Adoption of Architecture Reference Models for Industrial Information Management Systems

Manufacturing is one of the European economy main pillar. Technological advances in fields such as computing, sensorisation, digitization, etc., changes in market behavior, value chains importance, brought new challenges to industrial production. Therefore, it requires the increase of flexibility, autonomy and adaptability of industrial systems and their interconnection to all other resources and integration into value chains. Those challenges are the main goal of Industry 4.0 vision. It emphasizes the idea of a total transformation of industrial production through the fusion of digital technology and the internet with the conventional industry; by digitally connect everything in and around the manufacturing operation. For that reason, it is crucial and urgent to prepare the national industry for this announced change, developing the knowledge, tools, and methods, to assist the manufacturing industry in the required digital transformation, to remain sustainable and competitive in the international context. In order to support manufacturing in the context of industry 4.0, the adoption of an architecture reference model is crucial, in order to allow the digital connection between all the manufacturing operations. However, there are several reference models proposed by different entities and industrial groups. The focus of this paper is to present our analysis of 14.0 reference models, RAMI4.0 and BRA, in order to contribute to the verification of the suitability of the combined use of those models to achieve an enriched Ho T ecosystem.