UCMBSDWG¶

We wish we had a better acronym, but we don't! Your suggestions welcome.¶

We've been hard at work in the Use Case and MB Standards Development Working Group (UCMBSDWG).
A team of 10-ish:

• Rolled out an Agile process to release standards
• Defined initial ways to collaborate on those standards
• Liaised with the Framework Working Group

We want to use the Agile Mindset and Scrum practices to speed-up the typically slow standards process. Why? Because waiting 10 years to revise a standard just won't work with today's needs. We need to deliver quick wins, incrementally improve, and effectively use our highly in-demand subject matter expert volunteers.

As such, we rolled out an agile process to two Working Groups: MBE Terms and Framework. The initial processes we've proposed reflects how we develop standards, how the Subcommittee approves content, and how we pass our work to ASME so they can start their release process. The goal is to refine and iterate on the process and enable continuous development and integration of new features of the standards.

The complexity of implementing an agile process for standards development comes from the fact that groups of volunteers have other commitments that often take precedence. This set of constraints means what might be a regular cadence of scheduled working sessions, often devolves into chaos, leaving the Subcommittee at the mercy of over 20 different companies schedules and priorities.

We propose to use the techniques of Scrum, part of the Agile Mindset. We are adopting a bi-weekly working session cadence and challenging ourselves to get the right sized tasks assigned to our highly-valued volunteers. We are working to defined Scrum Master and Product Owner roles that align with the leaders of each working group to facilitate the Scrum methods.

After that big process leap, we've defined working documents, structures, templates and examples that we hope will help guide indivudual MBE SC volunteers to perform their assigned tasks, and to make their contributions as efficient as possible. The next task is to create system engineering and modeling guidelines to figure out how to distribute activities to leverage domain experts who may not be conversant in system engineering modeling.

The UCMBSD group is also tracking the Framework group, and will develop models that enable the expression of the system architecture and breakdown as we develop models for enterprise integration. The goal of modeling and using an agile processes is to increase the release cadence to create value for enterprises that are struggling with systems that do not communicate and operate on disparate models and semantics.

The MBE Standards Committee (SC) published a governance guide last month. The governance guide includes the structures, responsibilities, and processes that the MBE SC uses to direct and manage its operations, determine how authority is exercised, how decisions are made and/or taken, and how stakeholder needs are addressed. The MBE SC is implementing the governance guide to dictate the structure and standards development methodology of the MBE SC and its subcommittees. The MBE SC hopes the governance guide will help set expectations for new members joining the standards activities and for the public. The governance guide if publicly available at: https://projects.mbe.institute/projects/asme-mbe-public-page/wiki/ASME_MBE_SC_Governance_Guide.

The governance guide is intended to be a pointer to all the ANSI-accredited policies and procedures of ASME. All MBE standards management needs to be in accordance with the policies, procedures, and guidelines of ASME, which are accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and available at: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/governance. The MBE SC governance guide provides links to and guidance for complying with the ANSI-accredited Procedures for ASME Codes and Standards Development Committees with Supplemental Requirements for Committees under the Jurisdiction of the Board on Standardization & Testing and the Guide to Procedures for ASME Codes and Standards Development Committees. The ANSI-accredited policies, procedures, and guidelines for ASME will take ultimate precedence in the case of any conflict with the governance guide.

With the approval of the ASME Board of Standardization and Testing (BST), the MBE Standards Committee (SC) added three new members to its membership. Please welcome Sarah Hale, Ben Kassel, Evan Kessick, and Brandon Sapp! Each new SC member was nominated by a Working Group leader as someone who has actively participating and contributed to the work groups. A brief introduction to each new member is below.

Sarah Hale
Sarah Hale is a mechanical engineer at Sandia National Laboratories for ten years. She spent eight years as a finite element analyst on the Modeling and Simulation Team and joined the Model-Based Enterprise team after noticing that analysis models are frustratingly disconnected from CAD models. As an MBE architect, Sarah works to find ways to connect and reuse all types of models.

Ben Kassel
Ben Kassel is currently a Senior Consultant at LMI. Ben retired from a storied career with the U.S. Navy in 2018. Ben has more than 30+ years of experience in developing process excellence and innovation in CAD/MBD and MBE.

Evan Kessick
Evan Kessick is a Principal Engineer at GE Appliances working to implement Model-Based Enterprise. He supports the business as a GD&T, Tolerance Stacks, and MBD/MBE instructor/mentor. Evan has 15+ years of experience working in engineering and design. He graduated from Western Michigan University and has an ASME GDTP-S 2009 Certification.

Brandon Sapp
Brandon Sapp is an Engineering Technical Specialist in Data/Information Architecture. He leads MBE strategy development and external standards development. Brandon has over 20 years experience in leading implementation of the model-based enterprise within OEMs.

The ASME MBE Standards Committee and all of its working groups held successful public meetings virtually during the week 30 MAR 2020 where progress was made. Below is an update from each working group.

