Harmonising technologies in conceptual models representation

A platform for the harmonisation of technologies used in the representation and implementation of conceptual models is presented, showing how different standard models and technologies can be unified for industrial benefits, enabling organisations to take the most from all of them.

Abstract

The lack of interoperability among systems, applications, and services has been hindering collaboration between organisations raising the need for integration and cooperation between multiple standard business objects and application protocols. ISO 10303-STEP has been acknowledged by most of the industrial companies as the most important family of standards for the integration and exchange of product data under the manufacturing domain. However, STEP standards use technologies unfamiliar to most application developers. This paper presents a platform for the harmonisation of technologies used in the representation and implementation of conceptual models, showing how different standard models and technologies can be unified for industrial benefits, enabling organisations to take the most from all of them. This work results from the research developed and validated in the scope of international research projects involving partners from USA, Europe, Canada, and Australia, under the scope of the IMS SMART-fm, ATHENA IP, and INTEROP NoE European research projects.