Abstract
Forming collaborative assembly along supply chains is a challenge in the presence of resource limitations. This paper presents an Ontology-driven Assembly Design Method (OADM) to facilitate the design of demand-driven SME collaborations envisioned in digital transformation initiatives such as Industry 4.0. The Relevance cycle addresses the key requirement to reducing coordination costs of such SME collaborations. The Design cycle develops the ontology, which includes: (i) goals, supplier processes, and resources as hierarchies of classes; (ii) properties to interconnect these classes; and (iii) SWRL rules to derive a possible combination of process steps to reach the goal of collaborative assembly. The feedback from SME Cluster managers indicates that OADM is a promising approach to overcoming barriers to planning demand-driven SME collaborations. The Rigor cycle explains its contribution to collaborative industrial engineering.