Development of a Reference Feature-based Machining Process Planning Data Model for Web-enabled Exchange in Extended Enterprise

This work is a comprehensive study of the cooperative machining process planning engaged by OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and machine tool supplier. The focus orients towards their machining process planning data communication.

As driven by the global competition, increased customer's demands and enormous cost pressure, today OEM incorporates his machine tool supplier into the shape of Extended Enterprise, in order to improve their cooperation in the machining process planning and manufacturing system building. In their cooperation, the communication of the machining process planning data plays a decisive roll. However, in the engineering domain, the present Feature Technology based heterogeneous CAPP (Computer-Aided Process Planning) systems applied by them utilize proprietary particular information models. There are limitations of the international standards about the feature-based product process and resource data models. Consequently, the machining process planning data communication mainly stays at the hardcopy transfer of planning documents. Therefore, these critical situations challenge OEM and machine tool supplier to standardize the feature-based machining process planning data and further to exchange the planning data with each other automatically.

This work takes up this challenge. A web-enabled machining process planning data exchange system is conceived and developed, which is based on the development of a reference feature-based machining process planning data model. In order to define the development baseline, the corresponding state of the art is analyzed and evaluated, such as the feature-based machining process planning methodology, the available machining process planning data models and exchange methods, the actual planning workflow and cooperation models, as well as the enterprise integration methods.