ISO 16400-5:2026

• Abstract:

  This document specifies the interfaces of an equipment behaviour catalogue (EBC) with production systems engineering and manufacturing operations, facilitating their bi-directional integration by providing technical and contextual information.

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 02-Aug-2026
• ICS: 25.040.01 - Industrial automation systems in general
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 184/SC 5 - Interoperability, integration, and architectures for enterprise systems and automation applications
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 184/SC 5 - Interoperability, integration, and architectures for enterprise systems and automation applications
• Current Stage: 6060 - International Standard published
• Start Date: 03-Aug-2026
• Due Date: 13-Mar-2026
• Completion Date: 03-Aug-2026

Overview

ISO 16400-5:2026 focuses on the integration of equipment behaviour catalogues (EBCs) with production systems engineering and manufacturing operations in automation environments. Developed by ISO/TC 184/SC 5, this standard defines the technical and contextual interfaces required for effective exchange of information between EBCs and components of production systems. By establishing these connections, organizations can ensure efficient digital integration in smart manufacturing, supporting dynamic simulation, process monitoring, and coordinated operation of virtual and real production assets.

Key Topics

• Equipment Behaviour Catalogue (EBC): A standardized digital resource that describes dynamic behaviours, states, parameters, and contextual information of manufacturing equipment for use in virtual production systems.
• Interfaces Specification: Detailed definitions of bidirectional interfaces that connect EBCs with core aspects of production system engineering and manufacturing operations.
• Information Model: Adoption of an overarching information model, aligning EBC data with logical packages such as asset/equipment, product structure, production planning, customer order process, and resource consumption.
• Types of Interfaces:
  • Mathematical models
  • Calculation formulas
  • Program data (e.g., CNC routines)
  • State data (operational conditions)
  • State definitions (possible modes)
  • External interaction (communication with other system elements)
  • EBC template properties
• Support for Industry Standards: Compatibility with related technologies (e.g., OPC UA, AutomationML), promoting interoperability and digital continuity across manufacturing systems.

Applications

The interfaces and integration rules defined in ISO 16400-5 benefit a range of industrial and digital manufacturing scenarios:

• Virtual Commissioning & Simulation: Use EBCs to simulate equipment behaviour and validate production processes before deployment, reducing setup time and lowering risk.
• Smart Manufacturing Operations: Enable real-time tracking, management, and optimization of factory floor activities by exposing standardized data on asset states and performance.
• Production System Engineering: Incorporate EBC information into the design, selection, and configuration of production lines, ensuring accurate equipment capabilities are referenced during planning.
• Lifecycle Data Management: Maintain consistent equipment information from engineering through operations and updates, supporting digital twins and Industry 4.0 initiatives.
• Collaborative Supply Chains: Facilitate efficient data sharing between OEMs, suppliers, and service providers by using EBC interface standards, thus improving integration and reducing custom connectivity efforts.

Related Standards

ISO 16400-5 is part of the broader ISO 16400 series, which sets the foundations for EBCs in automation:

• ISO 16400-1: Overview of equipment behaviour catalogues for virtual production systems.
• ISO 16400-2: Formal description of an EBC template.
• ISO 16400-3: Requirements and recommendations for construction of an equipment instance model.

Additional standards relevant to EBC integration and manufacturing interoperability include:

• IEC 62264 series: Manufacturing operations management (MOM)
• ISO 22400: Key performance indicators for manufacturing operations management
• IEC 62541: OPC Unified Architecture (OPC UA)
• IEC 62714: AutomationML for data exchange
• STEP (ISO 10303): Product data representation and exchange

Practical Value

Implementing ISO 16400-5 enables manufacturers, system integrators, and equipment vendors to:

• Achieve seamless and standardized data integration across the full production lifecycle.
• Accelerate deployment of smart manufacturing systems by reducing the need for custom interface development.
• Enhance traceability and operational flexibility using rich, standardized equipment behaviour data.
• Foster interoperability and future-proof factory investments by aligning with leading international standards for digital manufacturing integration.

