Editor. M. Zelm, Gehenbuehlstr. 18A, D-70499 Stuttgart
The CIMOSA - News is published by the CIMOSA Association. The CIMOSA News will report on CIMOSA applications, evolution of its technical specification, advancements in standardisation and related items. Contributions from other parties are welcome. The CIMOSA - News will be printed periodically and is also available in the internet at the dedicated WWW server http://cimosa.cnt.pl/News/
'Enterprise Integration - International Consensus' (EI-IC) is a new Working Group started on 96.06.01 . The project goal is to improve international consensus on Enterprise Modelling and Enterprise Integration Technologies. This initiative will identif y major issues in business and enterprise integration. and will organise a series of five workshops with international experts to be held during March-June 1997. A technical committee with members from around the world will provide technical guidance on t he EI-IC Initiative. A list of EI issues has been drafted and grouped for the workshops. The workshop results will be presented in a concluding conference ICEIMT97 to be held in Europe in November 1997. The project is jointly lead by the CIMOSA Associatio n and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST ) (Contact J. Nell <nell@nist.gov>), USA. The EI-IC Initiative was presented in a poster session at the ESPRIT Conference 'Integration in Manufacturin g' (IiM) at Galway on October 2-4 .
In a related standardisation initiative JTC1 held a 'Joint Workshop on Standards for the use of Models that define the data and processes of Information Systems'(Information at http://www.nist.gov/worksho p/jtc1-96/).
CIMOSA enterprise models provide a basis for documenting, operating and redesigning a company. In a paper presented at the DIISM'96 conference by W. Reithofer from the University Karlsruhe, a bottom-up modelling methodology for the design of a particul ar model to solve concrete problems is elaborated. The modelling starts with identifying the most important process according to a specific goal. The core model is then expanded from inside to outside by adding further processes which are also relevant to solving the problem. A modelling tool, Virtual Factory Lab (VICTOR) acting as a front end to the commercial simulation tool SIMPLE++ , supports the basic data structures for a CIMOSA based model representation and the procedures needed for model simulati on and enactment. The modelling tool was also presented in an NGMS (Next Generation Manufacturing Systems) conference in Magdeburg. NGMS is part of the world wide Intelligent Manufacturing System (IMS) initiative.
The market survey 'Tools for modelling, analysis and enactment of business processes' has been completed and will be available (Contact M. Klittich, EEISS, <100623.1070@compuserve.com>) in 4 volumes starting 96.10.31. A more detailed analysis of tools close to CIMOSA has been started. Todate three different tools have been employed in a modelling tool evaluation:
More information can be provided on request, the tool analysis will be continued.
The identification of the major requirements of the four SME users has been completed : The problem areas cover model based treatment of waste material flows and gas emissions, document handling and administration, analysis of information and communica tion flows, on-line data recording, analysis and control of manufacturing resource utilisation. For each problem type a computer supported tool suited for SME's has been identified. In the next project phase grouping and consolidation will take place to c ome up with a balanced detail work plan.
'Enterprise Modelling and Integration : Principles and applications' by F. B. Vernadat, University of Metz/France recently published at Chapman & Hall, 1996. 496 pp. Hardback: 0-412-60550-3 .
Enterprise modelling is concerned with assessing various aspects of an enterprise in order to better understand, restructure or design enterprise operations. It is the basis of business process re-engineering and the first step to achieving enterprise integration. The book combines these two methodologies and advocates a systematic engineering approach called Enterprise Engineering, for modelling, analysing, designing and implementing integrated enterprise systems. The book is essential for consultants in business process re-engineering, industrial engineers and information system engineers. It also provides a valuable insight into this rapidly developing area of industrial engineering for graduates and senior undergraduates on industrial engineering c ourses.
DIISM'96: The second international conference on 'Design of Information Infrastructure Systems for Manufacturing' was held in Eindhoven University of Technology on 96.09.15-18 and sponsored by the CIMOSA Association. Two presentations have been made by COA members. Out of 43 papers, 13 either reported on CIMOSA and its applications or made references to CIMOSA, demonstrating the visibility in this field. The conference was structured into 10 sessions followed by a special session on the Intellig ent Manufacturing Systems (IMS). The sessions covered a wide range of subjects including STEP, CALS, shop floor control, control architectures, enterprise modelling, design and planning support, extended enterprise and global systems. Quality of the paper s was high and several presentations have been identified as relevant for the upcoming EI-IC workshops. The conference proceedings will be published by Chapman & Hall.
'Virtual Factory', a workshop organised by the Institute for Technology Management (ITEM) of the University St. Gallen and the CIMOSA Association held in Zurich on 96.09.19 was addressing the concept and results of co-operating enterprises actin g as virtual factories in a dynamic network Under the project management of ITEM St. Gallen, 63 enterprises mostly SME's from Switzerland, Austria and Germany have organised themselves in an enterprise network. These enterprises contribute with their core competencies - design of mechanical and electronic systems, software and services - to temporary projects as a virtual factory and hence become more competitive in the world market. Representatives of the participating SME's reported on the initial encou raging results of the pilot project 'Virtual Factory'. A number of new challenges in the virtual factory concept - roles of the partners, human relations and product liability, - were also reported and discussed. It is planned to enlarge the network to mo re than 100 enterprises. At the workshop, a presentation of the CIMOSA modelling methodology with the aspect of application to enterprise networks was made.
The CIMOSA Association is involved in promotion of CIMOSA, its active support in national, European and international standardisation and in consolidation of the evolution of its technical specifications. Members of the CIMOSA Association are industria l and research organisations involved in exploitation of CIMOSA or interested in the subject of enterprise integration (EI).
The General Assembly Meeting of the CIMOSA Association under the presidency of Prof. G. Schuh was held in Zurich on 96.09.18.
www-cimosa@cnt.pl, 21.10.1996 (last update: 21.10.1996)