DESIGN, DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF AN INTEGRATED GROUP TECHNOLOGY AND COMPUTER-AIDED PROCESS PLANNING SYSTEM

This paper discusses a Group Technology (GT) and Computer Aided Proces s Planning (CAPP) installation at JLG Industries, Inc., an internation al manufacturer and marketer of specialized hydraulic machinery. An ef ficient architecture for the design, development and implementation of the system is presented along with system design requirements and cha racteristics. A GT software shell is described, and for the architectu re that is defined, a formal model of the process planning system is d eveloped. The model is used as the basis for the creation of a generic semi-generative CAPP system. Implementation of the model along with e xperience with the system is included. Run time examples of the system are provided to illustrate the features of the system.