Title: An ontology building approach for knowledge sharing in product lifecycle management

Authors: Milton Borsato, Carla Cristina Amodio Estorilio, Carlos Cziulik, Cassia Maria Lie Ugaya, Henrique Rozenfeld

Addresses: Graduate School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (PPGEM), Federal University of Technology, Parana (UTFPR), Av. 7 de setembro, 3165, 80230-901 Curitiba-PR, Brazil. ' Graduate School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (PPGEM), Federal University of Technology, Parana (UTFPR), Av. 7 de setembro, 3165, 80230-901 Curitiba-PR, Brazil. ' Graduate School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (PPGEM), Federal University of Technology, Parana (UTFPR), Av. 7 de setembro, 3165, 80230-901 Curitiba-PR, Brazil. ' Graduate School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (PPGEM), Federal University of Technology, Parana (UTFPR), Av. 7 de setembro, 3165, 80230-901 Curitiba-PR, Brazil. ' Nucleus for Advanced Manufacturing (NUMA),University of Sao Paulo (USP/EESC), Av. Trabalhador Sao Carlense, 400, 13566-590 Sao Carlos-SP, Brazil

Abstract: A great difficulty regarding the management of information systems is the fact that much of the knowledge available within organisations can only be found in a non-structured form. Consequently, one of the major problems faced by industry is the low degree of interoperability (capacity that a system presents of sharing and interchanging information and applications). This problem is even more serious when considering an entire product lifecycle, where several pieces of software are involved in allowing the organisation of product lifecycle management (PLM). One of the most promising approaches in addressing these issues is the structuring of formal ontologies. This article presents an ontology proposal for facilitating knowledge and information sharing, with the ultimate aim to ensure a transparent interoperability between systems used for the interchange of information throughout an entire product lifecycle.

Keywords: information sharing; product development; product lifecycle management; PLM; interoperability; Protege-OWL; taxonomies; web ontology language; information systems; non-structured knowledge; information interchange; software; formal ontologies; electronic knowledge sharing; collaboration; decision making.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBSR.2010.032951

International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 2010 Vol.4 No.3, pp.278 - 292

Published online: 05 May 2010 *

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