Classifications and conventions structure the handling of models within the Digital Factory

Today, the realization of the Digital Factory is the strategic goal of many manufacturing enterprises for the coming years. Up to now, the work has focused on the technical linkage of various planning tools. Now. (lie goal is it) integrate aspects of the Digital Factory into the planning processes, Therefore, it is necessary to define a semantic correlation between the distributed models as well as the associated databases. Furthermore, a suitable presentation method has it) be selected which is appropriate for the application within a specific task and for a specific target group, This article presents an approach, which introduces modelling conventions based on a common world view of its users by applying the metaphor of the Electronic Catalogue as well as a well-defined workflow in order to simplify the work with Digital Factory models as a substantial step towards the application of the Digital Factory to meet practical requirements. (C) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.