Cimosa Open System Architecture For Cim

Enterprise operation efficiency is seriously constrained by the inability to provide the right information, in the right place, at the right time. In spite of significant advances in technology it is still difficult to access information used or produced by different applications due to the hardware and software incompatibilities of manufacturing and information processing equipment. But it is this information and operational knowledge which makes up most of the business value of the enterprise and which enables it to compete in the marketplace. Therefore, sufficient and timely information access is a prerequisite for its efficient use in the operation of enterprises. It is the aim of the ESPRIT project AMICE to make this knowledge base available enterprise-wide. During several ESPRIT contracts the project has developed and validated CIMOSA: Open System Architecture for CIM. The CIMOSA concepts provide operation structuring based on cooperating processes. Enterprise operations are represented in terms of functionality and dynamic behaviour (control flow). Information needed and produced, as well as resources and organisational aspects relevant in the course of the operation are modelled in the process model. However, the different aspects may be viewed separately for additional structuring and detailing during the enterprise engineering process.

On Integration computer applications have by now entered almost all enterprises, but mostly in an uncoordinated way without long term integration plans or automation strategies. Departments introduced computing equipment and purchased or developed programs to support their department operations. This approach divided an enterprise into small and almost autonomous enterprises, each with the goal to deploy the computer to make their department and its associated activities work more efficiently. Thus many departments acquired computers, developed and installed automation systems and PCs and educated their staff, announcing this was done to make the work force aware of the large benefits that computers bring. In this fashion the most important functions in an enterprise were more or less computerized (accounting more, CAM and CAD less). In 1986 Europe, the level of computerization in descending order of significance was as follows: Accounting, Inventory Control, Order Entry, Production Planning & Control, Purchasing, Distribution, Sales Planning, Shop Floor Control, Process Control, Quality Control, Manufacturing Engineering (including CAM), and finally Design Engineering (with CAD) [1]. The net result (something that dawned upon us after decades) was that the enterprise consisted of many II islands of ll automation • Moreover, these islands could even be found within departments, where specific functions had been computerized without regard to the impact on the remainder. In the late seventies it became clear that smooth transfer of information between enterprise activities and even within departments was a burden, if at all possible.

How can the Internet and world wide web improve my long-term competitive advantage? This book helps answer this question by providing a better understanding of the technologies, their potential applications and the ways they can be used to add value for customers, support new strategies, and improve existing operations. It is not just about e-commerce but the broader theme of e-business which affects products, business processes, strategies, and relationships with customers, suppliers, distributors and competitors. To cover future trends, the editors have collected papers from authors operating at the frontiers of the developments so the reader can more appreciate the directions in which these technologies are heading. The resulting 165 essays have been collated into ten sections, which have been grouped in three parts: key issues, applications areas and applications, tools and technologies. A business rarely makes radical changes but is constantly making adjustments to circumstances. Businesses must now adapt to the global implications of the Internet and world wide web. This book hopes to aid awareness of the implications so that the changes are managed wisely.

This work is the result of the proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference '94: ESPRIT CIM-Europe. It reports on the results in development and implementation of CIM technologies. The key technologies which are being developed, and the results emerging from the collaborative projects, have contributed to the establishment of an integrative approach to manufacturing problems which embraces engineering, logistics, process automation, business functions, organizational and environmental concerns.

Modern manufacturing systems must be engineered as any other complex systems, especially in the context of their integration. The book first presents the all-embracing concept of the Extended Enterprise as way of inter-enterprise integration. It then focusses on Enterprise Engineering methods and tools to address intra-enterprise integration using a model-based approach. Business process modelling and re-engineering isssues are particularly discussed and tools presented. Formal specification and Petri net-based analysis methods for manufacturing systems complete the set of tools for Enterprise Engineering. Coordination and integration issues of manufacturing systems and their business processes are then covered and examples of integration platforms presented. Finally, standardization and pre-standardization issues related to enterprise modelling and integration conclude the book.

This handbook focuses on a series of concepts, models and technologies which can be used to improve current practice in life cycle engineering in manufacturing companies around the world. Experts on the main issues relating to life cycle engineering have produced a superb collection of chapters. All the contributing authors are researchers and engineers in the fields of manufacturing paradigms, enterprise integration, product life cycle and technologies for life cycle engineering. Academics and researchers will find this book to be a valuable reference tool. The book illustrates those key factors that ensure successful enterprise and product life cycle integration. Due to the book being developed as a joint industry and university project, its approach should be helpful to both practising professionals and academics. An overview of life cycle engineering concepts, models, methodologies and practices that have been proved to significantly improve the integration and productivity of manufacturing companies have been clearly explained in this handbook. This book will be essential for engineers, designers, product support personnel dealing with enterprise engineering projects. It will also be of immense use to lecturers and senior lecturers working in the fields of enterprise integration, product development, concurrent engineering and integrated manufacturing systems.

In the competitive business arena organizations must continually strive to create new and better products faster, more efficiently, and more cost effectively than competitors to gain and keep the competitive advantage. Computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided engineering (CAE), and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) are now the industry standard, in all major industries. The seven volumes in Computer-Aided Design, Engineering, and Manufacturing: Systems Techniques, and Manufacturing provide a comprehensive treatment of the techniques and applications of CAD, CAE, and CAM.