Object-oriented knowledge-based computer-aided process planning system forbare circuit boards manufacturing

The manufacturing industry is time, quality and information driven. In the current highly competitive international marketplace, these factors are esp ecially crucial to the electronics industry. In this paper, an object-orien ted model of a computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system for the manufa cturing of bare circuit boards is proposed. Process constraints and plannin g knowledge are all represented and modelled by respective constraints obje cts. The system is then implemented for the automatic process planning of d ouble-sided circuit boards. The performance of the system is then compared with that of experienced process planners. The advantages in the use of the constraint and knowledge objects approach in a computer-aided process plan ning system are revealed. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserve d.