Bystronic

Data protection in the 3D spare parts catalogue

Bystronic is a globally active supplier of high-quality solutions for the economical processing of sheet metal and other flat materials. Customers benefit from application-oriented systems and services for the processes of laser and waterjet cutting as well as bending. The Swiss company, headquartered in Niederönz (Canton of Bern), employs about 1500 people and generated a turnover of the equivalent of 310 million euros in 2010. In Niederönz, laser and waterjet cutting systems in particular are manufactured for the world market. Other development and production sites are located in Gotha (Germany), Tianjin (China) and Braşov (Romania). In addition, the company has sales and service subsidiaries in 25 countries. Bystronic has been part of the Conzzeta Group since 1994.

Since 2008, Bystronic has been operating a spare parts catalogue system based on PARTS-PUBLISHER from Docware, which provides machine-specific catalogues. Customer catalogues are issued on CD and paper, internal catalogues for technical support (hotline and branch offices) are provided in an intranet portal. Bystronic produces spare parts catalogues in which 2D drawings and 3D models are integrated. All data required for catalogue production is stored in SAP. For the automated generation of spare parts catalogues with PARTS-PUBLISHER, all data required for catalogue production is exported from SAP and imported into the PARTS-PUBLISHER Workbench.

The "data protection" challenge

For Bystronic, a manufacturer of innovative technologies, the topic of "preventing product espionage and product replication" is particularly important. In particular, the 3D data provided with the Bystronic spare parts catalogues must be protected against unauthorised access and misuse.

The solution

To protect the Bystronic spare parts catalogue data, Docware GmbH provided a solution based on an integration of XVL Signer (Lattice Technology) into the PARTS-PUBLISHER spare parts catalogue software. XVL Signer is a security tool that protects 3D XVL data from unauthorised access. Mechanical and electrical components can be ordered directly from the catalogue via a common shopping cart.

The procedure with which 3D data is prepared at Bystronic for the provision of spare parts catalogues is as follows:

3D CAD data originating from Creo Elements/Direct Modeling (PTC) are integrated into the PARTS-PUBLISHER spare parts catalogue in XVL format. The original 3D data are converted into XVL with "Creo Elements/Direct Interface for Lattice XVL". After conversion, the XVL data is automatically encrypted with XVL Signer (1024 bit), protected by a password and automatically checked into SAP with the SAP integration.

XVL Signer enables the definition of user groups for which different access levels are defined. Thus, the user group "External Users" is only granted the right "Display XVL models". Internal users are assigned further rights, e.g. "Measure and modify XVL models". A password is defined for each user group.

For the automated generation of spare parts catalogues with PARTS-PUBLISHER, the encrypted XVL models are exported from SAP together with all other data required for catalogue generation and imported into the PARTS-PUBLISHER Workbench.

Since the XVL models used for spare parts catalogue generation are encrypted and password-protected, as described above, Bystronic spare parts catalogue users would have to specify a user group and password each time XVL models are to be displayed in the catalogue. To save catalogue users this time-consuming interaction, Docware has added a function to the PARTS-PUBLISHER spare parts catalogue software that opens files encrypted with XVL Signer.

With this solution, the user group and password for Signer-encrypted files are stored in encrypted form in the spare parts catalogue data record. When an assembly with XVL illustration is called up, this information is transferred covertly, so that the interactive entry of user group and password by the catalogue user is not necessary. With this procedure, Bystronic provides spare parts catalogues with encrypted 3D XVL models that can only be used in the PARTS-PUBLISHER spare parts catalogue. Displaying or using the 3D models outside the PARTS-PUBLISHER catalogue is not possible without knowledge of the access data.

Data protection in the 3D spare parts catalogue

• 1024 BIT encryption of the 3D models
• Encrypted 3D models can only be used in the PARTS-PUBLISHER spare parts catalogue
• Authorisation concept manages access rights on different levels (viewing, measuring, modifying 3D models)