In the future state of the MB-DMI process, RTX plans to implement interoperable data standards to connect data flows across all phases of the product lifecycle, thereby building the digital thread. Standards such as ISO 23952 Quality Information Framework (QIF) and ISO 10303 Standard for the Exchange of Product model data (STEP) are essential for integrating CAx applications as the product transitions from engineering to manufacturing for development and production.

This model quality project aims to evaluate the reusability of Geometric Dimensions & Tolerances (GD&T) Product Manufacturing Information (PMI) data in the QIF standard format, translated from native Computer-Aided Design (CAD) formats, to enable automation in Computer-Aided Inspection (CAI) applications. Fundamentally, the translated parametric PMI data in QIF depends on the quality of the source semantic data created in the native CAD model.

Test models were created using major CAD applications and translated into several leading Coordinate Measuring Machine (CMM) applications for QIF parametric data consumption. PMI modeling methods were refined in CAD applications to address the major findings from the initial test results. These improvements in PMI modeling methods led to an increase in MBD data import, which automates the features and characteristics creation in CMM programming process, reducing cycle time significantly today.