ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008
(Main)Guide for specification of product properties and classes — Part 1: Fundamental benefits
Guide for specification of product properties and classes — Part 1: Fundamental benefits
ISO/IEC Guide 77 provides recommendations for standardization committees for the description of products and their properties for the creation of computer processable product libraries, catalogues and reference dictionaries. This description will provide the details of the products and their properties in an unambiguous manner capable of computer communication, in a form that is independent from any proprietary application software. ISO/IEC Guide 77 is intended to assist the objective of enabling the flow of technical information between internal and external business partners in a cost-effective and timely manner. The guidance given in ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008 is intended to assist convenors and members of ISO and IEC Technical Committees, as well as managers and technical experts in the manufacturing industry. ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008 is intended to provide an overview of the needs and benefits and the process of creating product libraries, catalogues and reference dictionaries. The following are within the scope of ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008: international standardization activities related to reference dictionaries; benefits of reference dictionaries to International Standards; a procedure for creating reference dictionaries; resources required; assessment of savings; sources of information and expertise. The following are outside the scope of ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008: technical guidance for the creation of product libraries and dictionaries; case studies from experiences in the creation of dictionaries of product information in industrial practice. Reference dictionaries can be useful in the context of product data in the supply chain, as well as in the business context of product data management. ISO/IEC Guide 77-1:2008 is for guidance only and is intended to support activities such as education.
Guide pour la spécification des classes et des propriétés du produit — Partie 1: Avantages fondamentaux
General Information
Standards Content (Sample)
GUIDE 77-1
Guide for specification of
product properties and
classes —
Part 1:
Fundamental benefits
First edition 2008
©
ISO/IEC 2008
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ii © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved
Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Product data in the supply chain . 2
2.1 General. 2
2.2 Business context . 2
2.3 Goal and solution. 3
2.4 International standardization activities . 4
2.5 Benefits. 6
3 Procedure for creating reference dictionaries.7
3.1 General. 7
3.2 Building a reference dictionary. 7
3.3 Resources required . 8
3.4 Maintenance . 9
4 Technical aspects. 9
Annex A (informative) Assessment of savings potential . 11
Annex B (informative) Technical expertise and guidance . 13
Bibliography . 14
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved iii
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
Draft Guides adopted by the responsible Committee or Group are circulated to the member bodies for voting.
Publication as a Guide requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/IEC Guide 77-1 was prepared by the Joint Technical Advisory Group of the ISO Technical Management
Board and the IEC Standardization Management Board on product properties and families.
ISO/IEC Guide 77 consists of the following parts, under the general title Guide for specification of product
properties and classes:
⎯ Part 1: Fundamental benefits
⎯ Part 2: Technical principles and guidance
⎯ Part 3: Experience gained
iv © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved
Introduction
Business processes are increasingly being conducted electronically, a situation which applies to internal
processes as well as to the interfaces with external partners. Product data is currently defined predominantly
on a system-specific or organization-specific basis, usually without the general exchangeability of the data
being taken into account. On the originator side, this results in costly multiple definition and data storage for
different addressees or customers and, on the recipient side, in repeated data editing and system integration
of data from different sources combined with inherent, costly interpretation and conversion errors. Hence,
there is a massive opportunity here for rationalization.
From the market side, pressure is increasingly being exerted to supply product data in electronic form and as
this pressure grows, it will have a considerably impact on all businesses. For these reasons, a seamless
exchange of product data, i.e. an exchange that is free from media discontinuities requires a unified, joint
approach both for exchanging internal product data within a company and for exchanging product data with
suppliers and customers.
Information about a product is generated over the entire life cycle of the product, from the idea, planning and
design stages, through the manufacture, marketing, service and use stages, to product disposal. Information
is required in the course of many process steps, both during product manufacture and sales and during
product utilization (e.g. for maintenance and service) and recycling. Therefore, a harmonized, consistent
process for preparing and disseminating relevant information about a product (across all organization and
information systems) is of critical importance, as illustrated in Figure 1.
Figure 1 — Example of product life cycle and information transfer
This calls for the use of a methodology that allows product descriptions to be produced in a standardized,
computer-sensible form that is acceptable over a wide range of industrial systems. Such a methodology is
provided by IEC 61360-1 and ISO 13584-42. This methodology should be proactively promoted both internally
in a company and externally between the business partners so that it becomes standard practice, thereby
increasing the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of electronic business processes.
