Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1417991
24 DESIGN007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2021 from the shop floor, so you've got a common standard of how to col- lect it and aggregate it from the wide vari- ety of both automated machines and manual processes. Dan Feinberg: ODB++ as it is today combines the ability to view both process and manufac- turing, correct? McGoff: Yes. I'm trying to be clear and call it a family. ere are three different formats within the family, so I think that's the gist of what you're interested in, but I want everybody to know that the family of formats, of ODB++, has expanded beyond just that one. Nolan Johnson: If you don't mind, can I attach some categories to this? Design is going to be the design data. Process is going to capture more of the assembly and manufacturer instructions— how to put it together. Manufacturing, then, is basically capturing the as-built data. McGoff: at's a very good way to put it, Nolan. With that said, obviously, the format has evolved. It started with the origins of Valor. Max was employee number three for Valor here in the U.S., and I was employee number nine. For the past 14 years now, we both have been directly responsible for the format. Clearly, Max is on the technical side, and me on the marketing and customer support side, but we consider ourselves stewards of the format. It's something that Valor originated, Mentor took ownership of it when they acquired us in 2010, and Siemens took ownership of it when they acquired Mentor in 2017. It's perpetuated. As a matter of fact, you can go to the ODB++ web- site and see that we currently have more than 73,000 users registered on the ODB++ web- site. at's a very significant number. It clearly is the highest number of users of any intelligent format you're going to see in the industry, so that shows how broadly it's being used. Equally important is we have 80 soware companies signed up on our partners page, committed by contract to support it. at's important, as being soware companies, they are the tool suppliers—the people who make the ecosystem work. I emphasize this because of these 73,000 users, maybe that represents 10,000 or 20,000 companies. What's impor- tant for any format to be successful and have value for the industry is that the tools in the ecosystem must support the format because if a format runs into a dead end anywhere in the process of design through manufacturing, then it's just that, a dead end. It's not serving the flow completely. en, you would have to complement that format with additional data in a different format to complete your process. You're not going to find any other formats out there in the industry that are supported by as many soware companies in the ecosystem as ODB++ has. Max Clark: I could add a little bit on the techni- cal side to that. On a regular basis, we receive inquiries about the format from partners who are trying to understand how something is to be supported. I wanted you guys to know that we do get those types of questions. McGoff: We manage and track this. Obviously, it's a responsibility, and we don't take it lightly. I have a staff, my technical marketing engineers are responsible for supporting it, and of course our web team maintains the content and keeps it current. But we track it to make sure that we're getting the visibility, as well as providing the support that the customers are requiring. On average, we get approximately 2,500 visits per month to the website, and more than 600 new users per month. On top of that, which dovetails with what I just said, we get more than 600 downloads of the ODB++ Viewer each month. ese are good, solid numbers. Pat McGoff