Chapter 10: Interoperability

Title: Ontology-based annotation in PLM systems

Author(s): Chunlei Li, Chris McMahon, Linda Newnes

Address: University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK | University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK | University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

Reference: International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 2010 pp. 522 - 531

Abstract/Summary: In many PLM tools engineering viewpoints on the product data are recorded by annotating product models with information relating to the viewpoints. Annotations comprise the annotation data and annotation anchors describing the location on the target object referenced by the annotation. In present-day PLM systems annotation approaches are currently embedded in systems software and use diverse data and anchor representations, making them static and inflexible and difficult to interface to external systems. This paper argues that it is possible to take a generalised approach to annotation with annotation information structures and anchoring mechanisms described using general-purpose ontologies, and in that way new viewpoint-related annotation may readily be incorporated into PLM systems. This paper will report on progress towards implementing such an approach using the Protégé ontology tool and a commercial CAD/PLM system, and using the domain of cost estimating as an example engineering viewpoint.

Order a copy of this article