Articulo Arbitrado

JIEM, 2011 – 4(4):669-698 – Online ISSN: 2013 -0953 – Print ISSN: 2013-8423
http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.329

What do information reuse and automated processing require
in engineering design? Semantic process
Ossi Nykänen, Jaakko Salonen, Mikko Markkula, Pekka Ranta, Markus Rokala, Matti
Helminen, Vänni Alarotu, Juha Nurmi, Tuija Palonen, Kari T. Koskinen, Seppo
Pohjolainen
TampereUniversity of Technology (FINLAND)
ossi.nykanen@tut.fi; jaakko.t.salonen@tut.fi; mikko.markkula@tut.fi; pekka.a.ranta@tut.fi;
markus.rokala@tut.fi; matti.helminen@tut.fi; vanni.alarotu@tut.fi; juha.t.nurmi@tut.fi;
tuija.palonen@tut.fi; kari.t.koskinen@tut.fi; seppo.pohjolainen@tut.fi
Received January 2011
Accepted September 2011

Abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of this study is to characterize,analyze, and demonstrate
machine-understandable semantic process for validating, integrating, and
processing technical design information. This establishes both a vision and tools
for information reuse and semi-automatic processing in engineering design
projects, including virtual machine laboratory applications with generated
components.

Design/methodology/approach: The process model hasbeen developed
iteratively in terms of action research, constrained by the existing technical design
practices and assumptions (design documents, expert feedback), available
technologies (pre-studies and experiments with scripting and pipeline tools),
benchmarking with other process models and methods (notably the RUP and
DITA), and formal requirements (computability and the criticalinformation paths
for the generated applications). In practice, the work includes both quantitative and
qualitative components.

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Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management - http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jiem.329

Findings: Technical design processes may be greatly enhanced in terms of
semantic process thinking, by enriching design information, and automating
informationvalidation

and

transformation

tasks.

Contemporary

design

information, however, is mainly intended for human consumption, and needs to be
explicitly enriched with the currently missing data and interfaces. In practice, this
may require acknowledging the role of technical information or knowledge
engineer, to lead the development of the semantic design information process in a
designorganization. There is also a trade-off between machine-readability and
system complexity that needs to be studied further, both empirically and in theory.

Research limitations/implications: The conceptualization of the semantic
process is essentially an abstraction based on the idea of progressive design. While
this effectively allows implementing semantic processes with, e.g., pipelinetechnologies, the abstraction is valid only when technical design is organized into
reasonably distinct tasks.

Practical implications: Our work points out a best practice for technical
information management in progressive design that can be applied on different
levels.

Social implications: Current design processes may be somewhat impaired by
legacy practices that do not promote informationreuse and collaboration beyond
conventional task domains. Our work provides a reference model to analyze and
develop design activities as formalized work-flows. This work should lead into
improved industry design process models and novel CAD/CAM/PDM
applications, thereby strengthening industry design processes.

Originality/value: While extensively studied, semantic modeling in technicaldesign has been largely dominated by the idea of capturing design artifacts without
a clear rationale why this is done and what level of detail should be favored in
models. In the semantic process presented in this article, the utility and the chief
quality criteria of semantic models (of technical information and artifacts) are
explicitly established by the semantic processing pipeline(s)....