Product definition information drives many business processes, yet its management at a coarse level (documents and files) precludes efficient automation and decision support. Information management at finer levels of granularity realizes the full potential of computable representations. This paper presents an industry oriented perspective of engineering information management (EIM) technologies and implementations and offers classifications of information systems as it relates to EIM systems and business processes. The concept of structured business objects that encapsulate the information and business-process definition at appropriate levels of granularity to support enterprise process dynamics is introduced. This provides a key construct to model the unique, and sometimes opposing, process perspectives within the enterprise. The paper then discusses key EIM and integration issues and future directions.

Issue Section:
Technical Papers
Keywords:
engineering information systems, business data processing, management information systems, information technology, CAD/CAM
Topics:
Dynamics (Mechanics), Enterprise information management, Design
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