Development of a tool database management system

This paper describes a systematic approach to the design and development of a tool management system for the valve production unit of Bharat Heavy Ele ctricals Limited (BHEL) located in Trichirapalli, India. The salient featur es of the design and development of a centralised database for tools that c ontains information regarding tooling, tool location, allocation, tool flow , tool storage and retrieval, parts, machines, etc. are discussed. Ir is es timated that the system being developed will significantly reduce the downt ime of machines due to unavailability of the appropriate tools.