A formal methodology for information model level integration in CIM systems

Manufacturing systems are complex and involve multiple software applications, each containing an internal representation of the manufacturing system in the form of a database or data files. Each database is an instantiation of a data model which is developed as an abstract representation of the environment of the tool. The model therefore, defines an applicationʹs database and is influenced by how the users of an application view the system. These views are be influenced by where in the product or manufacturing system life cycle the software is used, what functional areas use the software, and the detail at which the system is modeled. Early attempts at integration focused of overcoming the communications difficulties between computers. This paper presents a framework for integrating CIM software applications by developing a unified system view. In effect developing a common language into which each tool can map itʹs representation. Finding the common data becomes a function then of identifying which data overlaps. This view identifies software applications which contain duplicate and possibly inconsistent data. These overlaps of data are then characterized by formal properties which can be used to maintain consistency. These formal properties establish precedence and whether data is a constraint, an exact value or an estimated value. Duplicate data can be used to establish constraints that one software system places on other systems. Duplicate data can also be shared between systems.