Book excerpt: The first English-language edition of this book was published in 1989 under the title "Enterprise-Wide Data Modelling." It introduced a new enterprise data model that has since gone on to enjoy widespread use as a reference model. Since that time, the author has continued to develop the representation of application problems, both on a theoretical basis using modeling languages and on a practical basis using real-world studies. This has led to so many new aspects that this second English-language edition (the original German version is now in its fifth edition) constitutes a completely new book. The new title expresses the stricter emphasis on business processes in contrast to the previous edition, which was geared more toward a functional structure. This approach reflects the trend toward process oriented structural and procedural organization in enterprises that is currently being supported by new means of information processing. Perhaps the most obvious way in which the second English-language edition differs from the first is in the increased number of pages. This is a direct result of the higher degree of detail and the more thorough problem description presented in the new edition. The degree of detail has increased in the case of those problems that are particularly important in terms of selecting and designing information systems in an industrial enterprise, e.g., the product description and CAM factory organization. This approach provides greater reality and thus facilitates a better understanding of the complex organism that is an industrial enterprise.