Research Triangle Park, NC (July 9, 2007) - WBF announces the release of V04 of the Business To Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML), now available for immediate download. B2MML is developed and made publicly available by WBF to aid the adoption of the ISA-95 standard for the integration of enterprise business systems with manufacturing control and execution systems. B2MML is a powerful complement to the ISA-95 standard and has been widely adopted as the defacto implementation of the ISA-95 standard.
B2MML V04 is a major new release, adding support for Part 5 of the ISA-95 Enterprise-Control System Integration Standard. ISA-95 Part 5 defines standard transactions that allow business and manufacturing systems to have a dialogue using the existing ISA-95 data objects such as Production Schedule, Production Performance, Material Information and Equipment Information. B2MML V04 supports interoperability of standards by defining transactions that are consistent with OAGIS's (Open Applications Group's XML business language) transactions.
The B2MML V04 release also includes support for UN/CEFACT core components which aids in interoperability with other XML vocabularies. Core components are one part of the work UN/CEFACT is developing aimed at standardizing data exchange to foster electronic business and facilitate trade. Support of core components by B2MML and other XML vocabularies is a step to eliminate duplicate definitions of basic data definitions common to many data exchange standards.
B2MML V04 is a major release but maintains complete upward compatibility with the previous version. While B2MML V04 supports the ISA-95 Part 5 transactions, previous implementations of B2MML can still be used with V04. The new version was created by the WBF's XML Working Group, which is a volunteer effort with the resulting work product considered open source.
"B2MML V04 provides the transactional support requested by manufacturers and system suppliers to enable a robust implementation of the ISA-95 standard," says Dave Emerson the WBF's XML Working Group Chairman. "This work was accomplished with support from working group members in the U.S., Europe and Asia so it truly represents a global resource that can be used to improve the total cost of ownership of integrating manufacturing systems with enterprise systems."
"The new standard with support for transactions brings a new level of functionality and will significantly speed up implementations by vendors and end users, reducing integration project time and effort and simplifying MES to ERP integration." says Dennis Brandl, President of BR&L Consulting and member of the WBF working group.
About WBF
WBF provides an open forum for the exchange of information related to the management, operation, and automation of manufacturing processes. Created in 1994, members of the non-profit, professional organization include end-users, vendors, consultants and academics. WBF provides organization, management, and structure to facilitate networking among its members and sharing of knowledge and information related to manufacturing processes. WBF documents best practices and guidelines for implementation of standards that apply to batch control and the exchange of batch data, as well as conducting technical conferences and technical training programs. WBF is a founding charter member of The Automation Federation.
