Semantic knowledge representation, management, sharing, access, and re-use approaches can support collaborative production planning in a flexible and efficient as well as an effective way. Therefore, semantic-technology based representations of Collaborative Production Process Planning (CAPP) knowledge integrated into a machine readable process formalization is a key enabling factor for sharing such knowledge in cloud-based semantic-enabled knowledge repositories supporting CAPP scenarios as required in the CAPP4SMES project [1]. Beyond that, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as represented in CAPP4SMES request for a standardized CAPP-oriented product-knowledge- and production-feature representation that can be achieved by applying function-block based knowledge representation models. Semantic Web- and at the same time Cloud-based technologies, tool suites and application solutions which are based on process-oriented semantic knowledge representation methodologies such as Process-oriented Knowledge-based Innovation Management (German: Wissens-basiertes Prozesess-orientiertes Innovationsmanagement, WPIM) [2] can satisfy these needs, supporting the semantic integration, management, access and re-use in a machine readable and integrated representation of distributed CAPP knowledge that is shared within a cloud-based centralized semantic-enabled knowledge repository. Furthermore semantic knowledge representation and querying add value to knowledge-based and computer-aided re-use of such knowledge within CAPP activities and, finally, pave the way towards further automating planning, simulation and optimization support in a semantic web for CAPP.
