Protecting product information means blending business solutions
By Staff -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 10/1/2005 6:00:00 AM
In the early days of the Internet, easy data access for partners and a "zero-client" footprint promised a new era of collaboration. While things are undoubtedly changing, some software vendors stress the need for more control over technical data exchanged during collaboration, even if that means some lightweight client-side software.
One such vendor is Pinion Software, whose applications protect electronically distributed documents. Pinion's flagship system—Pinion Secure Enterprise—allows a team engaged in product life-cycle management (PLM) to control how, when, where, and by whom design-related data is viewed. The software even can trigger a document to electronically shred itself.
"There are two drivers for our type of solution," says Darryl Worsham, a company VP. "One is secure document exchange. The second is the continuing quest by manufacturers to find the most cost-effective means of bringing product to market, and the need to work globally with partners as part of that."
Trouble is, there is risk in sharing intellectual property—or IP for short—with little-known partners in countries with lax patent or copyright laws. The resulting dilemma, as Worsham puts it, "is to ensure security without impeding the workflow process."
In Pinion's case, a piece of "receiver" software is downloaded by trading partners to allow them to access documents. The solution governs the level of rights particular users have to documents, with administrative tools that work with e-mail servers or integrate with document or product data management systems.
MfgQuote, a Web-based marketplace for sourcing custom parts, uses Pinion's platform to ensure secure exchange of technical data. Mitch Free, CEO, says a combination of Pinion's software and free viewing tools—such as eDrawings from SolidWorks—balance security with the need to interact with CAD models. "The partnership with Pinion delivers a secure framework for technical rights management, but also allows for very rich tools for analysis and quote development," he says.
Adobe Systems, known for its free Acrobat Reader for Portable Document Format (PDF) files, is a player in protecting IP, says Mike Morel, Adobe's director of manufacturing solutions. Adobe has added interactive CAD viewing to Reader, and also offers a document control server that allows companies to apply policies to documents sharing. "The policy and security should travel with the document," Morel says. "That's the key."
Mike Burkett, a director with Boston-based AMR Research, says there are multiple vendors involved in protecting IP, including Pinion and Adobe, but also PLM and content-management system vendors. "Protecting technical data tends to be a multi-application issue," he says.
Some manufacturers elect to partition their data using CAD tool configuration functions so that only part of the design can be seen, Burkett points out. MfgQuote's Free says some marketplace users set up controlled distribution groups for bid data. In other words, some resort to business measures, not just technology, to safeguard IP. As Burkett puts it, "[Protecting IP] involves a combination of business and technology decisions, but there are great software tools to address different parts of the problem."
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