Applications of Digital Manufacturing in Manufacturing Process Support

In this study, the authors developed three new approaches and models for improvements related to manufacturing processes. The main focus was on planning in a digital environment before the actual manufacturing process is carried out. The first approach is digital manufacturing, which gives affords the opportunity for performing an entire manufacturing process in a virtual environment. In this way, engineers virtually define, plan, create, monitor, and control all production processes. The planning phase can be done simultaneously, while other manufacturing processes are already in place. In this way, processes can continue with no interruption. Various product lifecycle management tools have databases of various programs that are used for interfacing and communication with machinery, such as CNC machines and industrial robots. Ideally, after the manufacturing process has been verified in the digital environment, control data can be uploaded to numerically controlled machinery so that the production process can start. Two special models have been developed for more detailed insight into special types of manufacturing processes. The second approach represents a model for the unique type of production that takes into account all resources as the most important factor in the manufacturing processes. The main variables that were included in this model were the availability and the presence of all required manufacturing resources needed for every single manufacturing operation. The third approach represents a model for large-scale production that includes all significant parameters of a manufacturing process, as well as all required intermediate storage. The last two models were developed as parametric, and the users in the training process can easily make tests for different types of input data.