Automating the manufacturing process under a web based framework

The rapid evolution of the web has affected the way under which the manufacturing process is practised. In this paper, a web based framework – independent from any specific CAD/CAM software – is proposed, for employing electronic interaction between designers and manufacturers. In this context, designers and manufacturers communicate for the manufacturing of a workpiece, under a platform-independent, easier, faster and more economical way. The proposed framework is implemented as a web service, where the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) is used for the exchange of the necessary machined parts data and the methodologies of UDDI (Universal Description Discovery and Integration) and WSDL (Web Services Description Language) are introduced for providing directories and descriptions information. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.