Framework WG¶

The Framework Working Group kicked off its technical work the week of 30 MAR 2020. The Framework WG is focused currently on brainstorming the high-level concepts that together make up the structural definition of Model-Based Enterprise. The Framework WG strives to provide a graphical model with detailed descriptions to define the architectural structure of MBE.

Near-Term Strategy WG¶

The Near-Term Strategy Working Group has been converted into a chartered working group. We will be launching one or two projects in the coming weeks. Thanks to everyone who attended our meetings and signed up to participate!

Terms WG¶

The Terms Working Group has gathered an intital collection of MBE terms with normalized definitions. Definitions for approximately 45 to 50 terms have achieved consensus among the WG by following the WG's Guidelines for Good Definitions. Then, each definition gets validated through a data modeling and structure text proofing process. Furthermore, each term is associated within one or more term themes to allow for a group of terms to be evaluated and approved within a theme's context. Soon these top terms will be promoted for ASME Standard Committee review. The Terms WG would like to thank the many participants in the Terms WG for accepting the challenge of following the process that resulted in a strong normalized definitions and support for their important use-cases.

Use Cases and Model-Based Standards Development WG¶

The Use Case and Model-Based Standards Development Working Group began the first phase of the agile standards process development. The process is one of the first attempts to define a workflow for rapid standards development and member engagement by simplifying the steps and using a combination of SAFe and Scrum techniques to plan and execute activities. We will iterate and refine the process going forward to optimize the flow.

The working groups are still looking for participants. If you would like to get involved with any of the working groups, please send an email to Fred Constantino at constantinof@asme.org.

ASME MBE Near-Term Strategy Working Group (WG) delivered recommendations to the ASME MBE Standards Committee (SC) for identifying and solving near-term MBE challenges. The ASME MBE Near-Term Strategy WG will launch new work in the coming months. The WG is planning to conduct virtual meetings in starting April.

The ASME MBE SC selected several topics that need attention. They are looking to address challenges and gaps in the understanding and adoption of MBD and MBE, how legacy standards can be updated to better support MBD and MBE and help set the foundation for more robust model-based methods. The MBE SC is focused on developing material that can help industry today.

If you would like to hear more about the MBE SC's plans, please attend the upcoming meeting(s). Please watch for the upcoming announcements.

The American Society for Mechanical Engineers MBE Standards Committee is soliciting information to help it specify the methodology used to create model-based standards that can be interpreted by computational systems as well as humans. The Standards Committee is considering multiple industry-standard specification languages and modeling frameworks and is looking for feedback and advice.

A principal concern of the MBE standards is the interchange of data between adjacent systems and the persistence of accurate and stable information in perpetuity across lifecycle phases. We are reaching out to you as an expert in your given field. We are looking to align to your current model-based activities and future strategic plans. ASME and the MBE SC would be very appreciative if you could take a few minutes to answer some questions to help guide our investigation about the best methodology to communicate the digital standards. We want to align our work to address the most value to industry, your company, and its products. Please respond to the best of your ability.

The link to the ASME MBE the Request for Information (RFI) is: https://purdue.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_71YPoHREzoHaxlH

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the ASME MBE SC is hosting virtual public standards meetings the week of 30 MAR 2020. The vMeetings will take place the of the Spring 2020 in-person meetings. The agenda and public teleconference links for the Standards Committee and Working Groups meetings are listed below.

ASME MBE Framework Working Group Agenda, March 31:¶

• Develop the schedule / roadmap for the WG
• Answer what is a Framework
• Discuss process for identifying existing Framworks

ASME MBE Framework Working Group Meeting¶

Date/Time: Tue. March 31, 2020 @ 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://umd.zoom.us/j/986443844 | Meeting ID: 986 443 844

ASME MBE Standards Committee Agenda, April 2¶

• DoD Engineering Drawing and Modeling Working Group
• ASME MBE Working Groups Review
• What is MBE Maturity?
• Overview of the MBSD Request for Information Survey
• Open Discussion, Input from the Public

Open ASME MBE Standards Committee Meeting¶

Date/Time: Thu. April 2, 2020 @ 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://asme.zoom.us/j/390809852 | Meeting ID: 390 809 852

ASME MBE Terms Working Group Agenda, April 2 & 3:¶

• Review MBE Term Definition Process
• Refine MBE Term Definitions
• Reconfirm Initial MBE Top Term Scope

ASME MBE Terms Working Group Meeting (April 2nd)¶

Date/Time: Thu. April 2, 2020 @ 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://asme.zoom.us/j/305509986 | Meeting ID: 305 509 986

ASME MBE Terms Working Group Meeting (April 3rd)¶

Date/Time: Fri. April 3, 2020 @ 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://asme.zoom.us/j/801481003 | Meeting ID: 801 481 003

ASME MBE Model-Based Standards Development (MBSD) Working Group Agenda, April 1,2,3:¶

• RFI Review
• WG Deliverables Review
• Create tasks timeline and roadmap
• Development Methodology
• Standards Development Frameworks

ASME MBE Model-Based Standards Development (MBSD) Working Group Meeting (April 1)¶

