ScienceDirect IFAC-PapersOnLine 48-3 (2015) 058–063 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com 2405-8963 © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control. 10.1016/j.ifacol.2015.06.058 © 2015, IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) Hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Sustainable Enterprise, Smart Enterprise, Sensing Enterprise, IPPMD, Integration of Knowledge/Competence in Enterprise Modelling Framework, Enterprise System Engineering, Factory and Industrial Automation. 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays, entrepreneurship can be seen as the main vehicle for economic development. There are studies that illustrates that most of existing tools and models related to entrepreneurship are being used in developing economies; so the results falls short in the understanding how they can be used in emerging countries. Recent researches for example Ho, Wong (2007) and Naudé (2010), present that there are more entrepreneurial opportunities in developing economies. However there is a necessity to create new models, structures and tools that promote the economic development inside under-developed nations. This situation is exactly what is happening in countries like Mexico. In the industrial sector, the most important area is Manufacturing; in 2012 and 2013 it contributes to 58% of the industrial Gross Domestic Product (GDP), meaning 18.56% of the national GDP. A difference related with the quantity of enterprises and value production can be seen in the external trade value of the manufacturer enterprises, where the macro enterprises represent only the 17% in quantity but 82% in value. As stated by Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), the manufacturing sector covers an opportunity for development; there are many SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) but their contribution to the GDP is marginal. This unbalanced situation has to do with the deficiency of capabilities of manufacturing SMEs to adapt to fast changes in the markets. Therefore there is a need to create new models and tools to design and create more competitive, technology based SMEs. Our reference framework has been created to satisfy the following requirements: 1) the necessity to innovate in markets that are evolving and face the continuous changes in the market place, 2) the challenge to change the configuration of a manufacturing systems based on the demand, and 3) the need to have a model suitable for companies in emerging countries. The reference framework is also considering future trends. Molina (2014) stated that to be successful in this competitive environment, manufacturing enterprises of 2020 will require significantly improved technological and organizational capabilities. The acquisition of these capabilities represents Abstract: This paper proposes a reference framework for the development of manufacturing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in developing countries, taking into account the characteristics of the future enterprise. The reference framework has been named Sustainable x Smart x Sensing - Reference Framework (S 3 -RF). This reference framework includes characteristics to address economic, social and environmental issues of the future sustainable enterprise. In order to be sustainable and competitive worldwide, an enterprise must make smart decisions regarding its strategies, processes and use of resources, therefore must be a Smart Organization. Context sensing and sense making is a requirement to understand externally, customers, social networks, markets and competition, but also internally the performance of its processes, resources, business rules and practices, and use of technology, therefore sensing is core to its strategy execution. For the incorporation of these characteristics the framework is based on three main models: Smart x Sensing Enterprise Reference Model (S 2 -RM), Methodology for Integrated Product Process and Manufacturing System Development (IPPMD) and Automation System Pyramid. The S 3 -RF allows the definition of the enterprise´s structure based on five viewpoints: enterprise, information, computational, engineering and technology. S 3 -RF uses S 2 -RM for the creation of an enterprise inside the concept of an Integrated Product, Process and Manufacturing System Development. Finally the Automation System Pyramid describes how to implement the architecture generated with reference model. The specific description in each level of the pyramid has to guarantee the correct implementation of the concepts generated with S 2 -RM and IPPMD. A Testbed demonstrates the use of the S 3 -RF in the implementation of a pilot reconfigurable microfactory (RµF). Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico City, Mexico (e-mail: hector.mauricio@itesm.mx, jhonattan.miranda@itesm.mx, dante.chavarria@itesm.mx, miguel.ramirez@itesm.mx, armolina@itesm.mx) Design S 3 -RF (Sustainable x Smart x Sensing - Reference Framework) for the Future Manufacturing Enterprise Mauricio-Moreno H., Miranda J., Chavarría D., Ramírez-Cadena M., Molina A.