Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering

A special issue of Modelling (ISSN 2673-3951).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 25693

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
IMT-Mines Ales, LSR, 6 Avenue de Clavières, 30100 Alès, France
Interests: model and enterprise interoperability; distributed simulation; workflow; business process modeling and simulation; model driven architecture (MDA); ontology; BPMN; DEVS formalism
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IMT-Mines Ales, LSR, 6 Avenue de Clavières, 30100 Alès, France
Interests: enterprise interoperability; model driven engineering; BPMN; verification; process automation; system engineering
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
IMS Laboratory, University of Bordeaux, 33405 Talence, France
Interests: enterprise modelling; enterprise interoperability; model driven approach; industrie 4.0; simulation of manufacturing system

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Guest Editor
INTEROP-VLab, c/o Bureau Nouvelle Aquitaine, 21 rue Montoyer, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
Interests: process modeling; industrial and health systems; academia-industry collaboration; open innovation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Keeping up to date requires manufacturing enterprises to use the latest results from the ICT sector. This is the case when enterprises collaborate with external partners, exchanging products and data, such as in a supply chain. Enterprises face an increase in exchanges and sharing, including machine (physical means), humans, information, and IT in collaborative organization. In this context, although interoperability management is becoming a major concern, it remains not sufficiently and properly anticipated, controlled, and accompanied to recover from incompatibilities and interaction issues or failures.

This Special Issue welcomes recent and innovative contribution works on how enterprise modelling, enterprise interoperability, and model-driven approaches can lead, together with system engineering architecture, to developing and improving enterprise and supply chain interoperability.

Model-driven (MD) approaches are based and rely strongly on modelling. They offer enterprises internal development guidelines and good practices but unfortunately do not consider the interoperability that is required between partners when setting a collaboration. As a result, model-driven system engineering architecture (MDSEA), extended with interoperability concerns, has led to the design of the model-driven interoperability system engineering (MDISE) framework, which capitalizes on research on enterprise interoperability.

This call welcomes papers highlighting concepts, methods, and tools focusing on the extension of model-driven approaches and principles to interoperability to build relevant and efficient collaboration between organizations.

Prof. Dr. Greg Zacharewicz
Dr. Nicolas Daclin
Prof. Dr. Guy Doumeingts
Dr. Hezam Haidar
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Model-Driven Approaches (e.g., MDE, MDA, MDI, MDSEA, MDISE) in engineering
  • Model-Based Design (e.g. MBSE)
  • domain specific languages
  • metamodeling
  • model transformations
  • model continuity
  • Model Based System of Systems (SoS) Engineering (MBSoSE)