By adopting ISO 16400-5, organizations modernize their production ecosystems, paving the way for agile, intelligent, and connected manufacturing operations aligned with Industry 4.0 goals.

International
Standard
ISO 16400-5
First edition
Automation systems and
2026-08
integration — Equipment behaviour
catalogues for virtual production
systems —
Part 5:
Interfaces of an equipment
behaviour catalogue with
production systems engineering
and manufacturing operations
Systèmes d'automatisation et intégration — Catalogues de
comportement des équipements pour les systèmes de production
virtuelle —
Partie 5: Interfaces d’un catalogue de comportement des
équipements avec l'ingénierie des systèmes de production et les
opérations de fabrication
Reference number
© ISO 2026
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, or required in the context of its implementation, no part of this publication may
be reproduced or utilized otherwise in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, or posting on
the internet or an intranet, without prior written permission. Permission can be requested from either ISO at the address below
or ISO’s member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
CP 401 • Ch. de Blandonnet 8
CH-1214 Vernier, Geneva
Phone: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Website: www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland
ii
Contents Page
Foreword .iv
Introduction .v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 3
5 The equipment behaviour catalogue in context of production systems engineering and
manufacturing operations . 4
6 Interfaces for integration of equipment behaviour catalogue . 6
6.1 Introduction .6
6.2 Mathematical model .7
6.3 Calculation formula .9
6.4 Program .10
6.5 State data .11
6.6 External interaction . 12
6.7 State .14
6.8 Equipment behaviour catalogue template . 15
Annex A (informative) Description of the logical packages . 17
Annex B (informative) Decomposition of Equipment behaviour catalogue elements .26
Bibliography .27

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.
The procedures used to develop this document and those intended for its further maintenance are described
in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the different types
of ISO document should be noted. This document was drafted in accordance with the editorial rules of the
ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2 (see www.iso.org/directives).
ISO draws attention to the possibility that the implementation of this document may involve the use of (a)
patent(s). ISO takes no position concerning the evidence, validity or applicability of any claimed patent
rights in respect thereof. As of the date of publication of this document, ISO had not received notice of (a)
patent(s) which may be required to implement this document. However, implementers are cautioned that
this may not represent the latest information, which may be obtained from the patent database available at
www.iso.org/patents. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
Any trade name used in this document is information given for the convenience of users and does not
constitute an endorsement.
For an explanation of the voluntary nature of standards, the meaning of ISO specific terms and expressions
related to conformity assessment, as well as information about ISO's adherence to the World Trade
Organization (WTO) principles in the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), see www.iso.org/iso/foreword.html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 184, Automation systems and integration,
Subcommittee SC 5, Interoperability, integration, and architectures for enterprise systems and automation
applications.
A list of all parts in the ISO 16400 series can be found on the ISO website.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.

iv
Introduction
The ISO 16400 series introduces a concept of an equipment behaviour catalogue (EBC), addresses the
requirements of an EBC and proposes requirements and recommendations to generate an executable model
representing the dynamic behaviour of a nominal or physical instance of an equipment. Such an executable
model plays a vital role when configuring virtual production systems used for simulation and verification
of a future process as well as monitoring of a current process. Therefore, EBCs will constitute an important
part of the evolution of smart manufacturing.
An EBC enables an efficient and standardized way for a provider of equipment to communicate its dynamic
behaviour.
In this document, interfaces of an EBC with production systems engineering and manufacturing operations
are defined. This document addresses the usability of the information contained within the EBC, and the
enrichment and updating of this information using bi-directional interfaces. The interfaces and elements of
the EBC are analysed and related to the main information objects of production companies, using a semantic
information model introduced in Annex A. The information model encompasses the production lifecycle,
which contains production systems engineering and manufacturing operations. This document embeds the
EBC in application context in manufacturing.

