Utilização de ontologias de referências como abordagem para interoperabilidade entre sistemas de informação utilizados ao longo do ciclo de vida de produtos

Abstract

To guarantee survival in an increasingly competitive and globalized market, companies need to differentiate themselves not only through the launch of new products, but also through the effective use of information to better serve the needs and expectations of their customers. However, finding well-structured information is difficult and the lack of clarity often leads to errors and project inconsistencies. One of the most promising and sought-after solutions to guarantee the accurate exchange of information is the use of an ontology, a structural framework that aids in the interoperability of different information systems. The objective of this research is to propose an approach to software interoperability, based on an ontology reference system, that can be used throughout the product lifecycle. This approach presents a conceptual model that creates a reference ontology based on the identification of interoperability needs. This research presents sufficient evidence that semantics mapping can be achieved in conjunction with the appropriate information class, properties, and axioms. To highlight real-world scenarios that exemplify how this conceptual model could be effectively applied, this research refers to a case study from the recycled paper industry. In addition, this study identifies two information systems that are currently used throughout the product lifecycle which utilize heterogeneous data structures with no direct correspondence between terms. Through constructive methods and existing tools, a reference ontology was created for these systems. Three interoperability scenarios were analyzed and solutions were proposed for semantic interoperability using the suggested model.