Product range models supporting design knowledge reuse (original) (raw)
Related papers
Advanced Engineering Informatics, 2012
Knowledge reuse is recognised as a key element to support agile and effective decision-making processes during product development. The provision of information and knowledge for reuse relies on defined information structures and requires computational techniques that enable the reuse process within an integrated environment. Although, representing, saving, and sharing information is relatively well known for product modelling, it is accepted that effective and agile product development also requires knowledge sharing. For this reason, extensions of the Product Model structure are required to support specific product development process phases. This work argues that a product information model combined with extended knowledge models can provide decision support throughout the product development phases. This paper presents the results of an investigation into a specific extended knowledge model concept, named a Product Range Model (PRM), which combines both rule based systems and case based reasoning to provide product design decision support. Two product development scenarios, injection moulding and friction materials, have been selected in order to evaluate the ideas presented. For both applications the relevance of the models to support the capture and reuse of information and knowledge is stressed.
Towards a Dynamic and Hierarchical Product Modelling Environment in Design Function Deployment
Computer Aided Design systems currently available in industry, generally lack effective integration of both textual and geometric data. They tend to represent mainly geometric information about a product with little or no representation for the associated textual information generated during the course of the design process. Current thinking suggests that a more rational, integrated and complete approach to the representation of an evolving design is needed. This paper addresses key issues to be considered in the development and implementation of a product modelling environment within a concurrent engineering design system, called Design Function Deployment. It also discusses the rationale for an integrated product modelling framework for concurrent engineering, the requirements for its implementation and concludes with an enunciation of its overall structure.
Assisting design for manufacture using the data model driven approach
Proceedings of the I MECH E Part B Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 2001
The data model driven approach argues that computer aided engineering systems should be based on information data models in order to properly support the concurrent design of products. These models are the foundation for database representations of products and factories, and enable information sharing across unlinked software applications that address dierent stages of the product life cycle. This paper presents a product data model capable of capturing product life cycle information, and in particular its utilization for representing manufacturing information is described. A manufacturing data model that depicts the capabilities of manufacturing cells in terms of their processes and resources is also introduced. The potential bene®ts of using these data models to support design for manufacture are shown through a case study. The case study includes implementation of the models, their utilization representing a product and three manufacturing facilities, and demonstrates their value in the redesign of a component.
Research in Engineering Design, 2023
When a product variant offers functionality that is high in demand, firms may decide to leverage that design to enhance other variants in their product line. This can be achieved by extracting functions and their realisations from one product variant and integrating them into another variant, resulting in a third product variant that has a new combination of functions and physical features. This article introduces a systematic approach called the Adaptive Redesign Method (ARM) to support this function integration process. The ARM is based on a new product model called the Detailed Design Model (DDM). In comparison to existing approaches, the DDM allows the architecture of an existing product to be modelled on a sufficiently detailed level to identify geometric features and parts that realise particular operating functions of a product. This detailed information provides a basis for systematic determination of the redesign activities needed to derive a new variant design, down to the detailed level of adding, removing and integrating specific parts and features. The main benefit is to assist with planning the redesign process while ensuring nothing is overlooked, which might be especially useful if the task is to be divided among several designers or if designers are not fully familiar with the designs at hand. A secondary benefit is to show how this type of redesign process can be decomposed into systematic steps, which could potentially reveal opportunities for computer support. The new approach has been developed and tested through reverse engineering studies of consumer products, confirming its applicability.
From Customer Needs to Design Parameters: Description of a Knowledge Based and Functionnal Cad Model
2009
Since the last decade, considering the globalization process of the economy, the market evolution has tended to reduce product costs and to decrease time devoted to the product design and development. In this context, it is also important to consider the growing need for improving product performance and for integrating user specifications very early in the design process. In order to answer these needs, this paper proposes a specific design method based on Axiomatic Design methodology and a functional analysis in order to reduce the time dedicated to routine engineering. This method is directly integrated into our self-developed PLM system-Product Lifecycle Management-in order to work in a worldwide and collaborative design environment. The main objective of our methodology is to define the CAD model geometry according to the modifications and the customer needs. In order to manage such control, we can identify functional parameters and functional rules through the functional requirements and the input constraints. Moreover, we can extract the specific parameters and the specific rules from the older CAD models stored in the Product Data Management system or PDM from the previous and validated project. Our method explains how to obtain and link the different parameter types and rules through the definition of a theoretical Functional Knowledge which relates a 3D geometry entity to a customer need. This knowledge aims at giving an input to a knowledge management system. It also defines a specific architecture of the 3D CAD product based on the system components divided in functional entities. This specific architecture is used in order to perform and lay the foundation of a Knowledge-Based Engineering methodology or KBE. Moreover, this specific CAD architecture gives us a possibility to develop our data mining methods which are included into our KBE approach.
