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This
paper is concerned with the advancement of integrated information systems to
support team-based design and manufacture. While Product Models are an
accepted means by which product information can be stored and shared in
integrated product development systems, these models tend to focus on
geometric representations and are not well understood when the broad range
of information involved in product development is considered. The STEP
community, who have been defining product structures for data exchange for
well over a decade recognise the need for clearer frameworks from which to
construct integrated information models (Ishikawa
and Vaughan).
The
provision of quality information is critical to successful decision making
and systems which aim to provide and interact with such information, must be
able to support the many different views involved in the product development
process (Cowan et al). This paper reports on research which has explored the
manufacturing view of product development such that information and
knowledge bases can be defined and used to support design for manufacture
and manufacturing information generation.
The
aim of the research behind this paper has been to understand the roles of
product and manufacturing models and the enhanced data structures they
require in order that they can support design for manufacture and the
generation of manufacturing information. Three manufacturing processes have
been considered, machining, assembly
and injection moulding. An information and knowledge structure in terms of
manufacturing resources, processes and strategies has been produced in line
with a previously define general Manufacturing Model structure. How these
structures relate to product model structures has been explored such that
the combined information and knowledge models can be used to provide
information to support design for manufacture decisions and manufacturing
information generation.
The
Unified Modelling Language (UML) has been used to design an information
framework and an object oriented database has been constructed and populated
in order to explore and demonstrate the extent to which such an approach can
be used to provide information support. The work shows how the combination
of these information and knowledge models can support design for manufacture.
It highlights the need for information models, other than a product model,
to contain knowledge as well as information if quality information is to be
offered to designers. It also shows the necessary interdependencies between
the models. The relationship of these new information model structures to
the work of ISO TC184/SC4 on industrial data standards is also highlighted.
Databases
of both to support both machining and assembly decisions have been
constructed. Experimental software to aid decision across design for
manufacture and process planning have been implemented to demonstrate the
value of the information model approach in providing an integrating
environment for product design and manufacture.
More
broadly based experiments have been performed in the area of injection
moulding development. Here information structures to support the
relationships between product design, mould design and mould manufacture
have been explored and mechanisms developed to deal with the multiple views
of the product which must be maintained throughout the product development
process. Additional models to support historical design data have also been
defined with a view to aiding design reuse in the new product development
process.
From
the research we can draw the following conclusions:
-
A
combination of Information Models can provide an integrated information
support environment for team-based design and global manufacture.
-
Multiple
viewpoint product model structures are necessary to support the many
aspects of design and manufacture.
-
To
be of real value a Manufacturing Model must contain knowledge as well as
information.
-
While
Product and Manufacturing Models can be considered as separate models
there are aspects of their information structures that are necessarily
interdependent.
-
Other
information/knowledge models, which support other aspects of the product
life cycle, should also be linked to a central product model.
REFERENCES:
Cowan
F.S., Marston M., Mistree F. Design for excellence: a microworld,
game-theoretic approach. Engineering Design Conference 2000. Pub.
Professional Engineering Publishing Ltd. pp3-24
Ishikawa
Y., Vaughan C.
SC4
Industrial Data Framework
ISO STEP WG10 document N313 May 2000
Zhao
J., Cheung W.M., Young R.I.M. The influence of manufacturing information
models on product development systems. Engineering Design Conference 2000.
Pub. Professional Engineering Publishing Ltd. pp763-770
KEYWORDS
:
Product
architecture, manufacturing facility models, information representation,
integration, product design, manufacture
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