Information architecture for intelligent products in the internet of things
Kary Främling, Jan Nyman · 2008
Purpose of this paper The paper presents an information architecture for managing product information during the whole lifecycle about "dumb " products as well as products that have their own processing capabilities. Real-life implementations presented show the technical feasibility of the architecture and attempt to illustrate the potential commercial impact. Design/methodology/approach As defined in Weiser (1993): “standard experimental computer science”, meaning construction of working prototypes in sufficient quantity and showing that it works. Findings Presentation of two real-world implementations for Product Lifecycle Information Management, generalisation of these to other kinds of products (appliances, machines, shipments etc.). Practical implications (if applicable) Disseminate the existence of an information architecture with ongoing standardization efforts that could address increasingly urgent issues of product lifecycle information management. What is original/value of paper No alternative information architecture for the same purpose is known yet. Comparisons are made with e.g. the EPC Global architecture in order to explain why they are not sufficient. The implementations described illustrate how consumers, maintenance providers and manufacturers can be integrated with the architecture in a scalable way.