Engineering Object Change Management Process Observation in Distributed Automation Systems Projects

Development processes for automation systems, such as power plants and industrial production plants, involve several engineering domains, e.g., mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, as well as artifacts based on heterogeneous tools and data models. Observations in automation systems development highlighted challenges (a) in the collaboration of engineering domain experts and (b) in process observation for project monitoring and control across engineering disciplines and tools. However, efficient data exchange is a pre-condition for process observation and control and enables efficient collaboration within systems development projects. Based on the Engineering Service Bus (EngSB) – a middleware platform for supporting collaboration across tools and domain borders – this paper presents the implementation of a change management process in an industry showcase at a system integrator in a power plant engineering domain. First results showed increased flexibility, improved collaboration capabilities, and the ability to measure process metrics across discipline borders, which could not easily be measured in common automation systems development processes.