Modeling physical environments

Now that we understand the core Technology Layer elements in ArchiMate®, we need to establish a bit of context with respect to ABC Trading. Establishing context around a particular business domain can mean different things to different people. For me, once I have learned what a company does, I like to know where they do it, and with which resources.

In this section, we will use the elements and relationships of the physical sub-layer of the Technology Layer. The physical layer subset is relatively new to ArchiMate®. It was introduced in version 3.1. We will first look at the specific elements and relationships that make up the physical layer, then we will look at some examples of how those elements can be applied to ABC Trading.

The element types covered in this section are shown in the following diagram:

Figure 6.28 – Physical elements covered in this section

Let's have a look at each of these physical elements in the following subsections.

Understanding the equipment element

The equipment element serves as the core element of the physical layer (https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/chap11.html#_Toc10045432).

The equipment element is a specialization of the node element. It represents machines, tools, or other such physical mechanisms used by the organization. Equipment can comprise other equipment elements. The equipment icon resembles a set of meshed gears, as shown here:

Figure 6.29 – Equipment icon

The following equipment-focused metamodel diagram shows some of the possible relationships of the equipment element:

Figure 6.30 – Equipment-focused metamodel

Let's now turn to another structural element—the facility element.

Understanding the facility element

The facility element is a specialization of the node element and can be used to represent any physical structure or environment that plays an important role in the organization (https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/chap11.html#_Toc10045433).

The icon for the facility element resembles a factory, as seen here:

Figure 6.31 – Facility icon

The following facility-focused metamodel diagram depicts the relationships of the facility element:

Figure 6.32 – Facility-focused metamodel

The next element in the physical layer is the distribution network element.

Understanding the distribution network element

The distribution network element is an object element. It represents a means of transporting physical things such as material, energy, and much more (https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/chap11.html#_Toc10045434).

The distribution network icon appears as a double-ended arrow, as depicted in the following diagram:

Figure 6.33 – Distribution network

The distribution network element can have the following relationships:

Figure 6.34 – Distribution network-focused metamodel

The next element we look at is the material element.

Understanding the material element

The material element is a passive structure element that is used to represent raw material, physical products, or energy (https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/chap11.html#_Toc10045437).

We use the material element to represent the products we distribute. The material icon is a hexagon, as shown here:

Figure 6.35 – Material icon

The material element-focused metamodel is depicted in the following diagram:

Figure 6.36 – Material-focused metamodel

The last element we will look at in this section falls into the category of generic elements.

Understanding the location element

The location element represents a specific physical location such as an address, street, city, state, floor, or office in a building (https://pubs.opengroup.org/architecture/archimate3-doc/chap04.html#_Toc10045309).

The icon for location is an inverted teardrop or map point, as shown here:

Figure 6.37 – Location icon

Important Note

The location element is a generic element and not specific to the physical or Technology Layer. It may be used in any ArchiMate® diagram.

The following focused metamodel shows us the relationships of the location element:

Figure 6.38 – Location-focused metamodel

The elements described thus far make up the bulk of the physical layer. Now, let's see how we can use these elements to provide some context around ABC Trading's physical infrastructure.

Putting the elements together for ABC Trading

As mentioned in previous chapters, ABC Trading has around 1,000 employees. Their operation is distributed among four different facilities and a fleet of trucks. The following diagram provides context around those facilities:

Figure 6.39 – ABC Trading facilities

The preceding diagram is an example of a context diagram. The intent is to show the major facilities at ABC Trading and their relationships. The diagram uses the facility, distribution network, and equipment element types. The primary link types used are the serving and assignment links.

As the diagram depicts, Lakeview Datacenter is assigned to each of the warehouses and serves the headquarters. Each truck fleet equipment element is part of a distribution network that serves its respective warehouse. Besides the new elements from the physical layer, there is something different about this diagram—something that we have yet to cover in this book: different ways to model dependencies.

Modeling dependencies in ArchiMate® 3.1

You may have noticed that the warehouse facility elements and the truck fleet equipment elements are nested inside of their respective network distribution elements. ArchiMate® 3.1 provides for two different means of representing aggregation and composition dependencies. You may choose to use the standard link type or a nesting relationship, as depicted in the following diagrams:

Figure 6.40 – Linking versus nesting examples

While the ArchiMate® 3.1 standard defines these two methods to mean the same thing, it's important to note that Sparx doesn't necessarily treat them the same. Establishing a link between two elements in Sparx, as in Figure 6.40, Linking Example creates a data element in the Sparx repository that holds information about the relationship that is independent of both the source and target elements being linked. In this case, Sparx does not know about the parent-child nature of the relationship.

On the other hand, in the case of Nesting Example, Sparx treats the Parent Element as a container to hold the child elements. In this scenario, however, no separate link data element is created in the repository, as we can see here:

Figure 6.41 – Nested relationship

The importance of the difference between these approaches will become clear when we get to Chapter 11, Publishing Model Content.

Important Note

If you are unsure about which type of relationship to use, it's probably best to stick with a link type as you will have much more flexibility in refining information about the relationship.

The following ArchiMate® 3.1 technology diagram provides us a deeper look into a distribution network:

Figure 6.42 – Northwest distribution network

The preceding diagram provides a slightly deeper look into the northwest distribution network. It shows both the product types stored and customer service locations serviced by the distribution network. Note that Cherry Avenue Warehouse, Northwest Truck Fleet, and Northwest Region Distribution are the same elements that we created in Figure 6.39.

With two simple physical layer diagrams, we've provided an overview of all the relevant facilities, equipment, products, and locations involved in our business. Now, let's look at how we keep these facilities communicating through our network.