Bridging the Data Divide

Leveraging XML to Build Integrated

Aftermarket Parts Catalogs

Yossi Garfinkel
Product Manager
Enigma, Inc.

December 2001
Session Aims

 Review Key XML Capabilities

 Present Aftermarket Business Cycle

 Familiarization with Parts Catalogs

● Content, Functionality, User View

 Understand Technical Challenges

 Outline Role of XML

● Data Representation, Integration, Interchange

 Evaluate Pros and Cons

Key XML Capabilities

 XML can be used to define or represent structure

in all kinds of data

 XML is a medium for data integration

 XML has a set of related technologies for

processing XML tagged data

 XML separates content from presentation

 XML is the common language for data interchange

Aftermarket Business Cycle

 Aircraft Engine costs $10 million

● Lifetime 20 years

 Aftermarket orders value $30 million

● Maintenance, Repair and Replacement Parts

 Information drives Aftermarket commerce

● 100,000s of pages
● Varied content
● Multiple sources
Aftermarket Parts Catalog

 Maintenance Documents
● Maintenance Manuals
● Service Bulletins
● Standard Operating Procedures

 Technical Information
● Assembly illustrations
● Part Configurations
● Part Details

 Commerce Capability
● Shopping Cart
Catalog Content Structures

 Aftermarket Parts Catalogs deliver widely varying

forms of data

 Free Text
● Maintenance Documents

 Tree-Structured Data
● Assembly configurations

 Images
● Assembly Illustrations

 Tabular Data
● Part Details
Catalog Content Sources

 Aftermarket Parts Catalogs deliver information

from multiple enterprise systems

 Assembly Configurations
● ERP, PDM

 Part Details
● ERP, RDBMS

 Illustrations
● PDM, File System

 Maintenance documents
● DMS, File System
Catalog Content Summary

 Multi-Source

 Multi-Structure

Assembly Service Assembly

Configurations Bulletins Part Details
Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System ERP, CRM File System

RDBMS DMS RDBMS PDM
Basic Catalog Functionality

 Filter Contents
● by model or serial number

 Search
● by Part Number, Part Description, Free-Text
More Catalog Functionality

 Assembly
Tree
Navigation

 Image
Hotspots
Links

1
Catalog Interaction with Business Environment

 Part Orders

Parts Orders

Order Managment
Procurement Systems

Catalog Contents

Multi-Supplier Catalogs
Exchanges
Procurement

 Catalog Syndication
1
Catalog Functionality Summary

VIEW
EXPORT

Catalog
Contents

SEARCH Multi-Supplier Catalogs

text
Procurement Systems
Exchanges
NAVIGATE FILTER

LINK Parts Orders

Order Managment
Procurement Systems

1
Technical Challenge

 Deliver unified view ..

 Support common catalog functionality ..

 .. across multiple content structures

 .. from multiple content sources

1
Role of XML
Leveraging XML for Aftermarket Parts Catalogs

 XML is a standard format for defining structure in

all kinds of data

 XML is a medium for data interchange

 XML has a developing set of related technologies

for managing XML tagged data
● XSL/T, XPath, XLink, XPointer, XQuery etc.

 XML separates Content from presentation

 XML is the Lingua Franca for data interchange

1
Integrate Disparate Content

 Format Varied Catalog Content as XML

● Documents - Original use of SGML/XML
● Assembly Trees - Suited to XML tree structure
● Part Details – Feasible, less suitable for storage
● Assembly Illustrations - SVG

Assembly Service Assembly

Part Details
Configurations Bulletins Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System File System ERP, CRM

RDBMS DMS PDM RDBMS

1
Create XML Layer

 XML Layer serves as Virtual Repository

XML Layer

Assembly Service Assembly

Part Details
Configurations Bulletins Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System File System ERP, CRM

RDBMS DMS PDM RDBMS

 Synchronize Tagging Conventions to fullest extent

 Format RDBMS data on-the-fly as XML

1
View Catalog Content

 Presentation layer logic formats XML data for display

● JSP
● JavaScript
● XSL

XML
XML Layer

Assembly Service Assembly

Part Details
Configurations Bulletins Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System File System ERP, CRM

RDBMS DMS PDM RDBMS

1
Support Catalog Functionality

 Leverage XML related technologies for

● Searching
● Filtering
● Navigating
● Linking
Processing

XML
●

. . . XPath . . . XLink . . . XPointer . . . XQuery . . .

XML Layer
. . . XSL/T . . .

Assembly Service Assembly

Part Details
Configurations Bulletins Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System File System ERP, CRM

RDBMS DMS PDM RDBMS

1
Export Selected Catalog Content

 Catalog
Content
Syndication

XML
. . . XPath . . . XLink . . . XPointer . . . XQuery . . .
Catalog
Contents
XML XML Layer XML Parts Orders

. . . XSL/T . . .
Multi-Supplier Catalogs Order Managment
Procurement Systems Procurement Systems
Exchanges

Assembly Service Assembly

Part Details
 Part
Orders
Configurations Bulletins Illustrations

ERP, PDM File System File System ERP, CRM

RDBMS DMS PDM RDBMS
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XML Summary

 Advantages
● Standard format for structuring data
● Suitable for representing all kinds of content
● XML Layer unties data from repository for data
integration
● Separates content from presentation for customizable
user interface
● Supported by growing body of open-standards
functionality
● Lingua franca for data interchange

2
XML Summary

 Issues
● Effort to map data from different sources
● Added overhead for converting non-XML data to XML
● Limited XML-related functionality compared to native
application systems
● Unifying data requires mapping and transforming
● Slow emergence of authoritative XML standards

2
Thank You