Adolfo Steiger-Garção

AP236-XML: A Framework for Integration and Harmonization of STEP Application Protocols

Today, organizations have to deal with the integration of applications across company borders, and must support collaboration of business processes between organizations in networked environments that are seamless, flexible and interoperable. This characteristic of horizontality, where one application embraces more than one domain of activity, is frequently found and raises the need for integration and cooperation between multiple standard application protocols and business objects. However, a standard for data representation cannot cove the whole range of activities one application needs to handle. This paper contributes by proposing a framework that supports interoperability in distributed heterogeneous networked environments, assisting in the integration of reference models described following dissimilar methodologies. This framework assists in the automatic mapping between ISO10303 STEP, UML and XML models. The proposed work results from research developed and validated in the scope of the IMS SMART-fm project (www.smart-fm.funstep.org , www.ims.org ), involving partners from USA, Europe, Canada and Australia, using emerging approaches for modeling and technology.Copyright

EXPRESS to OWL morphism: making possible to enrich ISO10303 Modules

ISO10303 STEP has been acknowledged by the world’s largest industrial companies, as the most important family of standards for the integration and exchange of product data under manufacturing domains. With the advent of globalization, smaller enterprises (SMEs) looking to level up with world-class competitors and raise their effectiveness are also realizing the importance of the usage of this kind of standards. However, to enable a model-based interoperability, STEP industrial standards, the Application Protocols (APs) follow a modular approach, i.e. they are composed by a set of generic purpose modules sharable by a number of different APs. This way, the core STEP reference models contain vague definitions that sometimes raise ambiguous interpretations. A possible solution to overcome this barrier would be to add further semantics to the concepts defined and enable STEP modules as ontologies, thus providing an alternative to traditional implementations. SMEs can benefit even more from this alternative, since OWL is currently a widespread technology, with abundant low cost supporting tools comparing to the ones dealing directly with STEP.

Managing engineering and technology with better interoperability in smart organizations

Furniture sector in Europe involves mainly to small and medium enterprises that try to succeed day by day in a market that is becoming more and more competitive everyday. The needs of the global economy have encouraged the furniture industry sector to use secure electronic commerce services. However, typically each of these companies uses different software to design, produce and sell their final product. A more competitive method of exchanging product data with higher quality and with low cost is foreseen, has been proposed inside IMS SMART-fm project (www.ims.org, www.smart-fm.funstep.org), leading to the need for adoption of data standards. Involving partners from USA, Europe, Canada and Australia, this project develops and demonstrates in industrial environments, an interoperable open standards-based framework that supports smart environments through the complete product life cycle in the furniture manufacturing industry. This framework supports a two level approach to business-to-business electronic commerce: 1) interoperability among user applications, and 2) interoperability among electronic commerce platforms. The paper presents the strategic objectives and results as a case study to stimulate and accelerate enterprises to adopt technologies and practices in the emerging networked digital economy. It concludes anticipating the strategic results that it will deliver for the next decade.

Conformance Testing for XML-Based STEP Conceptual Models

ISO10303 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. The incremental use of XML as an effective format for STEP data exchange has increased the number of implementations of Application Protocols in global networked business environments, where organizations are willing to establish collaborative business practices integrating product data and business information. STEP defines a conformance testing methodology that, although developed for the validation of product data, can be extended to application in these hybrid industrial business environments. This paper proposes an innovative XML-based framework to implement it. The results have been validated under a real industrial scenario in the scope of an international research project.Copyright

Integrating manufacturer and customer: the funSTEP way

This paper focuses on the problems underlying the integration (information wise) of manufacturers, retailers, interior decorators, and customers in the market of furniture and interior design. The problems and solutions presented account for the work being undertaken by UNINOVA under the scope of the European Commission’s (EC) ESPRIT IV project 22056 — funSTEP — “Development of a Data Model Based on STEP for the Manufacturers — Customers Integration in the Furniture Industry”.

Transputer-based multi-agent monitoring system in NC

This paper describes the design and implementation of a system base software platform for transputer-based systems that is being used for experimentation in prognostic and monitoring of CNC machines using the multi-agent paradigm. After an introduction to the application domain, the basic requirements and the structure of a suitable base software environment are described, emphasizing the heterogeneity issue. The logical model of the implemented monitoring and prognostic system as well as the integrating agents and machining model are presented and discussed.