New Configuration Management and Interface Standards Being Developed By Non-Government Organizations; Electronic Industries Association Leads in Configuration Management Effort.

WASHINGTON and SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1996--Modern technologies for digital representation, data capture and data transfer are creating new challenges in the configuration management (CM), data management (DM), and product data management (PDM) environments. In response, an assortment of associations and companies are stepping forward to assist in providing new and revised standards.

Originally, configuration management rules used in government and private industry were established by military standards developed by the Department of Defense. But now, the DoD is canceling many of its MIL-STD requirements and turning to commercial organizations to provide the necessary replacements, known as non-government standards (NGS). These new standards are expected to enjoy wide acceptance among commercial organizations that want to improve the quality of their products and processes.

In the configuration management environment, the Electronic Industries Association (EIA) has taken the lead in drafting the new standards. The EIA/IS-649 standards proposal for configuration management is currently being coordinated through the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).

"We are pledged to support these efforts," said Fred Bahrs, senior standards engineer for CMstat Corporation, based in San Diego, California. "As an involved and committed member of EIA, CMstat is proud to participate in the advancement of the CM discipline as a part of the working group drafting the proposed EIA-649 standard."

The functional areas Bahrs considers most critical in the new developing standards are computer software development, systems engineering, engineering drawing practices, integrated logistics support, CALS, CITIS, ISO standards and application protocols, technical data packages and acquisition practices.

"This new CM standard provides guidelines for sound business principles and processes," Bahrs added, "But there are no requirements dictated by the standard. Each industry user is able to tailor these principles and processes to best fit their products and environment. Organizations like CMstat Corporation will help users achieve that."

Within the industry, CMstat Corporation is regarded as the leader in configuration management domain expertise. The company has developed a comprehensive suite of CM and PDM software applications which manage all forms of product data and asset information. These applications help CMstat's customers to effectively manage change and complex data relationships, resulting in greater efficiency and improved quality.

In addition to EIA, there are other organizations working on interface standards which provide data models and data dictionaries needed for data representation and data transfer to various users. For example, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has released STEP, the Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data. In the U.S., the national standard for STEP is called Product Data Exchange using STEP (PDES), which includes the AP-203 application protocol for configuration controlled design.

There is also a new draft MIL-STD-2549 interface standard. This will provide the performance specifications, data model and data dictionary for Configuration Management Information Systems (CMIS) used within U.S. Government programs.

"As a company, CMstat constantly monitors all standards related to the CM, DM and PDM environments. Within our software systems, we carefully apply every appropriate standard to guarantee data integrity and to assure that the user has access to the most clear, concise, and valid information about their products, processes and assets," Bahrs explained.

CMstat Corporation offers comprehensive consulting services in configuration management, change management, and product data management to support a broad range of activities. These include requirements definition, business process reengineering, implementation planning, legacy systems data migration, applications interfacing and integration, and ongoing systems training.

Early next year, CMstat will release industry-specific applications for regulatory and standards compliance including DoD, FDA, FCC, and DOE-regulated environments.

CMstat does business with major corporations, governments, and the military in North America, Western Europe and the Pacific Rim. Industries served by CMstat include aerospace and aviation, automotive manufacturing, biotechnology, medical device, mechanical, energy, commercial electronics, computer systems manufacturing, telecommunications, and others.

CMstat Corporation is the information technology subsidiary of VSE Corporation (Nasdaq:VSEC), an Alexandria, Virginia-based engineering and management services company with more than 1,200 employees. More information about the company is available at http://www.cmstat.com on the World Wide Web, via e-mail at [e-mail], or by telephone at 619-552-6660. -0-

NOTE TO EDITORS: CMstat is registered trademark of CMstat Corporation.

CONTACT: CMstat Corporation

Kurt Barnhart, 619/552-6660

or email [e-mail].