Software Engineering
Research Bridges Gap Between Process Design Standard and Machine-Readable Data Exchange
A new AutomationML library enables standardized, tool-independent conversion of engineering process diagrams into structured data formats.
Formalized Process Description (FPD), a standard notation established under VDI/VDE 3682, has long provided engineers across multiple disciplines with a consistent way to visualize and communicate process workflows. However, the standard had a significant limitation: no agreed-upon way for software tools to exchange process models in a machine-readable format, leading to vendor lock-in and integration challenges.
The Problem with Process Model Exchange#
While the FPD notation offered clear graphical conventions for representing processes, engineers faced friction when trying to move models between different design tools or platforms. Without a formal, tool-agnostic data structure, exchanging complex process diagrams required manual re-entry or proprietary conversions, creating bottlenecks in collaborative engineering work.
A Standardized Solution#
Researchers have developed an AutomationML (AML) domain library that encodes the entire FPD language into a machine-readable format built on the Computer Aided Engineering Exchange (CAEX) 3.0 standard. The library consists of five interconnected modules: role definitions that capture semantic meaning, interface specifications for connection types, two attribute libraries (one for information models, another for diagram appearance), and templates for instantiating process components.
The design handles several technical challenges—including inheritance hierarchies, how diagrams decompose into sub-processes, and how to preserve visual presentation information alongside functional content.
Practical Demonstration#
The team developed a bidirectional conversion tool that translates between a web-based FPD editor and AML format, demonstrating that the library framework works in practice. This allows models created in one environment to be imported, modified, and exported through different tools without loss of fidelity.
The work opens pathways for tighter integration across the engineering software ecosystem and reduces friction in cross-platform process design workflows.