CONCURRENT ENGINEERING APPROACH TO SUPPORT CIM REFERENCE MODEL-BASED FMS DESIGN

As a Computer Integrated Manufacturing system is a complex, expensive and long-term investment, it is necessary to have a good reference mod el as a first step to deal with its design and operation. A promising way to assist in CIM design and implementation is the Concurrent Engin eering (CE) approach. This paper introduces a reference model (based o n the CIM-OSA Architectural Framework) that was developed from a funct ional point of view. Details are given on how this model can be used f or the concurrent design of products and Flexible Manufacturing System s (FMS).