A company should respond to these external and internal requirements and ensure that electronic product
data is supplied in a coordinated and inexpensive manner. This includes the provision of uniform data
(i.e. product properties) for catalogues, electronic marketplaces, computer-aided design/computer-aided
systems (CAD/CAx systems), product data management (PDM) systems, etc. To this end, rules for
harmonization have been laid down. A common internal database is required to ensure the cost-effective
utilization and distribution of this product data, both internally in a company and externally between the
business partners.
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved v
Guide for specification of product properties and classes —
Part 1:
Fundamental benefits
1 Scope
ISO/IEC Guide 77 provides recommendations for standardization committees for the description of products
and their properties for the creation of computer processable product libraries, catalogues and reference
dictionaries. This description will provide the details of the products and their properties in an unambiguous
manner capable of computer communication, in a form that is independent from any proprietary application
software.
NOTE 1 The term “product” is taken to include devices, processes, systems, installations, etc.
ISO/IEC Guide 77 is intended to assist the objective of enabling the flow of technical information between
internal and external business partners in a cost-effective and timely manner.
The guidance given in this part of ISO/IEC Guide 77 is intended to assist convenors and members of ISO and
IEC Technical Committees, as well as managers and technical experts in the manufacturing industry.
This part of ISO/IEC Guide 77 is intended to provide an overview of the needs and benefits and the process of
creating product libraries, catalogues and reference dictionaries. The following are within the scope of this part
of ISO/IEC Guide 77:
⎯ international standardization activities related to reference dictionaries;
⎯ benefits of reference dictionaries to International Standards;
⎯ a procedure for creating reference dictionaries;
⎯ resources required;
⎯ assessment of savings;
⎯ sources of information and expertise.
The following are outside the scope of this part of ISO/IEC Guide 77:
⎯ technical guidance for the creation of product libraries and dictionaries;
NOTE 2 Technical guidance for the creation of product libraries and dictionaries is provided in
ISO/IEC Guide 77-2.
⎯ case studies from experiences in the creation of dictionaries of product information in industrial practice.
NOTE 3 Experience gained in the creation of product libraries and dictionaries is provided in ISO/IEC Guide 77-3.
Reference dictionaries can be useful in the context of product data in the supply chain, as well as in the
business context of product data management.
This part of ISO/IEC Guide 77 is for guidance only and is intended to support activities such as education.
© ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved 1
2 Product data in the supply chain
2.1 General
This part of ISO/IEC Guide 77 is intended to assist technical standards committees and subcommittees,
together with their working groups and project teams, who wish to describe products covered by their
standards in a computer-sensible form.
This can also be useful for the following groups:
⎯ suppliers of products who wish to describe them in catalogues, data sheets, etc.;
⎯ information brokers and distributors;
⎯ end users who wish to build corporate databases.
Information on products is required at all stages of the life cycle of the product, from initial concepts through
design and development to manufacture, then sales and marketing, followed by use of the product, which may
entail maintenance, and finally to withdrawal from use, decommissioning and recycling. For all these phases
in the life of a product, different requirements apply, resulting in different views on the product information,
where each view may require a specific set of properties and their related product data. As well as the need
for product data to be created, they also need to be communicated along the supply chain from the original
manufacturer through to the end user and be capable of storage and retrieval for reference purposes.
2.2 Business context
2.2.1 General
Traditionally, product data have been made available as paper-based data sheets and catalogues. With the
rapid increase in the use of IT tools for capturing, transmitting and using such data, there is an increasing
demand for the data to be supplied from the outset in computer-sensible form, in order to avoid the delays and
errors inherent in transcribing data from a paper-based form into a machine-based one. Furthermore, when
data are transcribed in this way, the work is carried out without reference to standard methodologies that
would, if used, ensure the exchangeability and interoperability of these data both within an enterprise and with
partners outside it. Figure 2 illustrates some of the issues that arise in this information supply chain, notably
the question of whether data really is exchangeable or not.
NOTE IT = information technology; CAE = computer-aided engineering.
Figure 2 — Exchangeability or non-exchangeability of data in information transfer
2 © ISO/IEC 2008 – All rights reserved
A considerable proportion of product data continue to be provided in paper form (e.g. catalogues, datasheets,
operating instructions) or on paper-like electronic media [e.g. documents in portable document format (PDF)]
that cannot be used directly in IT systems or cannot be processed further.
2.2.2 Non-structured definition and modelling of product data
Many items of product data are captured in data sheets, which therefore represent a vast capital asset for a
company.
...
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