Manufacturing Knowledge Reuse for Product Design
In today’s world there is ever increasing pressure to bring products to market in a quicker and more timely fashion that fulfill customers’ needs and are delivered on budget. One way to aid such acceleration of the design and development process is to effectively share and reuse manufacturing knowledge in an effort to bring about product based interoperability. This paper reports upon the work being carried out in the SAMULET research programme that addresses such factors. It focuses upon (i) how the sources of information and knowledge were recognized, (ii) the definition and categorisation of knowledge and (iii) the potential routes for the reuse of manufacturing knowledge. The research approach is currently being developed to help augment a supportive information and knowledge sharing environment and bring about a more integrated development process within a high tech aerospace company.
Information interactions in data model driven design for manufacture
Globalization of Manufacturing in the Digital Communications Era of the 21st Century, 1998
This paper presents a novel view of a software environment that has the potential to provide manufacturing information support to product design in line with the aims of concurrent engineering. The arguments developed should have significant consequences for future computer aided engineering (CAE) systems development and support the continuing globalization in business development. The approach taken has at the centre of its philosophy the need to provide designers with high-quality information on which to base their decisions. The concept of an information supported product design environment is not new, but a range of issues related to information interactions has yet to be resolved. This paper explores the use of information models to support functional and manufacturing interactions in design as well as the issues that are raised in attempting to support multiple views in design for manufacture. The design of injection moulded products is used as the focus against which the ideas in the paper are explored.
An integrated information system for product design planning
Expert systems with applications, 2008
In recent years, new product development (NPD) has become more and more competitive and globalized, and the planning phase is absolutely critical for the success of a NPD project. Quality function deployment (QFD) has been recognized as one of the most important approaches for NPD. Nevertheless, the issues of product design scheduling and costing have not been explicitly addressed in the deployment process. On the other hand, the design structure matrix (DSM), a popular representation and analysis technique, has led to its increasing use in a variety of contexts, including product development, project management and system engineering. In this paper, we develop a novel framework which integrates QFD and DSM to support product design planning, including product architecture/components deployment, design scheduling and costing. A knowledge-based database is developed to support the proposed framework. The details are presented and a prototype product design planning system is implemented with a practical application in the semiconductor industry, system-on-a-chip product design planning, to validate the completeness and benefits of the proposed approach.
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 2007
The research results presented in this paper are related to the specification of a method and models that tackle the problem of manufacturing processes selection and the integration, as soon as possible, of their constraints in the product modelling (i.e. information synthesis). This method is based on a skin and skeleton design/manufacturing interface model that ensures connection between design and manufacturing information. The use of these features is justified by their capacity to make a product representation which allows integration of both design and manufacture data and therefore assists the product breakdown definition (including the 3D forms) by least commitment. This method first analyses the product data issued from functional analysis and component selection (form, roughness, tolerance interval, etc.). Then, it deals with manufacturing information (manufacturing processes constraints). The approach is formalised with IDEF and UML models and has been consolidated with software developments based on C++ and open CASCADE technologies.
Journal of Computational Design and Engineering, 2019
The current market situation forces companies that deal with small scale, dedicated production to meet the needs and demands of their customers quickly. Usually, the products must be designed to fulfil a certain set of requirements. Additional conditions necessary to meet are also the limitations resulting from law regulations related to environmental, safety, maintenance and recycling matters. The imposed requirements are very often contradictory. In such cases the design process is an attempt to find a rational compromise. Fulfilling all the above-mentioned conditions is very difficult, especially for small companies. As the result, engineers have to take into consideration a much wider scope of tasks and responsibilities which are related to different areas of knowledge. Knowledge of a particular area is not always mastered to the extent that allows them to move freely within it. In such situations engineers are willing to use personal knowledge and experiments as the basic sources of design information. The exchange of opinions, joint evaluation of concepts and detailed solutions, as well as long-term and short-term close teamwork are also often observed. Public tools to support the indicated processes did not fully meet the team's requirements. The authors introduce a proposal for an application that supports the solving of this class problem based on modelled, acquired and stored knowledge. The work presents the characteristics and range of supported engineering processes. Next, the concept and the construction of the software, as well as its functioning using real examples, which derive from industrial practice, are presented.