The demonstration of Tampere University of Technology on design of a product configuration is a separate case that is used for studying knowledge systematization aspects. ETHZ is developing a product model for configuration management of the contactor data. EPFL developed a constraint satisfaction system for configuration of products with many variants. 3.2.5 Shared Models Different models and associated software were exchanged in the area of product configuration management. They all concern the increasing complexity of products, the necessity to reduce the time to market and the costs as well as to improve overall quality.
Partners have similar presentations planned for industry in their own countries.
The exchange of researchers has also been an important basis for transfer and dissemination, but due to the short time scale only a few arrangements could be made. One researcher from VTT stayed at Shimizu Corporation for two months to study the application of the virtual factory in construction. A researcher from Shimizu Corporation is at VTT for one year in 1994. For example, the two widely exchanged tools are representatives of some 30 tools identified as potentially exchangeable between partners, some of which were exchanged between individual partners. Similarly, the two data sets exchanged are representatives of large numbers of industrial data sets that could have been made available to partners, some of which were exchanged between individual partners.