IMPLEMENTATION OF AGILE MANUFACTURING - AN AI AND INTERNET BASED APPROACH

This paper presents a new approach to implementing agile design and ma nufacturing concepts. The approach is based on the integration of arti ficial intelligence (AI) and Internet technologies with the convention al design and manufacturing techniques. An architecture based on AI an d Internet programming is proposed for remotely and quickly accessing bearing design and manufacturing expertise at low cost and thus implem enting design and manufacturing agility. The expertise includes the in telligent selection of journal bearings and their mounting techniques as developed so far. The expertise can be accessed globally through th e Internet interface with the selection of a bearing type and configur ation for a specific rolling bearing application, the bearing mounting details and the bearing lubrication and sealing devices design. The p aper concludes with a discussion on the potential benefits, and the fu ture applications of AI and Internet based agile manufacturing technol ogy in industry. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.