Development of a generative CAPP system for axisymmetric components for a job shop environment

Process planning is a function in a manufacturing organization that selects the manufacturing processes and parameters to be used to transform a part from its initial state to the final form according to the design specifications. It is a bridge between product design and product manufacturing. The activities of process planning include understanding the part specifications or product design data, selection of job material and tool, setup planning, sequencing the operations within a setup, determination of process parameters for each operation, and generation of process sheets. This paper outlines a method to develop a generative computer-aided process planning system for axisymmetric components for a job shop environment. A decision support system is used to perform semi-structured tasks such as setup planning and establishing precedence relationship among various operations.