DETC 00 / DFM Information Modeling of Conceptual Process Planning Integrated with Conceptual Design

Conceptual process planning is a key activity for designers to evaluate manufacturability and manufacturing cost and time in the early product development stage. Since major manufacturing cost is determined in early design, it is critical to be able to assess manufacturability and cost as early as possible in the design process. The integration between process planning and design is critical to enable these analyses. A literature review of the current status of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) and Computer-Aided Process Planning (CAPP) software technologies reveals the lack of interface standards to enable the integration of these systems. In order to develop interface standards, information models have to be first developed to define the interfaces. An initial information model for conceptual process planning has been developed. This model includes an activity model and an object model for manufacturing process selection, resource selection, and cost and time estimation. The activity model sets the context in which the objects are used for information sharing and exchange. The object model defines classes used in conceptual process planning. The main purpose of developing this model is to initiate the development of standard interface specifications that are necessary for design and process planning integration.