therefore Semcon will develop an integration tool that will make it possible to import existing product structures/info into the database/analysis tool.
The integration tool is not dependant on CatiaV5. Only the ‘use-case’ Semcon provide is. As with implementing any system/methodology, a certain amount of work will have to be done to adjust the functionality to the specific environment of the end-user.

The purpose of the CatiaV5 integration is to:
• Export product structures and material information to the REPID database. The CatiaV5 integration is an example of possible usage. The product structures and material information could be retrieved from some other system as long as the information contains at least the relationships, materials and mass.
• Enable the engineer to import and view information about the materials in the REPID database (participation in the DFE process).
• Enable the engineer (or other end-users) to view and update information about the project/design under construction – such as structure, materials, design scores i.e.

It has been intensively discussed in the project which type of software would be most appropriate to do the integration on. Since PDM (Product Data Management) systems are more widespread used, it would have been natural to make an integration into such system. The problem is that such systems are very complex and always tailor-made to each company. This would mean that REPID should make innumerous solutions to serve all. It would not make sense to make a REPID version custom-made to only one industrial partner. Therefore this solution with CatiaV5 has been chosen as the reference from which each industrial partner can choose to make its own implementation.

The ability to calculate design scores does not depend on the system the information originated in. Designs can be created manually with no hard linking to another system. The purpose of the CatiaV5 integration is to show how the product structures can be retrieved from a system that is being used to develop products. In the case materials and mass are handled in a PDM system this information will have to be retrieved from that system or entered manually in the analysis tool.

The feedback into the system used for designing / handling products is however dependant on what system is being used. In the case of CatiaV5 the feedback could be a mark-up of assemblies containing prohibited materials, information about use in designs and so on. This information would follow the model into other systems. Adaptations will have to be made to handle this information throughout the company’s data management system.