PDES - AN EXPERT-SYSTEM FOR CONSTRUCTING THE PRECEDENCE DIAGRAM

The techniques of assembly planning have been studied for many years. One of these techniques is the precedence diagram, which shows the pre cedence or sequential restrictions graphically for assembly. It is an effective tool to analyze the assembly line logically and systematical ly. It can be used for line balancing so as to enhance productivity an d reduce cost. However, it is very tedious to draw a precedence diagra m for most assembly operations. This paper presents an expert system a pproach to the precedence diagram. A new PC-based expert system, PDES, has been developed. PDES can help users to learn about and draw a pre cedence diagram. The knowledge base of this expert system has been bui lt. It has a hierarchical structure and uses backward chaining in its inference engine. It is menu-driven and very user-friendly. Computer g raphics have been used in PDES for explanation purposes. It provides e ngineers with an effective tool to construct precedence diagrams. Also , the user can learn the precedence diagramming procedure step-by-step via PDES. It also contains many diagramming examples under various si tuations. In simple words, this system is very beneficial for the asse mbly planner. Copyright (C) 1996 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd