A training course on data sharing in the furniture industry to be held at FIRA's Stevenage office on 16 October will be the first of its kind delivered in Europe.
Developed by INNOVAFUN, [see Note to Editors below] the funStep training curriculum helps senior managers and IT specialists understand the benefits of adopting the funStep standard ISO 10303-236 as well as how to incorporate it into a business.
The funStep training uses IT to support a blended learning approach. Traditional classroom training such as that to be held at FIRA is complemented by in-house courses at customer or partner sites, and online virtual training, giving access to the modules without the need to have the student physically present.
Tutorials and training programmes have been carefully designed, intending to cover all the training target groups and stakeholders. The curriculum structure is based in eight tutorials that together cover the main issues that are of concern to the furniture industry:
T0 – Fundamentals on the ISO Standard for the Exchange of Product Data (STEP)
Unlike other data transfer standards, STEP is computer sensible. It supports design reuse, data retention, and provides access to data across a product's entire life cycle. This tutorial provides basic background regarding the STEP architecture and major technologies.
T1 – Use-Case Guidelines for the funStep standard Adoption
Implementing standards is frequently a time-consuming task. Considering the level of funStep compliance desired and the company’s IT situation, this tutorial guides those responsible for implementation through a set of generic actions that lead the way towards the funStep standard adoption.
T2 – ISO 10303-236, the funStep standard
This tutorial describes the concepts, skills and techniques to adopt and implement the funStep ISO standard inside an organisation. This tutorial provides an overall scope of the standard’s capabilities to help understand funStep and how it can benefit your organisation.
T3 – Business documents for product transaction and management
This tutorial describes the skills and techniques to successfully integrate funStep with the ERP system inside an organisation.
T4 – Testing and validation of funStep standard implementations
Guarantees of implementation quality are something which companies demand before embarking on any innovation project. This tutorial describes Conformance Testing and Interoperability Checking methodologies and how implementations are verified according to the funStep parameters.
T5 – Semantic enrichment of product catalogues
Semantic enrichment of product data enables SMEs to share knowledge, achieving seamless semantic interoperability, and leading to new business opportunities.
T6 – Enhanced Adoption of funStep Standards
This tutorial describes techniques and methodologies for the adoption of funStep and other STEP standards using popular technologies (e.g. XML, UML).
T7 – Data interfaces for the funStep standard
This tutorial describes the existing interfaces developed by funStep for dealing with its standards and technologies in an intuitive way. Possibilities for developing new interfaces are presented.
The training course is free to attend, and will be presented by Carlos Agostinho of Innovafun. Peter Jones of Brighton’s Factory Control Systems – which has implemented funStep into its systems – will also be on hand to share his experiences (FCS case study is available on FIRA’s website)
To book a place, call Catherine Boyd on 01438 777784, email .
