ISO 10303-239 Activity Model

ISO 10303-239 Activity Model Coverage

The ISO 10303-239 PLCS Application Activity Model (AAM) is an IDEF0 representation of the business activities that set the scope and information requirements for the PLCS standard. The model is composed of a set of figures and a set of definitions of these business activities and their associated information flows.

IDEFØ provides a graphical notation for function modeling of an organization or system. Activities can be described by their inputs, outputs, controls and mechanisms (ICOMs).

This DEX supports a subset of these business activities and information flows. These are highlighted in yellow in the figures Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6, Figure 7, Figure 8, and Figure 9.

The information flows marked with an asterisk are not explicitly represented within PLCS. This information is instead transferred by other means, e.g., handled by a document.

Figure 1 —  A-0 In scope - Provide support

Figure 2 —  A0 In scope - Provide through life support for product

Figure 3 —  A1 In scope - Manage information to support a product

Figure 4 —  A1.2 In scope - Manage identification

Figure 5 —  A1.2.1 In scope - Identify product and support system elements

Figure 6 —  A1.2.2 In scope - Define product structure

Figure 7 —  A1.2.2.1 In scope - Develop structure views

Figure 8 —  A1.3 In scope - Manage information

Figure 9 —  A1.3.4 In scope - Release assured product and support information

ISO 10303-239 Activity Model Definitions

ISO 10303-239 Activity Definitions

The activity labels in the AAM views above have the following definitions:

Classify element or interface

action to classify elements to provide a convenient reference in the business context

NOTE   

The classification method will also assist in defining information needs. Classification of elements can include:

• the selection of configuration items and configuration item interfaces;
• differentiation by size or complexity, using distinctions such as, major unit, minor unit, assembly, and raw material;
• differentiation in respect of types of information to be held, including those items that require load testing.

Define information required for element or interface

action to define what APSI shall be developed and maintained for each item in question, to enable the support solution definition to be implemented and maintained throughout the life of the PIF

NOTE   

A configuration item can have a large quantity of associated information. Such information can include:

• design data;
• configuration item interfaces;
• specifications;
• interface control documentation;
• records of support analyses such as reliability centred maintenance analysis, or level of repair analysis;
• the support solution definition;
• technical publications;
• test results and certification;
• quality assurance documentation.

Define link between product structures

action to establish necessary links between different product breakdown views, reflecting relationships of interest

NOTE   

Potential relationships include:

• connectivity relationships between parts that can be supported by interfaces;
• parts used to realize a function;
• parts located in a zone.

Define product structure

action to develop the required views of each relevant product, in the form of assembly structures or breakdowns built from classified elements and to establish necessary relationships between the different views to provide navigation between views

NOTE    The managed set of product views (the PIF structure) provides unambiguous identification of the PIF for support management purposes and a key mechanism for navigating and managing the effectivity of all related information, including that specified by the information need providing the product definition and support solution.

Develop physical breakdown

action to develop a physical breakdown that is for the PIF scope and can act as a collector for product and support requirements and for other information relating to physical aspects of the PIF

NOTE   

Every element within a physical breakdown is a physical part or assembly. A complex product may require many different physical breakdown views to serve different communities of interest. Support engineers typically develop a physical breakdown of Logistically Significant Items derived from, and related to, the product assembly structure. This LSI breakdown differs from the product assembly structure in several important respects:

• it may reflect a different level of detail (sometimes less, sometimes more);
• it may need to expose repeated occurrences of parts, where these have different usage or support requirements, such as a main, and standby pump;
• it may identify slots. This LSI breakdown is often used to structure and record the analysis of support tasks.

Develop structure views

action to establish the necessary breakdown views of the PIF by defining parent-child relationships between related elements

NOTE    This part of ISO 10303 provides a generic mechanism for representing product assemblies or product breakdowns from any required perspective. A product assembly structure is usually developed by the engineering design process. This is used to define the parts and versions that make up the product and to develop a bill of material for product manufacture. Life cycle support activities will usually require the establishment of other product breakdown views. These views can include a decomposition of product functions from the operator or maintainer perspective and, in some cases, a zonal description of the product to assist maintenance planning. Each breakdown will contain similar classified elements, linked together in a hierarchical fashion.

