An open systems profile for concurrent engineering

The paper is a summary of experience in applying the concurrent engineering (CE) enabling technology concepts of the Concurrent Engineering Research Center (CERC) to existing business processes and architectures as a member of an IBM Federal Systems Company (FSC) Quality Improvement Team (QIT). As follow-on to this effort, a role for profiles such as the Government´s Open System Environment (OSE) Profile, the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) Application Portability Profile (APP), is proposed as the basis for a CE profile for integrated tool and information development architecture in support of CE. Use of a profile is stressed as a foundation for transition to an automated and integrated CE infrastructure in any enterprise