Modelling Manufacturing Capability to Support Concurrent Engineering

Abstract

Providing a consistent source of manufacturing information to both users and applications is key to the successful CAE support of con current engineering This paper describes an information model that aims to fulfill this role This information model, which has been named the "Manufactunng Model," is intended to enable the manufacturing capability of a particular facility to be reliably represented The model consists of three types of information, namely manufacturing resources, processes and strategies The Manufacturing Model has four levels based on a de-facto standard (i e , Factory, Shop, Cell, Station) This information model has been modelled in EXPRESS and developed using the Booch Object Oriented Methodology In order to validate this approach the characteristics and capabilities of a number of complex contemporary turn ing centres and related manufacturing processes have been modelled at the Station Level An experimental software implementation of the Sta tion level has been developed using DEC Object/DB and C ++ The Manufacturing Model is one key element of a prototype research system called the Model Oriented Simultaneous Engineering System (MOSES) which aims to support concurrent engineering more effectively than con ventional CAE systems