Speaker: Christian Muggeo (CONTACT Software, Germany)
Venue: Linköping, Copenhagen, Hamburg
A very interesting observation of today´s MBSE practice is, that on the one hand, Systems Engineering has gone model-based but on the other hand, these models are often managed as blackbox-containers on file-systems or as blobs in databases. Nowadays a real model management is only possible for certain types of models in dedicated tool-sets. But what exactly does Model Management mean?
The presentation will give an overview of typical Model Management capabilities, how they are present in PLM and ALM environments today. From simple tasks like Versioning or Right & Roles management to more sophisticated capabilities like a traceable Release, Change and Configuration management.
As Systems Engineering is a task for the whole organization, multiple users are working on the models. There is a demand especially for SysML-based System Models, to enable collaboration: There are interdependencies between various model elements in different locations (i.e. packages) across the model. Now can ask the question: What happens when something changes in the model?
It is obvious, that Model Management of a black box container doesn´t help at all. This means, that we need Model Management, ideally on element level. Furthermore, you can ask the questions:
- Who is authorized to change certain model elements?
- Shall it change instantly, even when model integrity will be damaged?
- Wouldn´t it be better if the impact of a change is calculated, engineers are informed and a common solution is found?
Like so often, the answer might be “it depends”. The demand for – interoperable – Model Management capabilities is now also recognized by the OMG. For SysML 2.0 there will be also an “API and Services” specification, offering a variety of low-level Model Management interfaces, which can be implemented in various technologies (e.g. HTTP/REST or OSLC, Java, …), to enable cross tool, cross-vendor and cross lifecycle collaboration in a System Modeling Environment.
Christian Muggeo studied Industrial Engineering and Electronics before he was Research Assistant at the Institute for Virtual Product Development at the Technical University of Kaiserslautern. Today Christian works as a MBSE and PLM Analyst and Consultant at CONTACT Software, a leading, independent PLM vendor. He is part of different Working Groups around MBSE and PLM. Christian Co-Chairs the Manufacturing Technology and Industrial Systems Domain Task Force at the Object Management Group (OMG ManTIS DTF) and is part of the SysML v2 Submission Team.