v
International Standard ISO 16400-5:2026(en)
Automation systems and integration — Equipment behaviour
catalogues for virtual production systems —
Part 5:
Interfaces of an equipment behaviour catalogue with
production systems engineering and manufacturing
operations
1 Scope
This document specifies the interfaces of an equipment behaviour catalogue (EBC) with production systems
engineering and manufacturing operations, facilitating their bi-directional integration by providing
technical and contextual information.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements of this document. For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references,
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 16400-1, Automation systems and integration — Equipment behaviour catalogues for virtual production
system — Part 1: Overview
ISO 16400-2, Automation systems and integration — Equipment behaviour catalogues for virtual production
systems — Part 2: Formal description of a catalogue template
ISO 16400-3, Automation systems and integration — Equipment behaviour catalogues for virtual production
system — Part 3: Requirements and recommendations for construction of an equipment instance model
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 16400-1, ISO 16400-2, ISO 16400-3
and the following apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https:// www .iso .org/ obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at http:// www .electropedia .org/
3.1
product structure
structure providing a functional classification of all items, parts, components, sub-assemblies and assemblies
of a product
[SOURCE: ISO 18828-2:2016, 3.1.9, modified — Note 1 to entry has been deleted.]

3.2
consumption
act of using resources to satisfy current or future needs and wants
Note 1 to entry: A resource according to IEC 62264-1:2003 is an enterprise entity that provides some or all of the
capabilities required by the execution of an enterprise activity and/or business process (e.g. a collection of personnel,
equipment (3.5), and/or material)
3.3
customer order
order from an in-house customer or a customer external to the company
[SOURCE: DIN EN 14943:2006]
3.4
production planning
process describing the phase between product design and production with the primary application domain
in the planning of production systems
3.5
equipment
physical assets (3.7) of an enterprise involved in manufacturing
Note 1 to entry: Equipment may be a listing of sites, areas, production units, production lines, work cells, process cells
or units.
Note 2 to entry: Equipment may be made up of other equipment. For example, a production line may be made up of
work cells.
3.6
cost
monetary value of resources consumed to perform activities
[SOURCE: ISO 14051:2011, 3.1]
3.7
asset
physical or logical object owned by or under the custodial duties of an organization, having either a perceived
or actual value to the organization
[SOURCE: IEC 62443-1:2009, 3.2.6]
3.8
production systems engineering
engineering of production systems, following the reference planning process (3.9) defined in ISO 18828-2
Note 1 to entry: The ISO 18828 series addresses standardized procedures for production systems engineering.
Focusing the production planning (3.4), it provides a framework which approaches aspects such as production
processes, information flows, key performance indicators (KPIs) and manufacturing changes.
3.9
reference planning process
process from the initial product definition to delivery of the last work plan in series planning
Note 1 to entry: The reference planning process does not include production control.
Note 2 to entry: The initial product definition usually corresponds to the end of the concept phase.
[SOURCE: ISO 18828-2:2016, 3.1.10]

