Sandvik Coromant adopts ISO 13399 to ease tooling data exchange

ISO 13399 allows cutting tool item information to be communicated using a logical, standardised method, in a language that software can readily process. As a result, both Sandvik Coromant and the company's customers share the same definitions of parameters, which, says the company, is important for the integrity of communication and a must for effective electronic data exchange. Ultimately, ISO 13399 means that product information from Sandvik Coromant is available in a way that creates efficiency all along the value supply chain, ensuring quality for the customer at all times. According to the company, customer benefits include lower cost for tool information management and more accurate and efficient use of manufacturing resources. For example, there is no longer any need to change existing programming settings to use Sandvik Coromant tooling. ISO 13399, an international standard for the computer-interpretable representation and exchange of industrial product data, was developed jointly by Sandvik Coromant, the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, French Cetim (technical center for mechanical engineers) and other players in the metal cutting sector. Its aim is to offer a mechanism that is able to describe product data pertaining to cutting tools, independent of any specific system. This makes it suitable not only for neutral file exchange, but also as a basis for implementing and sharing product databases and archiving. Designed to make an engineer's life easier, ISO 13399 can typically be deployed to ease and optimise the exchange of data between CAD, CAM, CAE, PDM/EDM and other computer-aided technologies.