Configuration semantics representation: A rule-based ontology for product configuration

In the context of globalization and mass customization, product configurations are differentiated according to market requirements. This paper focuses on the primary challenge of developing a semantically rich product configuration representation that is amenable to automatic reasoning. We propose a Configuration Semantics Representation (CSR), a rule-based ontological formalism that is consistent with the Semantic Web standards in order to capture different components, such as representations of product structure and constraints of a product configuration. In particular, the Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL) is used to overcome the limited expresssiveness of the Web Ontology Language (OWL) and thus explicitly capture advanced semantics essential to completely represent a product configuration. This enables support for an effective reasoning mechanism to develop and validate the product configuration. The paper presents an example application and corresponding reasoning results, and concludes with a discussion of future trends. The use of a semantically correct representation that can be reasoned for consistency and correctness of the product configuration will enable the development of valid product configurations that are amenable for further optimization.