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 1099 KiB  
Article
Business Process Management Analysis with Cost Information in Public Organizations: A Case Study at an Academic Library
by Barbara Kissa, Elias Gounopoulos, Maria Kamariotou and Fotis Kitsios
Modelling 2023, 4(2), 251-263; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling4020014 - 23 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 4207
Abstract
Public organizations must provide high-quality services at a lower cost. In order to accomplish this goal, they need to apply well accepted cost methods and evaluate the efficiency of their processes using Business Process Management (BPM). However, only a few studies have evaluated [...] Read more.
Public organizations must provide high-quality services at a lower cost. In order to accomplish this goal, they need to apply well accepted cost methods and evaluate the efficiency of their processes using Business Process Management (BPM). However, only a few studies have evaluated the addition of cost information to a process model in a public organization. The aim of the research is to evaluate the combination of cost data to process modeling in an academic library. Our research suggests a new and easy to implement process analysis in three phases. We have combined qualitative (i.e., interviews with the library staff) and quantitative research methods (i.e., estimation of time and cost for each activity and process) to model two important processes of the academic library of the University of Macedonia (UoM). We have modeled the lending and return processes using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) in an easy-to-understand format. We have evaluated the costs of each process and sub process with the use of Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC) method. The library’s managers found our methodology and results very helpful. Our analysis confirmed that the combination of workflow and cost analysis may significantly improve the decision-making procedure and the efficiency of an organization’s processes. However, we need to further research and evaluate the appropriateness of the combination of various cost and BPM methods in other public organizations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering)
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35 pages, 6106 KiB  
Article
Traceability Management of Socio-Cyber-Physical Systems Involving Goal and SysML Models
by Amal Ahmed Anda, Daniel Amyot and John Mylopoulos
Modelling 2023, 4(2), 133-167; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling4020009 - 30 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2896
Abstract
Socio-cyber-physical systems (SCPSs) have emerged as networked heterogeneous systems that incorporate social components (e.g., business processes and social networks) along with physical (e.g., Internet-of-Things devices) and software components. Model-driven techniques for building SCPSs need actor and goal models to capture social concerns, whereas [...] Read more.
Socio-cyber-physical systems (SCPSs) have emerged as networked heterogeneous systems that incorporate social components (e.g., business processes and social networks) along with physical (e.g., Internet-of-Things devices) and software components. Model-driven techniques for building SCPSs need actor and goal models to capture social concerns, whereas system issues are often addressed with the Systems Modeling Language (SysML). Comprehensive traceability between these types of models is essential to support consistency and completeness checks, change management, and impact analysis. However, traceability management between these complementary views is not well supported across SysML tools, particularly when models evolve because SysML does not provide sophisticated out-of-the-box goal modeling capabilities. In our previous work, we proposed a model-based framework, called CGS4Adaptation, that supports basic traceability by importing goal and SysML models into a leading third-party requirement-management system, namely IBM Rational DOORS. In this paper, we present the framework’s traceability management method and its use for automated consistency and completeness checks. Traceability management also includes implicit link detection, thereby, improving the quality of traceability links while better aligning designs with requirements. The method is evaluated using an adaptive SCPS case study involving an IoT-based smart home. The results suggest that the tool-supported method is effective and useful in supporting the traceability management process involving complex goal and SysML models in one environment while saving development time and effort. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering)
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28 pages, 8580 KiB  
Article
A Framework for Interactive Development of Simulation Models with Strategical–Tactical–Operational Layering Applied to the Logistics of Bulk Commodities
by Andres Guiguet and Dirk Pons
Modelling 2022, 3(3), 272-299; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling3030018 - 30 Jun 2022
Viewed by 2226
Abstract
CONTEXT–Simulation modelling provides insight into hidden dynamics underlying business processes. However, an accurate understanding of operations is necessary for fidelity of the model. This is challenging because of the need to extract the tacit nature of operational knowledge and facilitate the representation of [...] Read more.
CONTEXT–Simulation modelling provides insight into hidden dynamics underlying business processes. However, an accurate understanding of operations is necessary for fidelity of the model. This is challenging because of the need to extract the tacit nature of operational knowledge and facilitate the representation of complex processes and decision-making patterns that do not depend on classes, objects, and instantiations. Commonly used industrial simulation, such as Arena®, does not natively support the object-oriented constructs available for software development. OBJECTIVE–This paper proposes a method for developing simulation models that allow process-owners and modellers to jointly build a series of evolutionary models that improve conceptual validity of the executable computer model. APPROACH-Software and Systems Engineering principles were adapted to develop a framework that allows a systematic transition from conceptual to executable model, which allows multiple perspectives to be simultaneously considered. The framework was applied to a logistics case study in a bulk commodities distribution context. FINDINGS–The method guided the development of a set of models that served as scaffolds to allow the natural flow of ideas from a natural language domain to Arena® code. In doing so, modeller and process-owners at strategic, tactical, and operational levels developed and validated the simulation model. ORIGINALITY—This work provides a framework for structuring the development of simulation models. The framework allows the use of non-object-oriented constructs, making it applicable to SIMAN-based simulation languages and packages as Arena®. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering)
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22 pages, 10559 KiB  
Article
Data Integration and Interoperability: Towards a Model-Driven and Pattern-Oriented Approach
by Roland J. Petrasch and Richard R. Petrasch
Modelling 2022, 3(1), 105-126; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling3010008 - 27 Feb 2022
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 11665
Abstract
Data integration is one of the core responsibilities of EDM (enterprise data management) and interoperability. It is essential for almost every digitalization project, e.g., during the migration from a legacy ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to a new system. One challenge is the [...] Read more.
Data integration is one of the core responsibilities of EDM (enterprise data management) and interoperability. It is essential for almost every digitalization project, e.g., during the migration from a legacy ERP (enterprise resource planning) software to a new system. One challenge is the incompatibility of data models, i.e., different software systems use specific or proprietary terminology, data structures, data formats, and semantics. Data need to be interchanged between software systems, and often complex data conversions or transformations are necessary. This paper presents an approach that allows software engineers or data experts to use models and patterns in order to specify data integration: it is based on data models such as ER (entity-relationship) diagrams or UML (unified modeling language) class models that are well-accepted and widely used in practice. Predefined data integration patterns are combined (applied) on the model level leading to formal, precise, and concise definitions of data transformations and conversions. Data integration definitions can then be executed (via code generation) so that a manual implementation is not necessary. The advantages are that existing data models can be reused, standardized data integration patterns lead to fast results, and data integration specifications are executable and can be easily maintained and extended. An example transformation of elements of a relational data model to object-oriented data structures shows the approach in practice. Its focus is on data mappings and relationships. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering)
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26 pages, 5987 KiB  
Article
A Model-Based Design Method for the Correlation between Customer Feedback and Technical Design Parameters in the Context of Systems Engineering
by Günseli Aksoy, Christian Raulf and Thomas Vietor
Modelling 2021, 2(4), 795-820; https://doi.org/10.3390/modelling2040042 - 15 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2953
Abstract
Nowadays considering trends such as digitalization, automated driving as well as electric mobility in products in automotive development processes is a major challenge, which has led to an enormous increase in the number of product functions of technical systems. However, the recognized processes [...] Read more.
Nowadays considering trends such as digitalization, automated driving as well as electric mobility in products in automotive development processes is a major challenge, which has led to an enormous increase in the number of product functions of technical systems. However, the recognized processes in automotive development are strongly component-oriented and such processes partially support the development of product functions. In order to meet future trends and ensure long term customer satisfaction, a transfer from component-oriented to function-oriented development is necessary. Accordingly, a holistic concept can be useful that enables the integration of customer feedback into the early phase of product development in the context of function-orientation. However, the customer feedback evaluation and their mapping with technical subsystems have been considered mainly in the context of component-oriented development. In this contribution, a method is proposed, which is generated in the context of a product model of product generation engineering. Product Generation Engineering enables the structuring of the development process of a product generation and supports function-oriented development. The Product Model provides customer- oriented development of mechatronic products. The proposed method is achieved in the sense of model-based systems engineering and validated by the exemplarily application of a case study of a specific vehicle. Both the past and current product generations of the specific vehicle are taken into account in the development of the subsequent product generation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Model Driven Interoperability for System Engineering)
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