A manufacturing system engineering ontology model on the semantic web for inter-enterprise collaboration

This paper investigates ontology-based approaches for representing information semantics and in particular the World Wide Web. A general manufacturing system engineering (MSE) knowledge representation scheme, called an MSE ontology model, to facilitate communication and information exchange in inter-enterprise, multi-disciplinary engineering design teams has been developed and encoded in the standard semantic web language. The proposed approach focuses on how to support information autonomy that allows the individual team members to keep their own preferred languages or information models rather than requiring them all to adopt standardized terminology. The MSE ontology model provides efficient access by common mediated meta-models across all engineering design teams through semantic matching. This paper also shows how the primitives of Web Ontology Language (OWL) can be used for expressing simple mappings between the mediated MSE ontology model and individual ontologies

Specifications and Development of Interoperability Solution dedicated to Multiple Expertise Collaboration in a Design Framework

This paper describes the specifications of an interoperability platform based on the PPO (Product Process Organization) model developed by the French community IPPOP in the context of collaborative and innovative design. By using PPO model as a reference, this work aims to connect together heterogonous tools used by experts easing data and information exchanges. After underlining the growing needs of collaborative design process, this paper focuses on interoperability concept by describing current solutions and their limits. Then a solution based on the flexibility of the PPO model adapted to the philosophy of interoperability is proposed. To illustrate these concepts, several examples are more particularly described (robustness analysis, CAD and Product Lifecycle Management systems connections)

Semantic web in manufacturing

Advances in manufacturing systems include attempts to create collaborative networks for enterprise integration and information interoperability. To achieve collaboration and sharing effectively, various networking technologies have been proposed in the literature. The web has emerged as a basic entity for interconnecting man and machine and almost all parts of the enterprise Community are being reshaped to exploit the opportunities that it offers. Apart from web technology, there are various other tools and techniques that have attracted research communities for representing data in ways that both machines and humans can understand. Semantic web, the second-generation web technology, is enriched by machine-processable information to support the users in their tasks. This paper presents the vision of the semantic web and describes ontologies and associated metadata as the building blocks of the semantic web. it reviews the literature dealing with the application of the semantic web and ontology in the broad domain of manufacturing. First, brief details about key enablers, i.e. web services, semantic web, semantic services, and ontology, are presented. Then the implementation of these approaches in different sectors of manufacturing is discussed. A knowledge base for all the information resources concerned with the manufacturing domain is also built up in this paper. An ontology model for a knowledge base of information resources is designed in Protege software, which can be used for storing and searching information about authors, journals, blogs, newspapers, and many other sources of information

A framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry

This paper presents a framework for developing engineering design ontologies within the aerospace industry. The aim of this approach is to strengthen the modularity and reuse of engineering design ontologies to support knowledge management initiatives within the aerospace industry. Successful development and effective utilisation of engineering ontologies strongly depends on the method/framework used to develop them. Ensuring modularity in ontology design is essential for engineering design activities due to the complexity of knowledge that is required to be brought together to support the product design decision-making process. The proposed approach adopts best practices from previous ontology development methods, but focuses on encouraging modular architectural ontology design. The framework is comprised of three phases namely: (1) Ontology design and development; (2) Ontology validation and (3) Implementation of ontology structure. A qualitative research methodology is employed which is composed of four phases. The first phase defines the capture of knowledge required for the framework development, followed by the ontology framework development, iterative refinement of engineering ontologies and ontology validation through case studies and experts’ opinion. The ontology-based framework is applied in the combustor and casing aerospace engineering domain. The modular ontologies developed as a result of applying the framework and are used in a case study to restructure and improve the accessibility of information on a product design information-sharing platform. Additionally, domain experts within the aerospace industry validated the strengths, benefits and limitations of the framework. Due to the modular nature of the developed ontologies, they were also employed to support other project initiatives within the case study company such as role-based computing (RBC), IT modernisation activity and knowledge management implementation across the sponsoring organisation. The major benefit of this approach is in the reduction of man-hours required for maintaining engineering design ontologies. Furthermore, this approach strengthens reuse of ontology knowledge and encourages modularity in the design and development of engineering ontologies

