Virtual Enterprise Collaboration Hub (VEC-Hub)
VEC-Hub Services
The Virtual Enterprise Collaboration Hub, VEC-Hub, Concept specifies how a number of “services” provide collaborative and shared data functionality to a set of partners working together [1]. The VEC-Hub is defined to be a neutral, partner managed platform and a core concept to realize this, without specifying details about which application/ system/tool is providing it, is the use of W3C’s
Web Services [2].
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The maturity of the VEC-Hub capabilities are measured based on the Technology Readiness Level, TRL metrics [3]. The VIVACE TRL-levels are defined using a 1-9 scale where:
- 1 = “Basic principles observed and reported”
- 9 = “Actual technology system proven through successful (reliable & maintained) operation in service.”
For each VEC-Hub service or service group the estimated TRL level achieved within the VIVACE project is stated with a symbol in the page margin. A number of services, i.e. the PLCS/PLM services and the Reference management services, have already been deployed outside of VIVACE reaching TRL-levels of 8 and 9.
VEC-HUB PORTAL SERVICES
Visibility of and Interaction with the services provided by the VEC-Hub are enabled by the VEC-Hub portal services represented by the outer dashed circle of Portal Services in figure 1.
Access Management
To cater for easy access to the common collaboration assets the VEC-Hub Access Services promote a commodity tools supported Graphical User Interface built on top of the API.
Service Management
- Service Registry: provides a mean to register services on the VEC-Hub;
- Service Repository: provides a mean for collecting and keeping track of information on registered services on the VEC-Hub;
- Service Access Manager: provides a mean for granting access to registered services;
- Accounting Manager: provides a mean for keeping track of an invoicing counter for partners for using certain services.
Security Management
- Securing VEC-Hub areas – providing information and service areas protection against access by nonVirtual Enterprise (VE) partners;
- Protecting VEC-Hub connections – securing the connections of the VEC-Hub both for partners accessing information but also for partners providing services to the VEC-Hub. In general, an insecure medium will be used: the Internet. Hence, these connections must be secured;
- VEC-Hub access control - managing access-rights to the VEC-Hub services: only allowing certain users, certain groups or companies to access a specific service. In general this includes: Authentication, Authorisation and Role Management, Single sign-on (SSO).
Different security approaches are further described at the VEC-Hub dissemination portal [1].
VEC-HUB CORE SERVICES
These services are the ones that characterize the VECHub and are represented by the inner dashed circle of Core Services in figure 1. They are planned to be mandatory in the sense that they define the product and its structure, the organizations/persons with their roles and accesses, the workflows like change requests and dynamic design workflows and finally the classification of all these previous concepts in the reference data
Product Information Services
within OASIS [5].
The key set of PLCS / PLM services are the following:
- Part Management Services – covers management of parts and part structures;
- Document Management Services - covers services regarding management of documents;
- Change Management Services - covers services regarding controlled changes like managing Engineering Change Proposals;
- Call back Services – manages subscriptions to and notifications of events in the VEC-Hub.
Organisational Services
Workflow Services
The following key services are identified:
- Management of workflows, i.e. create, edit and delete;
- Start/Stop/Monitor a remote workflow process;
- Exception handling: i.e. managing error messages from workflow processes;
- Security: access by authorized users only.
Reference Data Services
All, so called, domain models will be defined in the reference data library, RDL. Products defined in the P part of the VEC-Hub may be checked against the RDL to assure that the classification is valid
SUPPLEMENTARY SERVICES
Partners or service providers may want to share services that are not considered to be core services for the Virtual Enterprise Collaboration but still crucial to be able to run relevant business processes in the Virtual Enterprise. These services are accessible through a service interface on the VEC-Hub and are named Supplementary Services. The infrastructure supporting the service interface resides on the partner’s or service provider’s network, maintained and controlled by the supplying party.
The following supplementary services have been defined to demonstrate how to implement such services:
Content Translations Services - Enable partners to use data from the VEC-Hub in their preferred tools. The translation services may be used to convert geometric data, analysis data or any kind of data that has to be shared between different applications.
Virtual Meeting Services - offers a way of brokering virtual meeting services that could be adapted to fit each partner organization’s needs.
Engineering Analysis Services - The services are supporting model preparation, solving and results processing of engineering analysis.
References
[1] VEC-Hub dissemination portal: http://www.VEC-Hub.org
[2] W3C Web Services: http://www.w3.org/2002/ws
[3] Technology Readiness Level: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/codeq/trl/trl.pdf
[4] ISO and Industrial Data: http://www.tc184-sc4.org
[5] OASIS: http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/plcs
[6] VIVACE public results: http://www.vivaceproject.com