Augmented IDEF1-based process-oriented information modeling

Disclosing explicit knowledge about a domain is the preliminary requirement for the development of generic product models or data models in this domain. Quite a few process and information modeling methods have been developed, or are under development during the past years. However, these methods and tools are not completely compatible with each other, which causes inefficiency in the development process. In order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of model development, the augmented IDEF1-based process-oriented information modeling methodology is proposed in this paper. The proposed methodology integrates the IDEF0 process model with the enhanced IDEF1 information model by which the information requirements can be easily identified and analyzed through the corresponding process models. As these information models intend to characterize the flow of information, they are independent of any specific process models. Thus, they lay the foundation for the development of base-level representations. Finally, an example is given to demonstrate the simplicity, effectiveness, and user-friendliness of the proposed methodology to carry out information requirement analysis.