A systems approach to fixture planning and design

Within the last decade, the manufacturing research community has addressed many of the micro issues of automating the fixture design process using computers. Most of this research has concentrated on the geometric and kinematic factors that determine the configuration of a computer-aided fixture design (CAFXD) system. However, before the implementation of any of the researched micro issues can be accomplished, a systematic approach to fixture planning and design must be recognised that considers the macro issues (process planning and fixture design) of the complete design to manufacturing process. In order to improve the effectiveness and implementation of researched micro issues in fixture design, a generic model of the functional activities can provide an understanding of the process and information exchanged between process planning and fixture design. This paper presents such a generic IDEF working model that promotes the functional integration of these two functions — developed from a systems perspective.     

A meta-modeling paradigm of the manufacturing resources using mathematical logic for process planning

Process planning determines how to produce the designed products using available manufacturing resources economically; thus the manufacturing resources perform a major part in the field of process planning. Most modeling approaches of the manufacturing resources, however, have been studied to cope with production planning and control problems, or to unleash the under-utilized resource flexibility, etc. As of now there is a lack of the modeling approach for the manufacturing resources on the shop floor to facilitate process planning. The major objective of this research is to create a modeling schema to address the manufacturing resources for process planning, especially for process reasoning. A meta-modeling paradigm of manufacturing resources is proposed using the first- and second-order logic and mapping from process knowledge into the manufacturing resources from the process planning view. The outcomes of this study lay the foundation for process reasoning in future rapid process preparation. Finally, an illustrative example is used to explain the meta-modeling paradigm.     

Optimization of flexible process planning by genetic programming

The traditional manufacturing system research literature generally assumed that there was only one feasible process plan for each job. This implied that there was no flexibility considered in the process plan. But, in the modern manufacturing system, most jobs may have a large number of flexible process plans. So, flexible process plans selection in a manufacturing environment has become a crucial problem. In this paper, a new method using an evolutionary algorithm, called genetic programming (GP), is presented to optimize flexible process planning. The flexible process plans and the mathematical model of flexible process planning have been described, and a network representation is adopted to describe the flexibility of process plans. To satisfy GP, it is very important to convert the network to a tree. The efficient genetic representations and operator schemes also have been considered. Case studies have been used to test the algorithm, and the comparison has been made for this approach and genetic algorithm (GA), which is another popular evolutionary approach to indicate the adaptability and superiority of the GP-based approach. The experimental results show that the proposed method ispromising and very effective in the optimization research of flexible process planning.     

混合生产中作业计划体系研究

对于兼有离散和连续生产特征的混合生产行业,由于其计划体系的复杂性和多样性,尚未形成成熟的具有通用意义的应用方案。分析了混合生产的特征和混合生产计划体系的特点,提出了研究混合生产计划体系的思路,构建了该作业计划体系框架并描述了功能要求及信息联系,研究了前连续后离散这种混合生产模式的作业计划排程问题的离散制造与连续制造分解逻辑,并以毛纺织行业为背景,进行了连续生产环节计划排程优化算法研究,探讨了毛纺织混合生产计划体系对物料清单、工艺路线等基础数据管理的增强要求。     

A framework of a concurrent process planning system for mold manufacturing

This paper presents a research on the development of a computer-based framework that supports concurrent mold manufacturing process planning. The practical goal of this research is three-fold: (1) to develop a systematic and concurrent mold manufacturing process planning model, (2) to develop a computer-based mold manufacturing process planning system based on the concurrent model, and (3) to develop knowledge bases to assist in concurrent type of mold manufacturing process planning that accommodates mold development concerns, as well as the requirements of the products. The approach of this work includes steps of (1) modeling and reengineering concurrent mold manufacturing process planning, (2) analysis of system functional requirements, (3) system framework design, and (4) system modeling and implementation. The results of this research will facilitate the rationalization and automation of the mold development process planning, thus improving the efficiency and quality, and also reducing the cost of molding product and process development.     

A novel process planning schema based on process knowledge customization

Process planning, which requires a variety of knowledge of design and manufacturing, is still one of the most difficult issues in the research on computer-integrated manufacturing and also a bottleneck hampering the process of automation and digitalization of manufacturing. The basic crux of computer-aided process planning involves the diversity of manufacturing background, the complexity of decision rules, and the complexity of reasoning logic, which makes process planning increasingly difficult. To solve these problems, we address some primary issues of process planning in previous work, which involves decision logic of backward chaining reasoning, clustering, and meta-modeling for manufacturing resources. However, as of now, there is a lack of a systematic approach for process planning from the global viewpoint. The major objective of this research is to build a novel process planning schema based on process knowledge customization. The outcomes of this study lay the foundation for process planning in future rapid process preparation. Finally, an illustrative example is used to explain the novel process planning schema based on process knowledge customization.     

SMT-TAB: A process planning system for PCB assembly using TAB and SMT

Process planning is a critical function in any manufacturing domain. This is especially true in the electronics manufacturing area where substantial heuristic and experiential knowledge is commonly used during process plan development. While research in computer-aided process planning (CAPP) has tended to concentrate in the machining realm, few CAPP systems have been developed for electronics manufacturing applications and more specifically for the printed circuit board (PCB) assembly domain. Besides, the CAPP systems that have been developed for this area have dealt with either insertion mount or surface mount PCB assembly processes only.Tape automated bonding (TAB), though a relatively new technology, is gaining importance in electronics assembly owing to its inherent advantages. The advent of fine pitch technology together with the ever increasing need for more inputs/outputs and greater pin counts in integrated circuit applications has enhanced the use of TAB technology in electronics manufacturing. This trend has been further augmented by the increasing need for compactness in consumer electronics.This research designed and developed a prototype CAPP system for the PCB assembly domain. The system developed generates a process plan for PCBs populated with surface mount and/or TAB components. An artificial-intelligence based expert system approach has been used in the design and development of the CAPP system. Outputs generated by the system are presented along with ideas for future research.     

Computer aided manufacturing planning for mass customization: part 2, automated setup planning

Setup planning plays a crucial role in CAPP to ensure product quality while maintaining acceptable manufacturing cost. The tasks of setup planning include identifying manufacturing features and corresponding manufacturing processes, determining the number of setups, part orientation, locating datum and process sequence in each setup, and selecting machine tools and fixtures. An automated setup planning technique and system has been developed based on not only the tolerance analysis, but also the manufacturing resource capability analysis. The automated setup planning is divided into two levels: setup planning in single part level and in machine station level. Algorithms for setup generation and process sequencing have been developed and a case study of setup planning is presented.     

数字化制造中的建模和仿真技术

论述了面向数字化制造的三类建模和仿真技术,即产品建模和仿真技术、工艺过程建模和仿真技术以及制造系统建模和仿真技术,并结合具体研究项目,重点介绍了面向制造的产品数字化建模、导管数控弯曲过程建模与仿真、虚拟装配与装配过程仿真、生产线建模与仿真技术的应用和发展。指出为提高制造系统的快速响应特性、运行效率及可靠性,应在产品数字化建模研究的基础上,重视对工艺过程,即产品加工过程、装配过程及生产系统规划、重组和仿真等技术的研究,以实现生产资源和加工过程的优化以及从传统制造向可预测制造模式的转变。最后指出了推动数字化建模和仿真技术朝实用化方向发展的几项关键技术。     

Agent technology for collaborative process planning: a review

Agent technology has been considered as a promising approach for developing process planning systems and optimizing process plans in a distributed environment. A number of researchers have attempted to use agent technology in process planning for the purpose of integrating systems, tools and algorithms which are geographically distributed. In this paper, the historical background of agent technology is systematically reviewed. A comprehensive review of agent technology and its applications in manufacturing is presented including the applications of agent in scheduling, control, and enterprise integration and supply chain management. The focus of the paper is on how agent technology can be further developed in the support of collaborative process planning as well as its future research issues and directions in process planning. The current research directions in computer aided process planning (CAPP) and issues in traditional CAPP approaches are also discussed. Three agent-based approaches for process planning are presented. Finally, the key issues in developing agent-based collaborative process planning systems are summarized.     

A clustering-based modeling scheme of the manufacturing resources for process planning

Process planning determines how a product is to be manufactured and, therefore, is one of the key elements in the manufacturing process. The basic crux of computer-aided process planning (CAPP), however, is the diversity of manufacturing background and the complexity of process planning. Since the process plans are generated on demand with the manufacturing resources on a shop floor, modeling method of the manufacturing resources is one of most important issues in computer-aided process planning. Hence, the major objective of this research is to create a clustering-based modeling scheme of the manufacturing resources for process planning. This modeling scheme combines clustering method with averaging method so as to reasonably partition and classify the manufacturing resources on a shop floor. The proposed approach provides one of search strategies of machine tools for process planning, especially for the selection of machine tools. Finally, an illustrative example is applied to describe the clustering-based modeling scheme.     

Rigorous Application of Tolerance Analysis in Setup Planning

Decades of computer-aided process planning research has resulted in techniques that automate portions of the process planning task such as operation sequencing and cutter path optimisation. Nonetheless, solutions to other areas such as setup planning and fixturing remain elusive. Setup planning research has received increased attention in recent years. The importance of tolerance analysis in setup planning has been recognised. However, due to the lack of a common measure for different types of tolerances, the analysis is carried out in an ad hoc fashion and often results in suboptimal setup plans. In this paper, a tolerance normalisation approach is presented to provide an accurate means for direct comparison of different types of geometric tolerances and dimensional tolerances. A normalised tolerance is an angle representing the maximum permissible rotation error when locating a component. It is calculated based on rigorous analysis of manufacturing errors involved in component setups. The formulae for tolerance normalisation are derived and the use of normalised tolerance in setup planning is illustrated.     

并行工艺过程设计的研究与实现

为解决传统串行工艺过程设计效率不高的问题，结合并行工程思想，建立了并行工艺过程设计模型。为搭建并行工艺过程设计实现环境，构建了封装组件式CAPP／PDM集成系统。在此基础上，研究了并行工艺过程设计实现技术：并行工艺过程设计总流程定制、工序对象流程管理、中间数据库工艺信息共享。介绍了并行工艺过程设计在某国防制造企业的应用情况。     

An effective multi-objective genetic algorithm based on immune principle and external archive for multi-objective integrated process planning and scheduling

Process planning and scheduling are two major sub-systems in a modern manufacturing system. In traditional manufacturing system, they were regarded as the separate tasks to perform sequentially. However, considering their complementarity, integrating process planning and scheduling can further improve the performance of a manufacturing system. Meanwhile, the multiple objectives are needed to be considered during the realistic decision-making process in a manufacturing system. Based on the above requirements from the real manufacturing system, developing effective methods to deal with the multi-objective integrated process planning and scheduling (MOIPPS) problem becomes more and more important. Therefore, this research proposes a multi-objective genetic algorithm based on immune principle and external archive (MOGA-IE) to solve the MOIPPS problem. In MOGA-IE, the fast non-dominated sorting approach used in NSGA-II is utilized as the fitness assignment scheme and the immune principle is exploited to maintain the diversity of the population and prevent the premature condition. Moreover, the external archive is employed to store and maintain the Pareto solutions during the evolutionary process. Effective genetic operators are also designed for MOIPPS. To test the performance of the proposed algorithm, three different scale instances have been employed. And the proposed method is also compared with other previous algorithms in literature. The results show that the proposed algorithm has achieved good improvement and outperforms the other algorithms.     

RESEARCH AND PRACTICE FOR MANUFACTURING ENVIRONMENT MODELLING TECHNOLOGY OF CIMS

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基于Petri网的多工艺方案优化

以扩展的 Petri网模型 PP- net为工具确定可行工艺方案的制造成本 ,PP- net的每个变迁中含有加工时间、准备时间、搬运时间和更换刀具时间 ,由此可以得到工序制造成本评价函数。利用启发式搜索算法对 PP- net的可达树进行搜索 ,得到制造成本最低的工艺方案。     

基于protégé的车身制造工艺本体模型及匹配方法

为了在车身制造工艺规划过程中实现工艺知识的重用和共享,提高对已有车身制造工艺的检索和利用效率.提出了车身制造工艺本体知识表达方法,采用框架概念图表示车身制造工艺;提出了基于结构相似度的本体匹配方法,由概念树结构判断本体是否相似;最后通过利用protégé本体构建工具建立车身制造工艺本体库,设计了相应的本体匹配实验,实验证明基于结构相似度的本体匹配方法是有效的.     

An integrated scheme for process planning and scheduling in FMS

Process planning and scheduling are the two important manufacturing functions involved in any shop floor activities. As functional integration is essential to realize the benefits of computer integrated manufacturing, a scheme for integration of process planning and scheduling has been introduced in this paper. The proposed scheme can be implemented in a company with existing process planning and scheduling departments when multiple process plans remain available on the shop floor. It consists of two main modules, introduced in detail in this paper. They are process plan selection module and scheduling module.     

敏捷制造企业性能评价体系及关键技术研究

敏捷制造企业性能评价问题是现代企业管理领域的重要和关键研究内容，应从系统化角度进行分析。针对现有企业性能评价研究现状和发展需求，提出敏捷制造企业性能评价参考体系结构，重点研究基于过程模型的敏捷制造企业性能评价指标体系，最后详细论述了其关键技术。     

工艺设计中支持事例推理的扩展对象模型

建立一个基于事例推理的CAPP系统的事例表达模型。对传统的对象模型进行了扩展，并在此基础上给出了支持事例推理的事例表达模型，该模型具有表达零件工艺知识和复杂事例的能力，以及支持在事例推理全过程中对信息的需求，为相似零件检索和零件事例的自动修改打下了基础。