page 51276 (73FR/51276). History During the 1970s, the U.S. Air Force Program for Integrated Computer Aided Manufacturing (ICAM) sought to increase manufacturing productivity through systematic application of computer technology. The ICAM program identified the need for better analysis and communication techniques for people involved in improving manufacturing productivity. As a result, in 1981 the ICAM program developed a series of techniques known as the IDEF (ICAM Definition) techniques which included the following: IDEF0, used to produce a "function model". A function model is a structured representation of the functions, activities or processes within the modeled system or subject area. IDEF1, used to produce an "information model". An information model represents the structure and semantics of information within the modeled system or subject area. IDEF2, used to produce a "dynamics model". A dynamics model represents the time-varying behavioral characteristics of the modeled system or subject area. In 1983, the U.S. Air Force Integrated Information Support System program enhanced the IDEF1 information modeling technique to form IDEF1X (IDEF1 Extended), a semantic data modeling technique. By the 1990s, IDEF0 and IDEF1X techniques are widely used in the government, industrial and commercial sectors, supporting modeling efforts for a wide range of enterprises and application domains. In 1991 the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) received support from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Corporate Information Management (DoD/CIM), to develop one or more Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) for modeling techniques. The techniques selected were IDEF0 for function modeling and IDEF1X for information modeling. These FIPS documents are based on the IDEF manuals published by the U.S. Air Force in the early 1980s. IDEF0 topics The IDEF0 approach IDEF0 may be used to model a wide variety of automated and non-automated systems. For new systems, it may be used first to define the requirements and specify the functions, and then to design an implementation that meets the requirements and performs the functions. For existing systems, IDEF0 can be used to analyze the functions the system performs and to record the mechanisms (means) by which these are done. The result of applying IDEF0 to a system is a model that consists of a hierarchical series of diagrams, text, and glossary cross-referenced to each other. The two primary modeling components are functions (represented on a diagram by boxes) and the data and objects that inter-relate those functions (represented by arrows). IDEF0 Building blocks The IDEF0