Relax this Summer, Let IHS Help You Get Your Job Done

Look no further for your beach reading material – enjoy the Summer Edition of the Americas CloseUp eNewsletter. I hope that you will find this issue informative. One of the changes you will notice in this issue is the style and format. We have listened to comments and made changes based on feedback that we hope will make access to the information and the links to our website easier for you to use.

IHS is always happy to receive comments, questions or concerns from our customers and partners. In fact, this newsletter was created based on input from our customers. Take a survey to let us know how we're doing. . .

One of the most discussed topics lately is digital rights management and copyright issues. This is a major concern for IHS as we work very hard to protect our partners’ and our own intellectual property while ensuring that we make the client experience productive. Starting with the next issue of the newsletter we will include articles covering digital rights management and copyright issues that we hope you will find useful and interesting. 

Sincerely,

Ken Aubrey, Vice President, Americas

IHS
15 Inverness Way East
Englewood CO 80112

If you have any comments or questions about "Americas CloseUp" please send them to info@ihs.com.

How Are You Skinning The Cat?

The saying goes that there are many ways to skin a cat. Kind of a scary thought, but then maybe it scares you that there are so many ways to use HAYSTACK® when all you care about is finding the information that you need to get your job done.

Here are some tips about the kind of information MRO professionals can find in HAYSTACK. Stay tuned and read in our next issue about how your Sales & Marketing teams can leverage this tool to track competitors and uncover new prospects. Or visit http://engineers.ihs.com/procurement/haystack-logistics/index.jsp
for details today.

Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) is a significant cost driver for many organizations, and lately there is an increased focus to drive down maintenance costs and increase productivity. With buzz phrases such as “operational readiness,” “aircraft-on-ground,” “power-by-the-hour,” and “one-stop-shop program” coming to the forefront, there’s no doubt that more efficient maintenance is critical to an organization’s success. 

There are hard numbers to back this up, and the statistics are staggering: 

• 70% of global defense spending is used to pay for operations, maintenance, and personnel – over $1 trillion is spent annually worldwide
• In the commercial aircraft sector, the MRO market for western-built aircraft is $52 billion annually
• According to AeroStrategy, this market is expected to increase at a rate of 2% per year over the next 10 years

But as you’re probably well aware, MRO data is notorious for its inaccurate and incomplete parts information, discontinued or obsolete parts, compliance mandates, long repair cycles, costly downtime, and re-stocking fees. Maintenance professionals struggle every day to accurately identify the right part and source for the item they need, because even modest improvements in parts identification can result in direct improvements to the bottom line.

With HAYSTACK, you have access to a true parts research solution with more than 100 million parts references from both government and commercial sources.

• 40 databases
• Comprehensive but flexible searching
• 25 million procurement history records
• Historical government part data dating back to 1990
• Highly indexed data
• Batch searching capabilities
• Data integration
• Links directly to IHS Specs & Standards

  To learn more about HAYSTACK, visit http://aero-defense.ihs.com or contact us at 800-447-3352 (USA/Canada), 303-397-2295 (worldwide) or email us at custsvc@ihs.com.

How Do I Use the Darn Thing?

To provide you with additional product support for IHS Specs & Standards, the following information offers Tips & Techniques for using the powerful functionality of your subscription service more efficiently.

Email Notifications
The Email Notification feature not only helps you maintain regulatory and contract compliance, but it also ensures that everyone on your project is using the exact standard, and the exact version, that is required for successful completion of your project. To use this feature:

1. Click on View Lists from the main IHS Specs & Standards screen to first create a list to which you can add documents.
2. On the View My Lists screen, click Create List.
3. Enter a list name in the List Name field, select Yes for Secure List, select No for Private List, and then click Submit.
4. When you return to the View My Lists screen, select the list you just created and click the Email Notification link.
5. On the Email Notification screen, add your email address, and then click Submit.
   You can enter and submit an email address for each individual on your project that you want to be notified when a standards document in your list is updated, modified, canceled, or replaced OR you can have each individual add his or her own email address since the list was not set up as a Private list.
6. Close the Email Notification screen and perform a search on the document(s) you want for your project. In the result list, click the check box in the left column for your document(s), and then click Add to list.
7. When the Add items to List screen displays, select the list you created, and then click Submit to add the document to the list.

Boolean Searches
Boolean searches support the Boolean Operators AND, OR and phrases using quotes.

Phrase or Adjacency
As an example of a phrase search, enter “butterfly valve” in the Text field. The application searches for documents that have the exact phrase (a result of 3 documents) in the title or abstract, as opposed to entering the terms butterflyvalve, which produces a result of 150 documents.

AND
You can use the Text field to search for matching text in document titles and abstract/scope paragraphs. If two or more words are entered in the text box, an implied AND is used, and the search finds occurrences of all words within the title and/or abstract. This is a non-ordered adjacency search, which finds occurrences of the words in any order.

For example, it you enter fuel storage, the application finds such entries as:

–fuel storage systems (Doc No: AF 127-40 CHANGE 1)
–fuel and lube oil bulk storage (Doc No: AF ETL 90-5)
–storage, handling and servicing of aviation fuels (Doc NO: MIL-STD 1518C)
–storage bunkers for domestic solid fuel (Doc No: BS 6171)

OR
The term OR finds all instances of each word entered. If you enter safety or valve in the Text field, the application searches for any documents containing safety and any documents containing valve in the title and/or abstract. You will find a larger number of documents using OR than you will find using AND. For example, entering safety or valve in the Text field produces a results list of 62, 853 documents. If you enter safety valve, your search is refined to 937 documents.

