Toward a process and method for tracing the development of information objects used in engineering design

The work reported here builds on the framework for EDI development presented previously by discussing the requirements for information object traceability in respect of the context-bearing information that must be associated with the design information, the nature of the information object development process and the process, requirements and activities for the traceability process itself. In order to provide a continuously updatable and accessible record of the development of an engineering design information object, authors propose the use of the "traceability scenario". The key characteristic of the traceability scenario is that the traceability operation is performed at certain point in a time, in order to create a traceable item from some of the elements of the underlying engineering design process. It is concluded that the greater the extent that semantics are defined for traceable activities and objects, the greater the "intelligence" that can be brought to bear in tracing information development.