Towards a method for harmonizing information standards

Designers and engineers use various engineering authoring tools, such as CAD, CAE, and PDM, to generate information objects (engineering objects). On the business side, enterprise level business process modelers use various business authoring tools, such as ERP, CRM, and LCA, to generate information objects (business objects). These information objects, both engineering and business, are represented using information standards. These standards are used to exchange information about engineering and business systems for enterprise level interoperability. One of the main problems of designers, engineers and process modelers is the selection of appropriate standards for interoperability. To ensure enterprise level interoperability, it is absolutely critical that information standards are compared and harmonized as there are overlapping and dissimilar standards available. In this paper, we will sketch a method towards comparing and harmonizing standards based on: 1) informal approach, 2) typology of standards, 3) use-case scenarios, and 4) ontologies. The method is explained using some engineering and business standards.