OntoNaviERP: Ontology-supported
Navigation in ERP Software
Documentation
Martin Hepp1,2 and Andreas Wechselberger1
1E-Business and Web Science Research Group,
Bundeswehr University Munich, Germany
2STI Innsbruck, Austria
{mhepp@computer.org | andreas.wechselberger@unibw.de}
Martin Hepp
1
mhepp@computer.org

ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning
MRP: Material
Requirements Planning
MRP-II:
Manufacturing Resource
Planning
CIM: Computer
Integrated Comprehensive -->
Manufacturing Complex
Martin Hepp
2
mhepp@computer.org

SAP Help Files
Martin Hepp
3
mhepp@computer.org

Search is important, because ...
• Users must align their mental
models of processes and data
with those underlying the ERP
Document
?
Function
software
Role
Event
• Intensive usage Function
• More efficient usage of ERP
documentation means more
efficient business operations.
Martin Hepp
4
mhepp@computer.org

Search is difficult, because ...
Martin Hepp
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Search is difficult, because ...
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Search is difficult, because ...
Textbook Business
Terminology
SAP Business SAP IT/System
Terminology Terminology
Industry Domain
Terminology
Martin Hepp
5
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In other words: An ideal
showcase for semantic
technology...
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Requirements
• Cost-efficient Ontology Construction
• Cost-efficient Annotation
• Speed
• User Interface
Martin Hepp
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Competency Question
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Overview: OntoNaviERP
Martin Hepp
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Which Terms Are Most Valuable - The Most
Popular, the Frequent, or the Rare?
Frequency vs. Information Value vs. Likelihood of Relevance
Web-wide Number of Occurrences
+ Likelihood of relevant documents
+ Likelihood of usage in queries
- limited information value
balance between frequency and specificity
+ higher information value
+ highest information value if needed
- likelihood of occurrence in query low
- likelihood of relevant documents low
Term 1..N (similar pattern for: Tags, Ontology Elements)
Martin Hepp
10
mhepp@computer.org

Approach: Conceptual Model
Martin Hepp
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Approach: Conceptual Model
Semi-automatically Traditional
derived from ontology
term lists engineering
Martin Hepp
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mhepp@computer.org

Approach: Ontology Construction (1)
• Script
• Protégé
• WordNet Plug-In
• OWL Annotation Property
• .NT Generator
Martin Hepp
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Approach: Ontology Construction (2)
Martin Hepp
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Approach: Ontology Construction (3)
5 * 127 = 635
126 * 257
= 32,382
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Approach: Annotation (1)
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Approach: Annotation (2)
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Approach: User Interface and System
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Evaluation Methodology
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Results (1)
Median of retrieved documents
• Term-based: 0
>=50% of the action-topic pairs yield no result
• OntoNaviERP: 5.5
50% of of the action-topic pairs return at least 5 result pages,
of which 2 are relevant
Martin Hepp
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Results (2)
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Findings and Lessons Learned
• Understanding of ontology engineering and
annotation under economic constraints
• In our setting, consolidation of synonyms and
lexical variants does a great deal of the job
Martin Hepp
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Future Extensions
• Task and Context
• Annotate individual sections of resources
• Skills / Users’ Competencies vs. Target Audience of a
Resource
• Hybrid Search: Combining term-based and conceptual search
E.g. see Bhagdev/Chapman/Ciravegna, Vitaveska Lanfranchi,
Daniela Petrelli: Hybrid Search: Effectively Combining Keywords
and Semantic Searches, ESWC 2008
Martin Hepp
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Reference and Links
Hepp, Martin and Wechselberger, Andreas: OntoNaviERP: Ontology-
supported Navigation in ERP Software Documentation, in: A. Sheth et al.
(eds.): ISWC 2008. Proceedings of the 7th International Semantic
Web Conference, Germany, October 26-30, 2008, Karlsruhe,
Germany, Springer LNCS, Vol. 5318, pp. 764-776.
This paper and other papers are available at
http://www.heppnetz.de/publications/
The .NT Generator for KIM/GATE Gazetteer
Lists is at:
http://ebusiness-unibw.org:8180/ntfilegenerator/
Martin Hepp
23
mhepp@computer.org

Thank you!
Martin Hepp and Andreas Wechselberger
{mhepp@computer.org | andreas.wechselberger@unibw.de}
http://www.unibw.de/ebusiness/
Martin Hepp
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