A PDES/STEP-based information model for computer-aided process planning

Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) constitutes one of the most essentia l elements in Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM). Although many CAPP s ystems have been reported in literature during the last two decades, few of them are compatible enough to integrate easily with other systems in the C IM environment. One major reason is the lack of an effective method to repr esent the information required by CAPP, and to unify such information with the information of other systems in the CIM environment. Indeed, this probl em has received relatively inadequate attention in the recent research of C APP systems. In this paper, an information model for CAPP is developed by u sing the object-oriented modeling and the Product Data Exchange Step/STanda rd of Exchange Product data (PDES/STEP) techniques. The model consists of t he part information model, the process plan information model, and the prod uction resource information model. The EXPRESS language or the EXPRESS-G di agram is used to represent these models. Indeed, the proposed information m odel will greatly improve the CAPP system's capability of effective integra tion with other systems in the CIM environment, and, ultimately, to facilit ate the implementation of the whole CIM strategy in manufacturing enterpris es. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.