A generic model to support rapid product development : an XML schema approach

Customer expectations are constantly changing in today's volatile marketing environment. Product life cycle is becoming shorter and shorter, an important issue that must be addressed. Success in addressing this issue requires the creation of an environment that fosters good collaboration in the product development process. This paper focuses on a pilot application for resolution of the conflict in data exchange. The proposed Product Information Markup Language (PIML) provides a standard for universal product information exchange that enables knowledge workers to acquire sufficient and accurate information. The suggested approach achieves seamless data interchange based on object technology that serves to transform relational database tables into objects; these objects in turn become data components within PIML. The significance of this research is the provision of a cross-platform data exchange approach that enhances the efficiency of product development processes.Department of Industrial and Systems Engineerin