Wildcards
An asterisk (*) and question mark (?) trailing wildcard can also be used in a Text search. For example, a Text search for brak* finds hits on brake, brakes, and braking:

–brake control systems
–hydraulic press brakes
–braking of electrical vehicles

A Text search for brak? will retrieve documents containing the word brake; but will not retrieve documents containing the word braking in the title and/or abstract.

If you have any additional questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at email us at custsvc@ihs.com.

Ever Need A Cocktail Not Included in Your All-Inclusive Resort Vacation?

Well then, have you ever needed a document not included in your IHS subscription? Perhaps similar to wanting one extra treat not included in your paid-for-vacation package – sometimes your project may require a standard that you need that you don’t have immediate access to. And in the case of your project, it is certainly a “need to have”, not a “want to have”. The reasons for additional document requirements are endless. Now, we have an easy solution for you — IHS Custom Collections delivered through your IHS Specs & Standards subscription.

How Does It Work?
With an IHS Custom Collection, you can add one document or a hundred documents to an existing subscription. There are more than 80 societies with whom we have Custom Collection rights — providing you with unmatched depth and breadth of content selection. 

Your IHS Sales Representative will guide you throughout the process, helping you to create the optimal list for your organization and project. Utilizing IHS Specs & Standards, your selected documents will then be delivered along with your other subscribed content. It’s that easy! For more details on how to build a collection,go to: http://engineers.ihs.com.

To implement this new tool on your account, please contact us at http://aero-defense.ihs.com 800-447-3352 (USA/Canada),
303-397-2295 (worldwide) or email us at custsvc@ihs.com.

Are You Fishing Without a Line?

If engineers were fisherman they would probably prefer being called “catchers”. It isn’t about the fishing – it’s about the fish. The same thing can be said for searching for current parts information. It isn’t about the search — it’s about what you find. While fishing is an enjoyable pastime as is surfing the Internet, it can be a huge investment in time just to “catch” or find the right information.

Stop Searching – and Start Finding! Let IHS help you locate virtually any electronic component! CAPS Expert™ is a decision support tool for electronic components, including: board-level semiconductors, passives, connectors and electromechanicals, and mil-spec cylindrical connectors. It enables better part selection and decision-making by providing normalized, valid and current part information aggregated from multiple sources into a single database. Relevant supporting documentation – manufacturer information, data sheets, and parametric detail is directly accessible from the search results without the need for further information gathering. 

With over 46 million parts from over 2,000 manufacturers, the CAPS product family is the world’s most comprehensive resource.

With CAPS you can:

• Increase engineering productivity

• Generate better products

• Reduce cycle times

• Reduce rework

Available from IHS on a subscription basis, the CAPS product line saves time by providing cross-reference and alternative source information, as well as part life cycle information.

It is Finally the Time of Year to Hit the Beaches of an Exotic Island

As a building professional are you wondering, “Are the buildings my family and I are vacationing in built safely to code?” Is the thought of code compliance weighing on you before you can enjoy your fun in the sun?

If you are a building professional who can’t get your mind away the job site even on vacation, you may be relieved to know that IHS Plan Analyst, the proven software tool that helps plan reviewers, inspectors, architects, and other construction industry professionals significantly speed up the code check/plan review process, is now available via the Internet!

Most organizations we talk to are struggling to keep up with their workload, and continue to search for ways in which technology can help improve their productivity and quality. Why not make it easier on you and your colleagues by using IHS Plan Analyst for the IBC 2000? Plan Analyst significantly speeds up the code check process, producing a high quality analysis report in a fraction of the time it would take to type your own after first manually flipping through and interpreting what applies from the 500+ page code book.

How Plan Analyst Works

Plan Analyst prompts users to describe a project by answering pre-set questions and selecting simple options from menus, removing the need for manual interrogation of the code book. After data has been input, Plan Analyst searches through the code, conducting all necessary calculations, ensuring 100% accuracy each and every time.

The result is always a consistent, high quality, comprehensive analysis report resulting in little to no need for interpretation from either an architectural or plan review standpoint. If the Code report highlights non-compliance, the plan can be changed and the report re-run. Users are also able to edit the report to include exceptions or special requirements that apply. Some organizations make use of the software as a training tool as it enables those unfamiliar with the code check process to immediately produce accurate and comprehensive reports. The software also produces customizable correction checklists specific to any problems found on the plan in question.

Now available via the Internet, Plan Analyst enables users to:

• Work within the familiar environment of their Internet browser 
  
  
• Enable as many users as needed with organization-wide desktop access
  
  
• Make code checks/plan reviews available to all users within their organization
  
  
• Receive enhancements to the software automatically, at no extra cost
  
  

Using IHS Plan Analyst increases users productivity by reducing the time spent on plan analysis. So give us a call or send us an email – before your tan fades! Contact: http://aec.ihs.com/procurement/plan-analyst.jsp Call: 800-716-3447, or email: construction@ihs.com.

ENGINEERING STANDARDS NEWS