IDEF0 Model Research Articles

Research communications

Presents a simulation model of the “Contract change process” for an aerospace manufacturing firm. The model was developed to simulate the activities from the time when a customer’s request is received to the two points in time where a preliminary schedule and a formal proposal is returned to the customer. The model was developed in a two‐stage approach. First, the process was studied and documented in US Air Force integrated computer aided manufacturing definition language for function modeling an IDEF0 model which defined the relationships between each pair of activities. Second, using the structural information provided by the IDEFo model, a simulation model using simulation language for alternative modeling (SLAMII) was developed. Data were obtained from archival sources in the department’s database. The data were analyzed according to the quarter in which they were received. From this, arrival time data distributions were estimated for each of the four quarters to capture the seasonality element in the company’s business. Next, the data were separated into three levels of difficulty to define complex, routine and simple tasks. From this, three distributions of activity times were developed for each set of tasks. The results will allow for the study of reengineering and downsizing decisions for the contract change process in the aerospace industry, under conditions of seasonal and task complexity variations.

Process Modeling Approach to Privatization of Wastewater Treatment

The management of the privatization of wastewater treatment services is a complex process. The wastewater plant is subject to a variety of financial, technical, and legal constraints that must be met to ensure public safety and well being. Currently documented methodologies for use in privatization ventures are imprecise and qualitative; they are based on successful case studies that may be difficult to repeat under different circumstances. The preponderance of the literature is focused on the financial aspects of the privatization process as opposed to the engineering challenges. The extension of systems engineering methodologies to the functional decomposition of a wastewater treatment facility is the contribution of this work. Identification of the wastewater functions that satisfy business and technical constraints is vital to the privatization process. An IDEF0 model of the municipal wastewater treatment plant was developed to identify the functional elements of the treatment process and their interrelationships. The components of the IDEF0 model are developed and the use of this model as a tool in the privatization process is defined.

Improving interorganizational data interchange for drug development

This paper presents a reengineered process that uses a markup language to do interorganizational data interchange between the participants in the US drug development process. The two major goals of this paper are to present (1) a detailed enough description of the reengineered version of this process that a practitioner will be able to use it and (2) a case-study of the reengineering of an interorganizational data interchange system that is applicable to other areas in health care. The detailed description is augmented with a companion web-site that shows all programs in a working prototype. The case-study uses an IDEF0 model to show the structure of benefits from markup standards for interorganizational data interchange.

Adapting IDEF0 modelling to perform manufacturing diagnosis

This paper presents the work done to adapt a system modelling methodology, ICAM DEFinition Zero (IDEF0), to perform manufacturing diagnosis. It describes the basic notions of IDEF0 modelling and the underlying principle of a novel reasoning technique, the “worst-first” search, developed for manufacturing diagnosis. The reasoning technique which was originally based on graph theory and possibility theory, has been adapted to access the information stored in an IDEF0 model. Details of a prototype IDEF0-based system for manufacturing diagnosis are presented. The results of system validation based on a manufacturing system for the production of mechanical components are reported.

Putting your IDEF0 model to work

An IDEF0 model contains information describing how an organization executes its business processes. Describes how informa‐ tion from IDEF0 process models can be used to support execution of knowledge worker business processes via an automated system called the knowledge worker system (KWS). KWS enables an organization to implement an online business process model of their organization that contains information about the organization’s tasks along with the information resources and computer applica‐tions required to support task execution. Through this online model, KWS provides daily support to knowledge workers in the execution of the organization’s processes.

Development of Intelligent Design System for Embodiment Design of Machine Tools(I)

We present a framework of an intelligent design system for embodiment design of machine tools which can support efficiently and systematically the machine design by utilizing design knowledge such as objects(part), know-how, public, evaluation, and procedures. The design knowledge of machining center has been accumulated through interview with design experts of machine tool companies. The processes of embodiment design of machining center are established and represented by the IDEF0 model from the field surveys. We also introduce a hybrid knowledge representation so that the system can easily deal with various and complicated design knowledge. The intelligent design system is being developed on the basis of object-oriented programming, and all parts of a design object, machining center, are also classified by the object-oriented modeling.

