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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
1CIFE TAC 2007
Information Interoperability for Information Interoperability for Engineering and Construction Engineering and Construction
Supply ChainSupply Chain
Kincho H. Law, Gio Wiederhold,
Charles Han, Jack Cheng
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
2CIFE TAC 2007
The big idea
Information Mapping and IntegrationInformation Mapping and Integration, which can be leveraged to
- establish a network of information and services for AEC virtual supply chain
- facilitate the virtual design and construction process
- enhance collaboration, decision-making and cost saving.
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Motivating Engineering/Business Problem
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Owner
Subcontractors
GeneralContractor
Architect/ DesignConsultants
Suppliers
Current AEC Supply Chain
Courtesy: Hans Bjornsson
• Scattered information sources
• Fragmented SC
• Different hardware and software
• Different information models
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Inevitable Need for Data Exchange
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
3D Models in Autodesk ADT eQUEST Model for HVAC
IFC gbXML
???
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Consequences
• Lack of information reuse and sharing• Decreased corporation and system accountability and
transparency• Increased lead-time• Reduced customer service level
Can it be improved?Can it be improved?
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Points of Departure
• Information Interoperability is often neglected in Information Interoperability is often neglected in a network of systems (a network of systems (e.g. supply chain network, e.g. supply chain network,
workflow networkworkflow network))• A single, unifying standard model is commonly A single, unifying standard model is commonly
builtbuilt• Mapping between different standards is now Mapping between different standards is now
manualmanual
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Online Web Services 1: Integrating Online Catalog with CAD and Inventory Management
Architectural Design
Inventory Management
Automated Procurement
WebServices
Web Service Gateway
Deployed Suppliers Web Services
Further Simulation
Availability Check Order &
Invoice
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Autodesk i-drop
Automated Workflow/ Supply Chain
Information Interoperability
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Online Web Services 2: Integrating Online Weather Service to Engineering Simulation
Online Weather Information
Information ofWeather Impact
ProcessWeatherImpact
Re-Schedulethe Project
Re-Simulatethe Project
NotifyParticipants
SchedulingInformation
(e.g., P3, MS Project,or Database)
Microsoft Excel
Autodesk ADT
<?xml version="1.0"?><WeatherReport><weather date="2003-9-23"><location><zipcode value="33410" /></location><conditions value=" Isolated thunderstorms early, mainly cloudy overnight with a few showers" /><temperature><templow c="23.3" f="74.0" /><temphigh c="32.2" f="90.0" /></temperature>……</weather>……
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Information Interoperability
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Point of Departure (2/3)Unified Information Models
Building a single, unifying model of concepts and definitions is neither efficient nor practical [Source: Steve Ray (Division Chief, NIST Manufacturing Systems Integration Division) ]
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
BIM
Product, process, organization information
Design, analysis, procurement, installation, etc.
Separated yet linkedlinked models, differentiated by types and scopes
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• Multiple information standards or data model structures in AEC industry:
– Industry Foundation Classes (IFC)– OmniClass Construction Classification System– CIMsteel Integration Standards (CIS/2)– Automating Equipment Information Exchange (AEX)– UniFormatTM
– MasterFormatTM
– etc.
• Mapping is now done manually by domain experts– Time-consuming– Labor-intensive– Ineffecient
Point of Departure (3/3)Manual Information Mapping Between Standards
Mapping is needed for model rebuilding and data exchange purpose…
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Manual Mapping CIS/2 and IFC for Structural Steel
Reference: Lipman (2006)
CIS/2
IFC
Took 2 Years!
Located_part
Coord_system_cartesian_3d
Section_profile
IfcColumn
IfcLocalPlacement
IfcShapeProfileDef
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Research Methods
• Two basic work packages:– Knowledge-Driven Approach for Semantic Similarity
Comparison Discover similarity of concepts “Harmonize” different ontological standards
– Methodologies to Information Transformation and Integration Formal operations for mapping Information across scopes and applications Web service framework
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Making Use of Ontology
Ontology – Terminology and structure of information sources meaningful information exchange and sharing
Gartner Group*: “By 2010, ontologies ….will be the basis for 80 percent of
application integration projects”
Heterogeneous Representation of Ontologies:• Term Difference (Elevator vs. Lift)• View/Contextual Difference (Transportation vs. Equipment)• Schema Difference (BPEL vs. PSL vs. WSML vs. etc.)• Version Difference (IfcWorkTask – IFC 2.0 vs. IfcTask – IFC 2x)
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
*Jacobs, J. and Linden (2002), A. Semantic Web Technologies Take Middleware to the Next Level, Technical Report T-17-5338, Gartner Group.
