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Go to: http://www.nist.gov/sc5wg1/

TC184 SC5 WG1 Homepagehttp://www.nist.gov/sc5wg1/

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Prepared by: A:\msidstaff\nelljim.htm

JG NellA:\msidstaff\nelljim.htm

, TC184 SC5 WG1 convenor (mailto:nell@nist.gov

nell@nist.gov)mailto:nell@nist.gov

 

WG1 N433 rev. 4
2002-12-13

TC184 SC5 WG1 New-work-item proposal

Title of proposal
Requirements for establishing information interoperability in manufacturing-enterprise-processes.

Scope
The standard specifies processes and underpinning metadata that must be in place to negotiate and achieve information-interoperability solutions for manufacturing-enterprise-processes (MEP). It is concerned with the operational interworking of independently implemented MEPs, in particular, the interoperability of the software applications that automate or otherwise support those processes. This standard focuses on establishing the communication rather than defining the communication itself, and is thus independent of specific technologies.

This standard applies, but is not limited, to manufacturing enterprises.

Reference Information
The standard intends to resolve problems that are discussed in the WG1 paper: Enterprise representation: Designing standards to improve interoperability: http://www.nist.gov/sc5wg1/wg1vision.htm. Another resource describing WG1 discussions on this topic is Accumulated knowledge about manufacturing-process interoperability; http://www.nist.gov/sc5wg1/knowledge.htm.

Relevant documents to be considered
ISO 10303-49, STEP – Process structure and properties

ISO 10303-213, STEP AP – Numerical control process plans for machined parts

ISO 10303-214, STEP AP – Core data for automotive mechanical design processes

ISO 10303-224, STEP AP – Mechanical product definition for process plans using machining features

ISO 14258, Concepts and rules for enterprise models
ISO/IEC 15414, ODP Reference Model – Enterprise Viewpoint

ISO 15531, MANDATE

ISO 15704, Requirements for enterprise reference architectures and methodologies

ISO 16100, Manufacturing Software Capability Profiling

ISO 16668, Basic Semantic Register

ISO 18629, Process Specification Language

CEN ENV 12 204, Constructs for enterprise modeling
CEN ENV 13 550, EMEIS

CEN ENV 40 003, Framework for enterprise modeling

Relationship of project to activities of other international bodies
Liaison organizations:
OMG, CEN TC310 WG1; ISA SP95; OAG

Need for coordination within ISO and IEC
TC184 SC4 JWG8; TC184 SC5 WG4; ISO/IEC JTC 1

Preparatory work
_ A draft is attached
X An outline is attached and it will be possible to supply a draft by 2004-06-01
X Proposed project leader (name and address): Jim Nell, NIST, nell@nist.gov

Concerns re known patented items--none

Purpose and justification

Specific Aims: This standard will enable an enterprise to tailor and deploy specified processes to determine the simplest set of protocols that must be in place to negotiate and achieve satisfactory and purposeful inter-process communication and interoperability. The objective is to communicate to the best degree possible given the available software applications that are in place.

This standard will prescribe major components and attributes that shall exist in the enterprise to improve interoperability among business-process-software applications. This standard will specify the mechanisms (process and metadata) that an enterprise can use to represent and present, in a standard way, information required to establish communications for enterprise-process interoperability. WG1’s charter focus on enterprise architecture has resulted in an understanding that we must move away from exchange-protocol specification, today’s common practice, to the creation of enterprise processes that negotiate protocols to achieve an exchange. The challenges are intra-enterprise and inter-enterprise types of transactions, e.g. among enterprise-resource-planning systems in extended enterprises. The standard will enable enterprises to stay independent of specific technologies.

The standard will introduce the concept of an interoperation act--the process of setting up the ability to have an interaction or communication. Software applications would be required to have the capability to determine, in a standard manner and on a case-by-case basis, the method by which querying and responding processes can communicate. Correspondingly, this standard shall specify the ways in which application software shall assert its capability to interoperate.

The standard will enable software vendors to characterize their products in terms of recognized neutral criteria and to create software products that enable the necessary information transfers. Accomplishing these transfers will provide a path for enterprises to approach higher levels of integration.

Enterprises using the standard will find important uses for self-integrating capability:

This standardization will specify the capability to interoperate rather than to define or model specific objects that are used in business transactions or operations. While the standard will likely point out that such things as models and ontologies are necessary they will not be further standardized in this standard.

Beneficiaries: A key to the successful establishment or general application of the standard will be promoting to, and acceptance by, application-software developers and users. Therefore, the main beneficiaries from the proposed standard would be software vendors, internet-service providers, and industrial users in a distributed-manufacturing mode--especially small-to-medium-sized businesses looking to be a supplier in a virtual-enterprise situation.

Feasibility: The probability of a successful standard is greatly increased by limiting the scope to the communicated interactions of software concerned with operational manufacturing processes.

Timeliness: By focusing on establishment of protocols, rather than the protocols themselves, the standard is less sensitive to changes in the underlying information-communication technologies.

Urgency of the activity: With the rapid globalization of commerce and manufacturing, standards are needed urgently that enable more intelligent processes to establish acceptable communications independent of the applications installed, without further proliferating highly detailed and domain-specific standards.

Benefits: The standard will facilitate information transfer, and, ultimately, the enterprise-product transfer among manufacturing-enterprise processes. An effective standard will encourage software vendors to develop new applications that are capable of integrating themselves in a controlled, and specified, way. Specifically these benefits are as follows:

Target dates:
First WD: 2004-12-31

DIS: 2005-06-30

 

Outline of new standard being proposed by WG1

Requirements for establishing manufacturing-enterprise-process interoperability

1. Scope

2. Normative references

3. Definitions

4. Requirements for Interoperability

4.1 Capability lifecycle

Concerned with how the requirements are identified, designed, specified. It will cover the complete lifecycle of the capability of the interoperation.

Characterizing and publishing the capability

Concerned with how to present the capability of an application and how to publish it at the appropriate level for the interactions it expects. This will include activities such as extract, extend, register, present, compare, constrain, organize, represent (including pre and post conditions, and quality of service).

4.2 Establishing interworking

This will specify the interoperation acts necessary to achieve effective interworking.

4.3 Applying capabilities

Concerns the protocols for the transactions that need to happen. This subclause defines the functionality of each of these transactions, including publish (done by the supplier), browse (done by the customer), interrogate, invite, offer, assess match, negotiate, establish communication (closure), manage quality of service, exit (reset)

4.4 Infrastructure

This will identify the set of services needed to run the transaction protocol; for example, ontology servers, software-capability profiles, language, modeling constructs, and the interoperation acts that will set up the semantic interfaces.

Currently being defined by the World Wide Web Consortium is the infrastructure for electronic-commerce activities and for the semantic-World-Wide Web, which is based largely on autonomous agents accomplishing various business tasks. The vision expressed for the Semantic Web is quite close to the vision of the domain for which this standard is to be directed. In other words, WG1 intends to specify what needs to be included in process applications to enable better interoperation among application software, and maximize capability to use the developing Internet infrastructure.

5. Conformance, compliance, completeness

 

A. Annexes

A.1 Scenario

A.2 Use cases

A.3 Collaboration diagrams for protocols (for example, swim lanes)

A.4 Class diagram of the concepts and relationships