3.10
manufacturing operations
execution of manufacturing processes as well as supporting activities
Note 1 to entry: The term of manufacturing operations relates to the IEC 62264 series, that provides standards for the
manufacturing operations management (MOM). The MOM includes activities within Level 3 of a manufacturing facility
that coordinate, direct, manage and track the personnel, equipment (3.5) and materials in manufacturing. IEC 62264-3
details MOM in terms of four categories (production operations management, maintenance operations management,
quality operations management and inventory operations management) and provides references for other enterprise
activities affecting manufacturing operations.
3.11
information model
formal model of information
Note 1 to entry: In ISO 10303, an information model is based on the object-relationship modelling technique that
organizes the product data as represented in different system aspects.
Note 2 to entry: In ISO 10303, information models are developed using EXPRESS or SysML.
[SOURCE: ISO 10303-2:2024, 3.1.228, modified — Note 1 to entry revised, Example removed.]
3.12
information object
well-defined piece of information, definition, or specification which requires a name in order to identify its
use in communication
[SOURCE: ISO 10159:2011, 3.1.1]
3.13
smart manufacturing
manufacturing that improves its performance aspects with integrated and intelligent use of processes and
resources in cyber, physical and human spheres to create and deliver products and services, which also
collaborates with other domains within enterprises’ value chains
Note 1 to entry: Performance aspects include agility, efficiency, safety, security, sustainability or any other
performance indicators identified by the enterprise.
Note 2 to entry: In addition to manufacturing, other enterprise domains can include engineering, logistics, marketing,
procurement, sales or any other domains identified by the enterprise.
[SOURCE: ISO/TR 22100-4:2018, 3.16]
3.14
EBC element
element of an EBC according to the structure of EBC templates
Note 1 to entry: The formal structure of EBC templates is standardized in ISO 16400-2.
4 Abbreviated terms
AutomationML Automation Markup Language
CAD computer aided design
CNC computer numerical control
EBC equipment behaviour catalogue
EBOM engineering bill of materials
ID identifier
IT information technology
JT Jupiter Tesselation
MathML Mathematical Markup Language
MBOM manufacturing bill of materials
MES manufacturing execution system
ML machine learning
MQTT message queue telemetry transport
OEM original equipment manufacturer
OMG UML Object Management Group Unified Modeling Language
OPC UA OPC Unified Architecture
PLC programmable logic controller
PLiM production lifecycle information management
SCADA supervisory control and data acquisition
PLM product lifecycle management
STEP standard for the exchange of product model data
5 The equipment behaviour catalogue in context of production systems engineering
and manufacturing operations
This document aims to integrate the EBC into the framework of production systems engineering and
manufacturing operations. Production systems engineering focuses on the design and planning of production
systems (see ISO 18828-2). This discipline encompasses a systematic approach to creating production
processes and systems, which includes selecting and organizing machinery, materials, and labour. The key
objective is to integrate these elements to ensure both efficient and effective production. The engineering
process incorporates the EBC, using it to integrate the structure and behaviour of equipment within the
production system.
Manufacturing operations involve the management and execution of ongoing production activities (see
IEC 62264, ISO 22400). The operation process covers various aspects such as production scheduling,
maintenance, and optimization of resources. The production systems engineered in the planning process
are implemented, with focus on efficiency, reliability, and the ability to adapt to changing demands. The EBC
plays a significant role in interfacing with operational activities, providing detailed insights into equipment
behaviour and acting as a data model for interactions in context of smart manufacturing. To seamlessly
integrate the EBC within the production systems lifecycle, this document defines the relevant interfaces of
the EBC with production systems engineering and operation using a comprehensive information model. An
overview of the information model is given in Annex A.
The engineering and operation processes of production systems require different information related to the
EBC. The engineering process can use information of the product structure related to the EBC for the planning
and design process of the production system. The operation of the production system uses information from
the customer order process and information related to consumption. Information from asset and equipment
can be used in either engineering or operation processes. The information from production planning can
also be used in operation and planning processes. The information is grouped relating to logical packages in
the production system context. This abstraction is visualized in Figure 1 which consists of the EBC and the
five logical packages: product structure (specified in Annex A.6 Product structure), customer order process
(specified in Annex A.5 Customer order process), production planning (specified in Annex A.4 Production

