Overview
ISO/TS 29002-31:2009 - Industrial automation systems and integration - Exchange of characteristic data - Part 31: Query for characteristic data - defines a standardized way to request product and service characteristic data and supplier identification from item and information suppliers. The Technical Specification provides a conceptual information model (expressed in UML) and a physical exchange file format (based on XML) for constructing and exchanging query messages between systems.
Key Topics
- Conceptual information model (UML): a standardized data model describing query objects, item identifiers, characteristic requests and supplier identification elements.
- XML-based file format: a physical representation of the query model enabling machine-readable exchange between applications.
- Query semantics: defined structure for requesting product/service characteristics and associated supplier data.
- Identification and metadata: elements to carry item IDs, versioning, supplier identifiers and context needed to locate the correct characteristic information.
- Interoperability requirements: consistent structure to enable automated processing by item suppliers, information providers and downstream systems.
Practical Applications
ISO/TS 29002-31:2009 is intended to support automated, interoperable communication in industrial and supply-chain contexts where characteristic data is required. Typical use cases:
- Automated queries from purchasing or PLM/ERP systems to suppliers requesting material, part or service characteristics.
- Integration between manufacturer systems and subcontractors for part specifications, tolerances, performance data.
- Enabling electronic catalogs and parts databases to respond to standardized characteristic-data queries.
- Data exchange in supplier identification workflows to ensure traceability and correct sourcing.
Who benefits:
- System integrators and automation engineers implementing data-exchange workflows.
- Manufacturers and suppliers providing or consuming characteristic data.
- Software vendors building PLM, ERP, EDI or catalog solutions requiring standardized query formats.
- Data architects and information modelers responsible for integrating product data across systems.
Related Standards
- Part of the ISO/TS 29002 series on exchange of characteristic data - implementers should consider other parts of this series for complementary message types (responses, updates).
- Applicable alongside broader industrial automation and product data exchange practices (UML modelling and XML schema-based integration).
Using ISO/TS 29002-31:2009 helps organizations reduce manual data requests, increase automation and improve interoperability for product characteristic and supplier identification exchanges.
Open preview (PDF)Industrial automation systems and integration — Exchange of characteristic data — Part 31: Query for characteristic data
