Informative representation of a system is provided by a model. For systems engineers, models are used to represent different information from different disciplines, e.g., electrical engineering, pro-cess engineering, mechanical engineering etc. But how do the different disciplines know that they in fact are representing different information but about the same system (partly or fully) in var-ious models?
In a digital world, where models are stored and information exchanged by computer systems as well as humans, one need an unambiguous common language about systems which is understood by humans as well as digital solutions across disciplines.
This paper introduces the ISO/IEC 81346 Standard series which defines a Reference Designation System (RDS). It is used to create a reference model with unambiguous identifiers for systems and their elements in different views called aspects. The views are stored in a common neutral ref-erence model, which holds systems and their elements and their relations for the purpose of being referred to from any other model.
One of the RDS fundamentals confirms the quotation by Niclas Luhmann (1927-1998): “a system is the total amount of relations between the (system) elements”. In this context, the relations are used to create a system reference model. Any other model refers to the reference model by means of reference designations defined by RDS.
However, relations come in many flavors. The separation and distinguishing among these very different relations is a key to understand the common language used for reference purpose.
As selected proof of concept, the Digital Design, Manufacturing & Services (DDMS) digitalization project at AIRBUS S.A.S. (Toulouse / France) has started to use RDS at scale since 2017 and share their positive observations and conclusions to support the RDS 81346 Technique in this paper.