Effective Collaboration in Product Development via a Common Sharable Ontology
To achieve competitive advantage nowadays, most of
the industrial companies are considering that success is sustained to
great product development. That is to manage the product throughout
its entire lifetime ranging from design, manufacture, operation and
destruction. Achieving this goal requires a tight collaboration
between partners from a wide variety of domains, resulting in various
product data types and formats, as well as different software tools. So
far, the lack of a meaningful unified representation for product data
semantics has slowed down efficient product development. This
paper proposes an ontology based approach to enable such semantic
interoperability. Generic and extendible product ontology is
described, gathering main concepts pertaining to the mechanical field
and the relations that hold among them. The ontology is not
exhaustive; nevertheless, it shows that such a unified representation
is possible and easily exploitable. This is illustrated thru a case study
with an example product and some semantic requests to which the
ontology responds quite easily. The study proves the efficiency of
ontologies as a support to product data exchange and information
sharing, especially in product development environments where
collaboration is not just a choice but a mandatory prerequisite.
[1] D. Bourke, "The PLM Software Scene: Tips for Smart Shopping",
2PLM e-zine, vol.. 6, no. 12, 2004.
[2] J. Portella, "Collaborative management of the product definition
lifecycle for the 21st Century", in CD-ROM Proc. PDT Europe
Conference, Noordwijk, 2000.
[3] P. Ackerman, and D. Eichelberg, "Product Knowledge
Management", in Proc. International Conference on Economic,
Technical and Organizational Aspects on Product Configuration
System,. Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, 2004.
[4] G. Brunetti, and S. Grimm, "Feature ontologies for the explicit
representation of shape semantic", International Journal of Computer
Applications in Technology 2005, vol. 23, no.2, pp. 192ÔÇö202, 2005.
[5] R. Fikes, M. Cutkosky, T. Gruber, and J. Van Baalen, "Knowledge
sharing technology: project overview", Technical Report KSL 91-71,
Stanford University, Knowledge Systems Laboratory, 1991.
[6] T.R. Gruber, J.M. Tenenbaum, and J.C. Weber, "Toward a
knowledge medium for collaborative product development", in Proc.
Second International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Design,
Pittsburgh, 1992, pp. 413-432.
[7] T.R Gruber, "The Role of common ontology in achieving sharable,
reusable knowledge bases", in Proc. Second International
Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and
Reasoning:, Cambridge, MA, 1991, pp. 601-602.
[8] T.R Gruber, "Toward principles for the design of ontologies used for
knowledge sharing", in Proc. International Workshop on Formal
Ontology. Available as Stanford Knowledge Systems Laboratory
Report KSL-93-04, 1993.
[9] Merriam-Webster dictionary. Available online at: http://m-w.com.
[10] T.R. Gruber, "A Translation approach to portable ontology
specifications", Knowledge Acquisition, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.199-220,
1993.
[11] M. Uschold, and M. Gr├╝ninger, "Ontologies: principles, methods and
applications", Knowledge Engineering review, vol. 11, no. 2, 1996.
[12] M. Gr├╝ninger, and M.S Fox, "Methodology for the design and
evaluation of ontologies", in Proc. IJCAI 95 on Basic Ontological
Issues in Knowledge Sharing, Monréal, 1995.
[13] M.F. Lopez, and A.G. Perez, "Overview and analysis of
methodologies for building ontologies", Knowledge Engineering
review, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.129ÔÇö156, 2002.
[14] O. Corcho, M. Fernandez-Lopez, A. Gomez-Perez, and A. Lopez-
Cima, "Building legal ontologies with METHONTOLOGY and
WebODE" , 2004. Available online at:
http://users.isoco.net/~ocorcho/documents/LawSemWeb2004_Corch
oEtAl.pdf
[15] R. Prieto-Diaz, "A Faceted Approach to Building Ontologies", 2002.
Available online at: https://users.cs.jmu.edu/prietorx/
Public/publications/BulidOntologiesRPD-ER2002.doc
[16] M. Denny, "Ontology building: a survey of editing tools", 2002.
Available online at:
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/11/06/ontologies.html
[17] N. Fridman Noy, and D. McGuinness, "Ontology Development 101:
A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology",2001. Available online at:
http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/people/dlm/papers/ontology101/ontolog
y101-noy-mcguinness.html
[18] W.F. Bronsvoort, et al "Essential Developments in Feature
Modelling", in Proc. CAD/Graphics-2001, seventh International
Conference on Computer aided Design and Computer Graphics,
Kunming, China, 2001, pp.6--15.
[19] OWL web ontology language guide. W3c Recommendation. 10 Feb
2004.
[20] R. Sudarsan, et al. "Object oriented representation of
electromechanical assemblies using UML", NIST internal report
NISTIR 7057, 2003.
[21] R. Sudarsan et al., "Information models for product representation:
core and assembly models", NIST internal report NISTIR 7173, 2004.
[22] E. Subrahmanian, et al., (2005) "Product Lifecycle Management
support: a challenge in supporting product design and manufacturing
in a networking economy", in Proc. International conference on
Produt Lifecycle Management PLM-05, Lyon, France, july 2005, pp.
495-5006.
[1] D. Bourke, "The PLM Software Scene: Tips for Smart Shopping",
2PLM e-zine, vol.. 6, no. 12, 2004.
[2] J. Portella, "Collaborative management of the product definition
lifecycle for the 21st Century", in CD-ROM Proc. PDT Europe
Conference, Noordwijk, 2000.
