Standard blueprints for interoperability in factories of the future (FoF)

Globalisation has become attractive to small companies, as it has allowed them to enter in new markets and increase their profits. However, they still face some challenges, as larger corporations are also increasing their market share in those new markets, leaving little room for the others to compete. Therefore, SMEs need to join efforts with other SMEs and form consortiums. Still, consortium formation is not without its problems. Some issues arise because the various SMEs in a consortium utilize different systems, different standards, and in the case of international consortiums, there are also language and culture barriers, which cause difficulties in communication. One way to avoid these issues is the creation of a central system, which will relate with the different systems belonging to the various SMEs. This is the aim of the IMAGINE project, which aims to use blueprints as a standard for company, product and process information. This paper presents a proposal for an extension of the Partner and Product Blueprint to be integrated in the IMAGINE platform.