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Mediation for Information Articulation
• Mediation semantic differences of formats• Metadata (ontology) are defined and extracted
Source Domain 1:Owned and maintained by Organization A
Source Domain 2:Owned and maintained by Organization B
Result contains shared terms
Terms useful for linking rules
Mediation
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Metadata MetadataText-miningText-miningData-miningData-mining
Information Information ArticulationArticulation
Courtesy:Gio Wiederhold
Knowledge Corpus
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Semantic Comparison Between OmniClass and ifcXML
Regulation Set (International Building Code, IBC)
Ontology 1 (OmniClass) Ontology 2 (ifcXML)
IfcSlab
steel
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Source Domain 1
Source Domain 2
Knowledge Corpus for Mediation
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Knowledge-Driven Approach for Semantic Similarity Comparison
[F] 903.4.2 Alarms. Approved audible devices shall be connected to every automatic sprinkler system. Such sprinkler water-flow alarm devices shall be activated by water flow equivalent to the flow of a single sprinkler of the smallest orifice size installed in the system. Alarm devices shall be provided on the exterior of the building in an approved location. Where a fire alarm system is installed, actuation of the automatic sprinkler system shall actuate the building fire alarm system.
sprinkler system
orifice
O1
fire
alarm O1
water flowO2
fire alarm systemO2
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Information Transformation and Integration
• Migration of data:– In same domain (e.g. MasterFormat to UniFormat, proprietary
schemas to open standards)– Across disciplines (e.g. green building information with product
geometry information)
• Form – physical structure and contentFit – entity’s semantics or meaningFunction – purpose of how the entity is used
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Sellers Suppliers (Form, Fit, Function)
Product cost (buyer)[obtain and store]
Product cost (suppliers) (Form, Fit) [produce and store]
Product cost (suppliers) (Form, Function) [price it sells the item]
???
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Relationship to CIFE Goals
• Engineering Modeling Methods:– Modeling of product, process and organization data for information
exchange and sharing• Analysis Methods:
– Establishment of formal methodologies and operations to solve the information interoperability problem
• Business Metrics:– Support for information flow and global supply chain
• Strategic Management:– Integration of distributed information and services for decision-making
• Economic Impact Analysis:– Cost saving because of efficient collaboration between stakeholders
and interoperation among heterogeneous applications
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
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Research Tasks, Schedule and Milestone
2007 2008
Autumn Quarter Winter Quarter Spring Quarter Summer Quarter
Define and develop methodologies for the mediation tools, and the information interoperability infrastructure
Implement and test the information interoperability result with a simple procurement supply chain application
Define and scope a series of case scenarios with increasing complexity with collaborators (e.g. NIST, GSA)
Demonstrate a set of case scenarios of modest scale with a Web service framework and solicit feedback
Validation and calibration of the information system will be an ongoing activity
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
Deliverables
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
20CIFE TAC 2007
Risks• Establishment of a comprehensive information system
infrastructure is a task beyond a 1- or 2-year seed research proposal
• We will make use of:– Pilot project leading to fundamental understanding– Collaborations with other researchers and their
organizations
• Publications:– J. Cheng, C. P. Cheng, M. A. L. Thi, and K. H. Law. "Engineering Simulations with Web-based
Services," Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Computing in Civil and Building Engineering, (ICCCBE XI), Montreal, Canada, June 14-16, 2006.
– C. P. Cheng, G. T. Lau, J. Pan, K. H. Law, and A. Jones "Domain-Specific Ontology Mapping by Corpus-Based Semantic Similarity," Scientific Foundations Workshop of End-to-End Service Utility (E2ESU), NIST, Gaithersburg, MD, USA, March 22-23, 2007.
– C. P. Cheng, G. T. Lau, and K. H. Law "Mapping Regulations to Industry-Specific Taxonomies" 11th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Law, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA, June 4-8, 2007.
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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External Involvement
• Potential Interest from industry organizations and government agencies
• Collaborations:– Prof. Hans Bjornsson (Chalmers, Sweden and UC Merced)– Dr. Robert Lipman (NIST, IAI’s ifc & CIS/2 Interoperability
project)– Dr. Mark Palmer (NIST, FIATECH’s AEX Interoperability project)– Dr. Albert Jones (NIST Enterprise Systems Group)– Mr. Dave Conover (International Code Council)– Dr. Calvin Kam (GSA)
– others... (for example, ENSURE partners with EU researchers)
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
22CIFE TAC 2007
Potential Funding Sources
• Key initiative at various agencies: NSF, NIST, FIATECH, EU Framework 7, etc.
• NIST (as well as FIATECH):– “Information interoperability and supply chain
management” is the upcoming key initiative– Established strong collaboration with NIST
Further funding support is anticipated
Motivating Problem Point of Departure Semantic Similarity Information Mapping CIFE Goals Plan, Risk, Funding
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Information Interoperability for Supply Chain
23CIFE TAC 2007
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