Date/Time: Wed. April 1, 2020 @ 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/554570868 | Meeting ID: 554 570 868

ASME MBE Model-Based Standards Development (MBSD) Working Group Meeting (April 2)¶

Date/Time: Thu. April 2, 2020 @ 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/554570868 | Meeting ID: 554 570 868

ASME MBE Model-Based Standards Development (MBSD) Working Group Meeting (April 3)¶

Date/Time: Fri. April 3, 2020 @ 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM EDT
Join Zoom Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/554570868 | Meeting ID: 554 570 868

The ASME MBE SC is developing a formal process for distributing Requests for Information (RFIs) to gather input from MBE standards stakeholders. The MBE SC hopes a formal process for RFIs will speed up the standards-development lifecycle by focusing the MBE SC's attention on areas of topic concern for stakeholders. The MBE SC is in the investigating phase for the RFI process.

However, to assist with the current MBE standards activities, the Use Cases & Model-Based Standards Development (UC&MBSD) Working Group (WG) is considering using a survey to start gathering input from stakeholders. The UC&MBSD WG is soliciting information to help it specify the methodology used to create Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) standards that can be interpreted by computational systems as well as humans. The Standards Committee is considering multiple industry-standard specification languages and modeling frameworks and is looking for feedback and advice. Please be on the look out for the upcoming survey and respond to the best of your ability!

Lat year, 2019, was a great first year for the Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) Standards Committee (SC). The formation of the MBE SC was approved in late-2018 by the ASME Board on Codes & Standards Operations and the ASME Council on Standards and Certification. The membership of the MBE SC was approved in early-2019 by the ASME Board on Standardization & Testing. All of the MBE standards activities are new areas for ASME. The proposed standards will support industry’s use of a digital structure, digital tools, and digital methods throughout the product lifecycle.

In 2019, the MBE SC approved the creation of a general subject-matter experts (SMEs) support group where any interested person that completes a PAF and PF-1 form is granted automatic membership. The SMEs support group is used to recruit participants to the various MBE SC working groups (WGs) and eventual subcommittees. There are 63 SMEs support group members currently. In addition, the MBE SC approved the formation of three chartered WGs: the Terms WG, the Use Cases & Model-Based Standards Development WG, and the MBE Framework WG. These WGs met throughout the last half of 2019 and are making great progress towards recommendations for the first ASME MBE standards. Lastly, the MBE SC also held two face-to-face ASME MBE standards meetings in 2019: April 2019 at NIST in Gaithersburg MD and November 2019 in San Antonio TX. Prospective MBE members are encouraged to attend the face-to-face meetings as well as any WGs teleconferences that are held in-between the face-to-face meetings.

In addition to the three chartered WGs, the MBE SC also formed an ad-hoc Near-Term Strategy Working Group to focus on determining the short term goals, products, and activities needed to support the transition of industry to more model-based methods.

Moving into 2020, the MBE SC remains focused on defining terms for MBE, developing a high-level framework to describe MBE, and describing methods for developing MBE standards using model-based approaches. Below are their purpose statements from each chartered WG.

• The Terms Working Group’s focus is to begin collecting and defining terms, acronyms, and abbreviations for use in ASME MBE Standards.
• The MBE Framework Working Group defines the concept of a model-based enterprise by providing a high-level structural definition.
• The Use Cases & Model-Based Standards Development Working Group defines the methods the MBE SC will use to develop use cases and model-based standards.

The Terms WG and the Use Cases & Model-Based Standards Development WG each currently meet biweekly for a one hour via teleconference to make technical progress. The MBE Framework WG is still forming and hopes to meet at the upcoming Spring 2020 meetings at NIST. As the 2020 work plan gets rolling, the ASME MBE SC hopes that you will become involved with standardization efforts and help usher in the digital transformation of industry's engineering and manufacturing enterprises.

The ASME MBE Standards Committee will hold a Spring 2020 meeting in conjunction with the MBE Summit, which will be held on March 30 – April 3, 2020 at NIST, Gaithersburg, MD. Free registration to the MBE Summit is required to attend the meetings and can be found at the following link: https://www.nist.gov/news-events/events/2020/03/model-based-enterprise-summit-2020. The MBE Summit 2020 will kick-off on Monday, March 30, 2020 with a set of tutorials and workshops. Then, several technical plenary and presentations sessions will take place over March 31 to the morning April 2. Lastly, the ASME MBE standards committee and working groups will meet over the afternoon of April 2 through April 3. The current overview agenda for the MBE standards meetings is below:

Overview Agenda (subject to change)

• Thursday, April 2, 1:00 pm -- 5:30pm
  • SC F2F Meeting, 1:00 pm -- 2:00 pm
  • Working Group Meetings, 2:00 pm -- 5:30 pm
• Friday, April 3, 8:30 am -- 3:30 pm
  • Working Group Meetings, 8:30 am -- 2:30 pm
  • SC F2F Meeting, 2:30 pm -- 3:30 pm