planning), consumption (specified in Annex A.7 Consumption), and asset and equipment (specified in
Annex A.3 Asset and equipment). A logical package includes information of a partial domain in production
system design and operation. In Annex A, the logical packages, including the EBC, are presented in detail. For
the EBC integration, interfaces between the EBC information and the required logical package information
shall be defined. These interfaces are specified in Clause 6.
Key
logical package
interface
indirect relation
Figure 1 — The EBC in context of production systems engineering and manufacturing operations
In the application of the EBC, these interfaces to other parts of the production system information model
are important for the exchange of information to contextualise the EBC usage. The following interfaces and
relations describe the connections and interactions for information exchange:
— the interface between the resource consumption of production and the EBC exchanges information
related to the consumption parameters of the equipment and the production systems such as the amount
of energy used (see 6.3);
— the interface between the asset and equipment and the EBC exchanges information related to the
information of the equipment in the production system context, such as IDs, textual descriptions or
process parameters (see 6.2, 6.3, 6.4, 6.5, 6.6, 6.7);
— the interface between the customer order process and the EBC exchanges information related to the
specific order process such as a product number or quality requirements that need to be fulfilled by the
equipment (see 6.5, 6.6);
— the relation between the production planning, like capacity planning, resource planning, scheduling,
routing, quality control or reporting and monitoring, and EBC is indirect and shares information of the
planned production and its connection with the equipment, e.g. manufacturing orders or specific process
steps and required equipment capabilities;
— the relation between the product structure, like physical product parts or documentation, and EBC is
indirect and shares information about the product, like its structure and specific parts, related to orders
and process steps to be performed by the equipment.
NOTE The last two relations are described in more detail in Annex A.

6 Interfaces for integration of equipment behaviour catalogue
6.1 Introduction
Figure 2 presents a view of the information model depicting the interfaces (message flows) between the EBC
elements and the counterparts which they connect to.
NOTE In a virtual production system, integration of EBCs with other component models proceeds through the
interfaces to obtain and exchange necessary information for equipment behaviour.
Key
logical package
information object
information
information flow
aggregation
composition
Figure 2 — The EBC logical package and interfaces overview
Most of the EBC elements are connected to specific counterparts for information exchange. A brief
explanation of each of them is given below:
— the equipment information object contains all information applicable to machinery equipment. Standard
information such as ID, type and process time are usually given;
— the controller information object addresses information and messages that derive from the infrastructural
layer of an asset, e.g. networked devices such as PLC, sensory technologies etc.;

— the data set information object holds the description of an instantiated data set to express formally its
content such as data type, data dimension etc.;
— the calculations information object summarizes different information types related to the consumption
package in order to calculate a value based on given data;
— the communication bus information object combines all information with regard to the infrastructural
message transfer in a given network technology such as SCADA, token ring, Ethernet and the protocols
used e.g. OPC UA, MQTT etc. It can communicate with an outside information structure such as a
production program or its execution system e.g. using a manufacturing execution system (MES).
It is possible that any EBC can have internal and external relations. Connections to external assets can be
established by using a communication bus. The connections can be implemented using OPC UA (see IEC 62541)
[5] [6]
and AutomationML (see IEC 62714) . Following the listed possibilities of EBC information exchange in
Figure 2, from EBC perspective seven interfaces exist, which are mathematical models, calculation formulas,
program, state data, state, external interaction and the EBC template. These interfaces can be extended
for other integration purposes in other standardisation parts. Figure A.1 provides an overall view of the
interfaces between the EBC and the logical packages of the information model. The interfaces shall fulfil the
requirements that are specified in Table 1 to Table 7.
Tables 1 to 7 adhere to a visualization format that is divided into three sections:
1. Identification: This section contains information that uniquely identifies the interface, such as its name
or ID.
2. Description: This section provides a concise overview of additional information that provides contextual
details about the interface, including its purpose, function, description, and other relevant details. Also,
a modelling of the interfaces, based on Object Management Group Unified Modeling Language (OMG
UML) (see ISO/IEC 19505-2:2012), is provided. Specific component types, library, database, component
and infrastructure stereotypes are used. For the interface descriptions used in accordance to OMG UML
standard notation, the EBC is structured into component diagrams, containing two main components,
EBCMain and EBCStates (see Annex B). The component EBCMain contains metadata that describes the
EBC template, whereas the component EBCStates describes usable data.
3. Parameters: This section stores the general parameters associated with the interface. The specific
parameters vary depending on the nature and characteristics of the interface. Technical constraints
refer to limitations or restrictions imposed by the technical aspects of an interface implementation.
These constraints can arise from various factors, including hardware, software, infrastructure, or
industry standards. They def
...