[3] P. Ackerman, and D. Eichelberg, "Product Knowledge
Management", in Proc. International Conference on Economic,
Technical and Organizational Aspects on Product Configuration
System,. Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, 2004.
[4] G. Brunetti, and S. Grimm, "Feature ontologies for the explicit
representation of shape semantic", International Journal of Computer
Applications in Technology 2005, vol. 23, no.2, pp. 192ÔÇö202, 2005.
[5] R. Fikes, M. Cutkosky, T. Gruber, and J. Van Baalen, "Knowledge
sharing technology: project overview", Technical Report KSL 91-71,
Stanford University, Knowledge Systems Laboratory, 1991.
[6] T.R. Gruber, J.M. Tenenbaum, and J.C. Weber, "Toward a
knowledge medium for collaborative product development", in Proc.
Second International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Design,
Pittsburgh, 1992, pp. 413-432.
[7] T.R Gruber, "The Role of common ontology in achieving sharable,
reusable knowledge bases", in Proc. Second International
Conference on Principles of Knowledge Representation and
Reasoning:, Cambridge, MA, 1991, pp. 601-602.
[8] T.R Gruber, "Toward principles for the design of ontologies used for
knowledge sharing", in Proc. International Workshop on Formal
Ontology. Available as Stanford Knowledge Systems Laboratory
Report KSL-93-04, 1993.
[9] Merriam-Webster dictionary. Available online at: http://m-w.com.
[10] T.R. Gruber, "A Translation approach to portable ontology
specifications", Knowledge Acquisition, vol. 5, no. 2, pp.199-220,
1993.
[11] M. Uschold, and M. Gr├╝ninger, "Ontologies: principles, methods and
applications", Knowledge Engineering review, vol. 11, no. 2, 1996.
[12] M. Gr├╝ninger, and M.S Fox, "Methodology for the design and
evaluation of ontologies", in Proc. IJCAI 95 on Basic Ontological
Issues in Knowledge Sharing, Monréal, 1995.
[13] M.F. Lopez, and A.G. Perez, "Overview and analysis of
methodologies for building ontologies", Knowledge Engineering
review, vol. 17, no. 2, pp.129ÔÇö156, 2002.
[14] O. Corcho, M. Fernandez-Lopez, A. Gomez-Perez, and A. Lopez-
Cima, "Building legal ontologies with METHONTOLOGY and
WebODE" , 2004. Available online at:
http://users.isoco.net/~ocorcho/documents/LawSemWeb2004_Corch
oEtAl.pdf
[15] R. Prieto-Diaz, "A Faceted Approach to Building Ontologies", 2002.
Available online at: https://users.cs.jmu.edu/prietorx/
Public/publications/BulidOntologiesRPD-ER2002.doc
[16] M. Denny, "Ontology building: a survey of editing tools", 2002.
Available online at:
http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2002/11/06/ontologies.html
[17] N. Fridman Noy, and D. McGuinness, "Ontology Development 101:
A Guide to Creating Your First Ontology",2001. Available online at:
http://www.ksl.stanford.edu/people/dlm/papers/ontology101/ontolog
y101-noy-mcguinness.html
[18] W.F. Bronsvoort, et al "Essential Developments in Feature
Modelling", in Proc. CAD/Graphics-2001, seventh International
Conference on Computer aided Design and Computer Graphics,
Kunming, China, 2001, pp.6--15.
[19] OWL web ontology language guide. W3c Recommendation. 10 Feb
2004.
[20] R. Sudarsan, et al. "Object oriented representation of
electromechanical assemblies using UML", NIST internal report
NISTIR 7057, 2003.
[21] R. Sudarsan et al., "Information models for product representation:
core and assembly models", NIST internal report NISTIR 7173, 2004.
[22] E. Subrahmanian, et al., (2005) "Product Lifecycle Management
support: a challenge in supporting product design and manufacturing
in a networking economy", in Proc. International conference on
Produt Lifecycle Management PLM-05, Lyon, France, july 2005, pp.
495-5006.
@article{"International Journal of Mechanical, Industrial and Aerospace Sciences:64763", author = "Sihem Mostefai and Abdelaziz Bouras and Mohamed Batouche", title = "Effective Collaboration in Product Development via a Common Sharable Ontology", abstract = "To achieve competitive advantage nowadays, most of
the industrial companies are considering that success is sustained to
great product development. That is to manage the product throughout
its entire lifetime ranging from design, manufacture, operation and
destruction. Achieving this goal requires a tight collaboration
between partners from a wide variety of domains, resulting in various
product data types and formats, as well as different software tools. So
far, the lack of a meaningful unified representation for product data
semantics has slowed down efficient product development. This
paper proposes an ontology based approach to enable such semantic
interoperability. Generic and extendible product ontology is
described, gathering main concepts pertaining to the mechanical field
and the relations that hold among them. The ontology is not
exhaustive; nevertheless, it shows that such a unified representation
is possible and easily exploitable. This is illustrated thru a case study
with an example product and some semantic requests to which the
ontology responds quite easily. The study proves the efficiency of
ontologies as a support to product data exchange and information
sharing, especially in product development environments where
collaboration is not just a choice but a mandatory prerequisite.", keywords = "Information exchange, product lifecyclemanagement, product ontology, semantic interoperability.", volume = "2", number = "6", pages = "835-7", }