Towards a meaningful manufacturing enterprise metamodel: a semantic driven framework

This paper presents a deep investigation and an interdisciplinary analysis of the collaborative networked enterprise engineering issues and modelling approaches related to the relevant aspects of the semantic web technology and knowledge strategies. The paper also suggests a novel framework based on ontology metamodelling, knowledge model discovery, and semantic web infrastructures, architectures, languages, and systems. The main aim of the research enclosed in this paper is to bridge the gaps between enterprise engineering, modelling, and especially networking by intensively applying semantic web technology based on ontology conceptual representations and knowledge discovery. The ontological modelling approaches together with knowledge strategies such as discovery (data mining) have become promising for future enterprise computing systems. The related reported research deals with the conceptual definition of a semantic-driven framework and a manufacturing enterprise metamodel (ME_M) using ontology, knowledge-driven object models, standards, and architectural approaches applied to collaborative networked enterprises. The conceptual semantic framework and related issues discussed in this paper may contribute towards new approaches of enterprise systems engineering and networking as well as applied standard and referenced ontological models

An ontology framework for developing platform-independent knowledge-based engineering systems in the aerospace industry

This paper presents the development of a novel knowledge-based engineering (KBE) framework for implementing platform-independent knowledge-enabled product design systems within the aerospace industry. The aim of the KBE framework is to strengthen the structure, reuse and portability of knowledge consumed within KBE systems in view of supporting the cost-effective and long-term preservation of knowledge within such systems. The proposed KBE framework uses an ontology-based approach for semantic knowledge management and adopts a model-driven architecture style from the software engineering discipline. Its phases are mainly (1) Capture knowledge required for KBE system; (2) Ontology model construct of KBE system; (3) Platform-independent model (PIM) technology selection and implementation and (4) Integration of PIM KBE knowledge with computer-aided design system. A rigorous methodology is employed which is comprised of five qualitative phases namely, requirement analysis for the KBE framework, identifying software and ontological engineering elements, integration of both elements, proof of concept prototype demonstrator and finally experts validation. A case study investigating four primitive three-dimensional geometry shapes is used to quantify the applicability of the KBE framework in the aerospace industry. Additionally, experts within the aerospace and software engineering sector validated the strengths/benefits and limitations of the KBE framework. The major benefits of the developed approach are in the reduction of man-hours required for developing KBE systems within the aerospace industry and the maintainability and abstraction of the knowledge required for developing KBE systems. This approach strengthens knowledge reuse and eliminates platform-specific approaches to developing KBE systems ensuring the preservation of KBE knowledge for the long term

Knowledge discOvery And daTa minINg inteGrated (KOATING) Moderators for collaborative projects

A major issue in any multidiscipline collaborative project is how to best share and simultaneously exploit different types of expertise, without duplicating efforts or inadvertently causing conflicts or loss of efficiency through misunderstanding of individual or shared goals. Moderators are knowledge based systems designed to support collaborative teams by raising awareness of potential problems or conflicts. However, the functioning of a Moderator is limited by the knowledge it has about the team members. Knowledge acquisition, learning and updating of knowledge are the major challenges for a Moderator's implementation. To address these challenges a Knowledge discOvery And daTa minINg inteGrated (KOATING) framework is presented for Moderators to enable them to continuously learn from the operational databases of the company and semi-automatically update their knowledge about team members. This enables the reuse of discovered knowledge from operational databases within collaborative projects. The integration of knowledge discovery in database (KDD) techniques into the existing Knowledge Acquisition Module of a moderator enables hidden data dependencies and relationships to be utilised to facilitate the moderation process. The architecture for the Universal Knowledge Moderator (UKM) shows how Moderators can be extended to incorporate a learning element which enables them to provide better support for virtual enterprises. Unified Modelling Language diagrams were used to specify the ways to design and develop the proposed system. The functioning of a UKM is presented using an illustrative example