ATLAS helps to improve communications between project partners
The recently completed ATLAS project, funded under the EU's ESPRIT programme, has developed new information technology tools to assist the partners in large-scale engineering (LSE) projects to communicate effectively. By improving the communication, relevance and effectiveness of information flow between the different working units, large and small, involved in a project, ATLAS can assist productivity and quality enhancement, as well as achieving cost savings. ATLAS has developed a methodology and an open software infrastructure which supports and enables the sharing of computer-based information models between LSE project reference models. This neutral model includes information on products, processes and resources, integrating the different views of the actors involved in an LSE project. Whilst the need for knowledge-based applications is now clearly established, existing applications only operate on a stand-alone basis. ATLAS, on the other hand, has developed a system to integrate existing data sources without the need for re-entering data. Developed for the building and process plant industries, the ATLAS approach could also be used in other fields involving complex manufacturing. The results of the project will allow knowledge-based extensions to the project modelling kernel to be developed. This would allow the integration of evolving applications in the large-scale engineering applications platform.