Glossary · MES and ISA-95
Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML)
Also known as: B2MML
German: Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML)
In manufacturing IT, the Business to Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML) is a set of XML schemas published by MESA International that implement the ISA-95 / IEC 62264 object models, so that business systems such as ERP and manufacturing systems such as MES can exchange ISA-95 information in a common format.
- MES
- Standards
In one sentence
B2MML is a set of XML schemas from MESA International that implement the ISA-95 models for data exchange between ERP and MES.
Example
The ERP system sends a production schedule as a B2MML message to the MES, which returns the production performance after the order is finished.
How it applies
- Engineering: Integration projects use B2MML as a starting point for interface definitions between Level 4 and Level 3 systems, instead of designing message formats from scratch.
- Integration: B2MML schemas are typically extended or profiled for a project; both sides must agree on which elements are used and what they mean.
- Related formats: A companion schema set, BatchML, covers ISA-88 batch information.
- Documentation: Interface specifications should name the B2MML version, the message types, mandatory fields, extensions and example messages. Consistent terminology between the ISA-95 model, the schema and the user documentation of both systems prevents misunderstandings.
B2MML vs. ISA-95
ISA-95 / IEC 62264 defines the models and terminology. B2MML is one implementation of those models as XML Schema (data). A system can follow ISA-95 concepts without using B2MML, and B2MML alone does not guarantee that two systems interpret the data identically.