Make test results with ASAM ODS and Peak Test Data Manager usable in the long term

Technical departments that test electronic or mechanical components, assemblies or entire vehicles generally document their results very conscientiously. Nevertheless in most companies these “treasures” are kept in isolated applications on a departmental basis. This means: no overall transparency, unnecessary costs due to multiple tests, and valuable knowledge remains unused. What would an IT solution for test management look like that makes measurement data available company-wide, and for many years?

An inportant prerequisite to be able to find, interpred and compare test data in the long term is meta information. This means: The data from different test systems need to be systematically documented wiht descriptive information. Using this, it is possible to evaluate the professional, organizational and technical context in which specific data have been produced. This context includes for example a detailed description of the unit under test, test equipment and test sequence as well as order-related data.

With ODS (Open Data Service) from the ASAM e.V. (Association for Standardisation of Automation and Measuring Systems) there is a standard available for over a decade now that is tried and tested  as a basis for the structured storage of test data. The benefit: ODS defines a data model that is sufficiently generic to be able to map very different domain-specific data structures (= application models) for the management of test data.

Using Peak Test Data Manager, it is possible to implement ASAM ODS based applications only by configuration and administration. Here all generally required functionalities, such as data storage, search, navigation, preview and selection of test data are provided in standardized form. Necessary customizations, such as interfaces for specific measurement systems and analysis tools can be added flexibly and in a way that is easy to maintain. By this means, it is possible to support the execution of individual work steps in the measurement process and to partially automate recurring work sequences.

The process support begins already during test description phase. The advantage for the technical departments and the work of the test engineers: If test description is systematized via an appropriate tool, the data laid out here can be used immediately as meta data recorded later.

Due to ASAM ODS and Peak Test Data Manager, companies are able to standardize both their test data storage as well as test processes and make them independent from specific tool vendors. The transition from proprietary, local solutions to truly integrated work environments with "best-in-class" tools is created in this way. The result is a comprehensive and consistent view on all data in the test field.