The Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) paradigm is being adopted by manufacturing companies in a variety of industries. Companies benefit from enhanced visualization, documentation, and communication capabilities when 3D annotated product definitions, or Model-Based Definitions (MBD) replace twodimensional drawings throughout an enterprise. It is critical that product information, much of which is defined implicitly in drawings, is not lost in this transition. This presents a challenge to authors and translators of 3D models used through the product lifecycle. They must understand the semantics of the product information typically presented by a drawing then explicitly include this information, in a computer-interpretable form, in the MBD.The research study described in this paper seeks to discover what is the minimum set of required information to carry out all the tasks in a given workflow of a model-based enterprise. A survey was conducted across various industry sectors to identify the foundational elements of this Minimum Information Model (MIM) in selected workflows. This study identified the information used within the specific workflows, the capabilities of 3D CAD models to carry this information, and the implications for doing so. KEYWORDS.Minimum Information Model (MIM) Model-Based Definition (MBD) Model-Based Enterprise (MBE) INTRODUCTIONModel-based definition (MBD) is a digital artifact (representation) of an object or system. It is representative of the physical object or system and all of its attributes, and is used to communicate information within various MBx activities in a model-based enterprise. The model-based definition should be rich in information -shape, behavior, and context -and it travels the information architecture within an enterprise (including its extended supply chain and customers), providing input to the various authors and consumers who need it. However, in today's industrial environment the MBD is often thought of as a replacement for a 2D drawing. A model-based definition's effectiveness in communicating, visualizing and documenting information has led to widespread adoption. [1] Although MBD practices are of significant value, there are still concerns about the transition from drawings to models. One issue is that critical information stored in an MBD can be lost in machine to machine communication due to translation errors. Therefore, there is a need to understand the minimum amount of information required at each phase of a product's lifecycle to ensure critical information is not lost. A second issue is a lack of common understanding regarding the information to be included in an MBD that were historically included in a drawing. This research proposes the identification of the minimum information model (MIM). The minimum information model is the set of information which is required for the completion of tasks within specific phases of the product lifecycle. MOTIVATIONThe manufacturing environment historically used drawings in the engineering design and production process for

Industrial practice is in a state of transition, away from the use of drawings towards the use of annotated 3D CAD models as a means of communication. Working as a representation of an object or a system, a model-based product definition (MBD) is used to communicate information inside of a model-based enterprise (MBE). Such an enterprise will find itself in a transitional state as well, moving away from paper-based information sharing towards the use of modelbased, digital product data. This research investigation sought to identify the minimum information model (MIM)-the information elements necessary within an MBD to effectively employ a model as a replacement for a technical drawing in specific workflows in the product lifecycle. Over the course of this investigation, another phenomenon emerged-the common information model (CIM), which represents those information items that are necessary for the workflows targeted in this study. As expounded upon later in this report, the impacts of contextual domain knowledge on the implementation of the common information model is what formed the minimum information model discovered in this project.