A Collaborative Information Sharing Platform for Virtual Manufacturing Analysis Preparation

Virtual manufacturing (VM) has been studied in various activities of manufacturing. The objectives of the studies depend on the nature of investigation: ranging from optimization of product and process design, workplace design, simulation of plant operation and layouts, to improvement of manual operations in ergonomic studies. VM helps to shorten the product development process by its ability of various analyses in product and process design. It is important to convey effectively the product design information with the most current data to all people interested in the design. This paper presents a research work in two folds, firstly on the development of a Collaborative Information Sharing Platform (CISP), and secondly on the development of VM simulation models. The information of the VM simulation models can be shared and accessed by all interested parties through connections of the developed platform CISP. Simulation models for the manufacture of an AC motor are illustrated. The simulation models emphasize the integrative approach in product and process design, where same product data source is shared and used for analyses in virtual environment for the various manufacturing activities involved in the production of the electrical motor. Activities include product development, production planning, assembly analysis, work study, workplace design, operation simulation and plant layout.