Reengineering of design and manufacturing processes

The development of IDEF tools for modeling and analysis of processes has been motivated by the desire to increase productivity by improving communication and structure of manufacturing systems. Constructing an IDEF model is only one component of a comprehensive process modeling effort. Representing IDEF models as process graphs, performing observational model analysis, and analysis of IDEF model structure are issues addressed in this paper. The paper includes a review of current approaches to IDEF modeling in industry, as well as techniques for analysis of IDEF models. The fundamentals of IDEF0 and IDEF3 are discussed, however, the emphasis of the paper is on model analysis and reengineering design and manufacturing processes. An algorithm for model analysis is presented.

SYSTEMS ENGINEERING: A DATA MODEL VIEW

ABSTRACTDuring the late 70's the U.S. Air Force sponsored a program called Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing or ICAM. The term ICAM Definition arose and was abbreviated to IDEF. Three IDEF modeling techniques were developed: IDEFO (process modeling), IDEF1 (data modeling) and IDEF2 (dynamics modeling). IDEF1X is an outgrowth of IDEF1. See Reference 1.This paper presents an IDEF1X data model view of systems engineering. It shows some of the fundamental data elements of Systems Engineering and their logical relationships. The data model is applicable to any product development, from toys to space ships.The model uses two particular data constructs (FUNCTION RELATION, and BEHAVIOR CHARACTERISTIC) that provide the flexibility needed to use the highly structured world of databases to provide a tool for the highly unstructured and creative world of Systems Engineering. The model evolved over the past two years as a result of the author's participation in Martin Marietta's efforts to develop an integrated data base.The lack of a widely accepted view of Systems Engineering data may partly account for the shortage of good Computer Aided Systems Engineering (CASE) tools and/or the lack of user acceptance of some of the CASE tools. The author hopes this paper will help stimulate dialog that will result in one or more widely accepted views upon which CASE tools can proliferate. The paper is organized into 6 topics: Data modeling tutorial A data model view of systems engineering Anatomy of a performance requirement Relation between data models and CASE tool functionality Conclusions Recommendation

An integrated framework for enterprise modeling

Abstract The IDEF modeling methodology of the US Air Force's integrated computer aided manufacturing (ICAM) program is a powerful tool for analysis, specification and design of integrated manufacturing systems. IDEF consists of methods for modeling the function structure, the data needed to support the functions, and the dynamic behavior of functions of a manufacturing enterprise. The resulting function, information, and dynamics models provide three distinct but complementary views of the system being modeled. A major deficiency of IDEF is the lack of cohesion between the three views whereby a single consistent description of the system is difficult to obtain, especially when the modeled domain is large and complex. Among its other limitations are difficulty in capturing the semantics of real-world systems in the information model, and a dynamics-modeling language unsuitable for modeling flexible manufacturing systems. In this paper, we propose an integrated framework for enterprise modeling (IFEM) that extends the IDEF methodology to include methods that overcome the above-mentioned shortcomings of IDEF. The use of IFEM and its advantages over IDEF are illustrated using examples from a reference architecture developed for a computer-integrated apparel manufacturing enterprise.

Knowledge as Design: A Methodology for Overcoming Knowledge Acquisition Bottlenecks in Intelligent Interface Design

This paper documents the historical perspective of ‘knowledge as design’ as a natural human philosophy which necessarily resulted in user centered design praxis. A revival of this philosophy is called for in the presentation of the advanced knowledge and design acquisition methodology. The application of this methodology for overcoming bottleneck problems and alleviating brittleness in the Pilot's Associate is described and evaluated. The paper discusses three specific techniques designed to capture these perspectives: IDEF modeling, concept mapping, and design storyboarding. An integrative structure combining these techniques is proposed as an interactive way to let users, as well as other design team members, assimilate, progressively deepen, and combine knowledge for the purpose of developing intelligent systems and human-machine interface designs. Results indicate that pilots were able to successfully reveal their own comprehension of an air-to-ground mission and transform conceptual knowledge into actual designs for an intelligent pilot-vehicle interface.