Identify element

action to provide unambiguous names and identifiers for all elements of the Product in Focus and the support system

NOTE    An element may have many identifiers, each assigned by a different organization. This model assumes that the pair of values for "identifier" and "assigning organization" are unique across the PIF scope. This should be reflected in the Information Management Rules.

Identify product & support system elements

action to provide both unambiguous identification and classification of all elements forming part of the PIF and its support system to which reference needs to be made, including interfaces and other relationships between such elements to which configuration management shall apply

NOTE    Classification of elements and interfaces can be used to assist in defining information needs.

Implement information release plan

action to execute and monitor the release process in accordance with a change order

Manage identification

action to provide unambiguous identification of all elements, and versions, of the product or support system to which reference needs to be made, identification of interfaces between elements, the necessary assembly, and other breakdowns structures, required to manage the product through life and definition of the information to be held for each type of product and support system element

NOTE   

This activity occurs throughout the product life cycle and is the basis of management of configuration change and configuration status accounting of a product and all constituent configuration items. The purposes and benefits of this activity include:

• determining the structure (hierarchy) of a product and the organization and relationships of configuration documentation and other product information;
• documentation of the performance, interface and other attributes of a product;
• determination of the appropriate level of identification marking of product and documentation;
• unique identification of a product or component part of a product;
• unique identification of the technical documents describing the product;
• modification of identification of product and documents to reflect incorporation of change;
• distinction between product versions;
• correlation of document revision level to product version;
• correlation of a PIF to related user or maintenance instructions at the configuration item level.

Manage information

action to manage the information related to a PIF

NOTE    This activity corresponds to configuration and data management and the major output is APSI, which encompasses the entire configuration and support data. A subset of the APSI is the configuration status record. The dynamic nature of the configuration and data management activity, and its importance within the operation of a consistent configuration management process throughout the product life cycle requires a formal approval process to attain APSI status. All configuration documentation (requirements and design documentation) and associated operational information (operating procedures, parts catalogues, and so on) that comprise the configuration status record must be formally managed and approved. In essence, approve, release and record is a process that makes configuration and support documentation available for use, subjects it to configuration change management and maintains the assured status of the APSI.

Manage information to support a product

action to capture, and manage through life, the information needed to support the PIF

NOTE   

This activity includes configuration identification of the PIF and its support system plus configuration change management of the integrated set of APSI used to develop the support solution and provide support. It also includes development of information management rules that govern the recording, storage and publication of APSI and of all other related information generated or used by support activities such as maintenance history. APSI includes:

• product structure, including identification of permitted, actual and desired configuration;
• product performance, with tolerances and representations;
• support requirements and description of the support environment;
• product failure modes and diagnostic data;
• maintenance concepts, plans and task instructions including definition of the feedback required when tasks are executed;
• resources needed to conduct maintenance.

Populate information structure

action to populate the PIF structure with the information specified by information needs

NOTE    This activity captures all necessary information on product and support elements, including relevant interfaces and inter-changeability information, and establishes appropriate relationships with the PIF structure to establish a sufficient set of product and support information for the PIF to meet life cycle support needs.

Release assured product & support information

action to authorize and release the assured information needed to achieve product life cycle support

NOTE   

This action involves checking the PSI for:

• completeness against the information need;
• compliance with the change order and the information management rules;
• timely release as required by the change implementation plan.

Verify suitability for release

action to check that all required approvals are present and segregate private and public view information from common configurations but for different customers

NOTE    The private and public view information will be placed on different release plans.

ISO 10303-239 ICOM Definitions

The ICOM arrow labels in the AAM views above have the following definitions:

APSI

set of information, subject to configuration change management, that is established to develop and deliver support for a product in focus

NOTE   

This term corresponds to the EIA 649 term "product configuration information" which includes:

• product definition information that defines the product requirements, documents the product attributes and is the authoritative source for configuration definition;
• product operational information, used to test operate maintain and dispose of the product.

