Precast concrete plants are at the vanguard of industry 4.0. Automated production with a batch size of 1 and horizontal data exchange across all steps of the value creation chain - other industries are still far from achieving these things. Continuous data management - from planning in CAD to CAM-controlled production, delivery to the construction site and integration of the finished parts in the building (keyword BIM) - is reality in the precast concrete industry. Systems from different manufacturers work together and exchange data in real time in this network. The "Unitechnik CAD-CAM interface" has formed the basis for the open exchange of information within a precast concrete plant for 25 years. This interface is now available in the contemporary XML format. The interface definition "Unitechnik CAD-CAM interface XML 7.0.0“ (abbreviated UXML 7.0.0) is available as of December 2015. All software and equipment manufacturers can incorporate this interface in future versions. In this way, Unitechnik is addressing the trend toward manufacturer-specific interfaces and supports continued free competition within the industry.
Advantages of the XML interface
- Can be displayed in any browser
- Hierarchy levels can be shown and hidden
- Easy to implement in modern software systems
- Tunneling of additional information from CAD to subsystems without having to modify the control system.
- Support for variable field lengths
- Ability to transmit binary data (images, PDF, printing data)
- Capability for validation against XML schema definition
- Ability to reference objects via GUID
