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The CIM framework pursues the integration of components in a manufacturing enterprise by means of computer systems. This, however, may be obstructed due to heterogeneity in the field: programmable controllers, robots, sensors and actuators, etc. in communications: different kinds of networks and/or field buses; and in the programming tools for all these devices. Thus a solution is needed to integrate heterogeneous software/hardware components in a well‐defined and flexible fashion. This paper seeks to address these issues.

This paper proposes a metalanguage, called H, and a set of tools that serve for designing, implementing, deploying, and debugging distributed heterogeneous software on the shopfloor. The metalanguange includes fault‐tolerance and real‐time mechanisms, among other features.

The use of a framework that can integrate different software and hardware components enables the engineer to take advantage of the best features of each existing technology. The use of object‐oriented techniques, concurrent and distributed programming, and the isolation of heterogeneous parts, have also important benefits in the reusability and optimality of the solutions.

The use of a metalanguage like H, that separates the parts of the application that depend on particular (heterogeneous) components from the parts that are portable, has, as a main implication, important improvements in the development time, effort, and cost of CIM projects.

H is the first metalanguage coping with heterogeneity through the complete development cycle of software for manufacturing applications. It also provides a formal and well‐defined framework for future extensions.