APSI and related information

set of assured and related information used to develop and deliver support for a product in focus, including feedback from using and supporting the product over its life cycle

NOTE    Related information includes records of the history of the usage or support of realized products, design and support analysis results and reasons why decisions were taken. Such information includes design and failure analysis records, logistic support analyses, running hours, environment descriptions, operating profiles; test results, records of maintenance activities, resources used, and faults found plus any other content deemed relevant to life cycle support.

classified element or relationship

element of the PIF or its support system and that has been identified and assigned to one or more classes of element, plus any relationships between elements needing to be tracked for support purposes

NOTE    Unambiguous identification includes the assignment of a name (for use by humans) and an alphanumeric identifier (for use within computers) that are unique within a context. The context for a name or identifier is the organization that provides the name and identification. Elements can have more than one name and identifier assigned by different organizations. The classification of an element can include a class that helps identify the APSI that is required for this element type. Relationships can include any of those specified by the information model of this part of ISO 10303.

developed structure views

set of product structure views and breakdowns that the life cycle owner has chosen to establish and maintain for the life of the PIF

feedback

information of relevance to support that is derived from experience or observation

NOTE   

In combination with other inputs to the configuration management activities feedback may prompt the need for a change and assist the development of a change. Feedback may include:

• work requests or issues that may lead to change;
• requests for identifiers for product or support elements;
• impact reports in response to change tasks;
• status reports on progress with change tasks;
• support and commissioning feedback.

identified element

any subdivision of the PIF, the support system or related information to which consistent reference needs to be made as part of product life cycle support

NOTE    Certain identified elements may be selected as Configuration Items.

information management rules *

set of rules and interpretation guidance provided to achieve effective information sharing and exchange across the PIF scope

NOTE   

Such rules can include:

• policies and instructions on the management of APSI and related information specifying what information shall be recorded, utilized and archived when performing support activities;
• information models, standards, formats, business rules, naming conventions and reference data required to achieve effective communication;
• specifications of the information to be acquired or disposed of along with the product or support elements as they enter or leave the information management domain defined by the PIF scope;
• references to this or other parts of ISO 10303 that shall apply to information of relevance to the PIF.

information need *

specification of the information that shall be developed and maintained within the APSI for any PIF or support system element or class of elements

naming convention *

standards and conventions that are to be applied when identifying elements of the PIF or support system

NOTE    Naming conventions are part of the information management rules.

PIF structure

integrated set of classified elements and interfaces, product structure views and relationships between product structure views required to provide life cycle support

NOTE   

The PIF structure comprises:

• the set of breakdown and assembly views being maintained for the product in focus including effectivity statements on the current, required and permitted configurations of each individual planned or realized product;
• relationships between breakdown and assembly views such as functional to physical links for both design and individual structures;
• identification of interfaces between elements.

product & support element information

any information about the product in focus and related support elements that is required by participants in life cycle support

NOTE   

This information may include:

• product definition information;
• product performance information;
• predicted failures;
• diagnostic data;
• descriptions of the product or support element;
• manufacturing records;
• product characteristics of relevance to support;
• descriptions of people and organizations;
• the operating and maintenance history of individual acquired items if relevant to future support.

product & support information

potential APSI prior to authorization and release

product assembly structure

hierarchical view of a product based on the assembly of its constituent parts

NOTE    The product assembly may be used to derive a parts list or bill of materials.

related information

information that is related to the APSI but is not subject to configuration change management

NOTE    Such information includes feedback from operations and maintenance.

releasable product information

information relating to the product that can be released as APSI, under the conditions specified by the information release plan

request for identifier

request to provide identification for new elements of the product or support system element

NOTE    Requests may arise from new product concepts, developing breakdowns of existing products, or from changes.

required structures

set of product assembly or breakdown views that the life cycle owner requires to establish and maintain the PIF

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