SysML-based design chain information modeling for variety management in production reconfiguration (original) (raw)
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Proceedings of the Design Society
In parallel with the industry 4.0 revolution, customers’ demand and number of product requirements are increasing, inducing increased product variability. System complexity is growing with the new technologies and system architectures. Hence, maintaining a system consistent and in the desired state becomes crucial. This paper tackles two problems: a product's variability and its temporal evolution. Regarding variability, Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) methods and Product Line Engineering (PLE) techniques become essential to configuring products by selecting and arranging features in a combination. In parallel, versioning and temporal evolution are managed with the configuration management (CM) principles. A versioned feature model (FM) is proposed. In PLE methodology, the first step is to model variability through traditional FM. This research presents an extension of the FM by integrating CM into it. The versioned FM includes not only features’ variants but also their v...
Configuration of Multi Product Lines by Bridging Heterogeneous Variability Modeling Approaches
2011
In industrial settings, products are rarely built by one organization alone. Software vendors and suppliers typically maintain their own product lines, which can contribute to a larger (multi) product line. The teams involved often use different approaches and tools to manage variability of their systems. It is unrealistic to assume that all participating units can use a standardized and prescribed variability modeling technique. The configuration of products based on several models in different notations and with different semantics is not well supported by existing approaches. In this paper we present an integrative approach that provides a unified perspective to users configuring products in multi product line environments, regardless of the different modeling methods and tools used internally. We also present a technical infrastructure and a prototypic implementation based on Web Services. We show the feasibility of the approach and its implementation by using it with two different variability modeling approaches (i.e., one feature-based and one decision-oriented approach) on an example derived from industrial experience.
Knowledge based product configuration systems are a cornerstone for the successful implementation of oneof-a-kind manufacturing. We propose the usage of graphical, standard software engineering design techniques to improve the development and maintenance process for these systems. We show how a standard design method (UML) can be tailored with domain-specific modeling concepts for the configuration domain using built-in extensibility features. These conceptual models are not only used for representation purposes and for a better communicability of complex technical systems but can be transformed into a processible representation. A non-ambiguous transformation into a logic based representation is presented, which clearly defines the semantics of the employed concepts. After the (automatic) transformation, the resulting logical sentences can be exploited by general inference engines solving the configuration task. Engineering Product management Marketing Conceptual product model Configurator Changes Changes Requirements, results, explanation Enterprise-wide Database Check for logistic feasibility Available parts bill of materials Import of order specific data Requirements Configurator Knowledge base (Logic) Production planning Accounting Distribution Transformation Configuration results Bill-of-materials, parameters, product topology
An Integrated Model-based Tool Chain for Managing Variability in Complex System Design
Models and Evolution Workshop (ME 2019), co-located with the IEEE / ACM 22nd International Conference on Model Driven Engineering Languages and Systems (MODELS 2019), 2019
Software-intensive systems in the automotive domain are often built in different variants, notably in order to support different market segments and legislation regions. Model-based concepts are frequently applied to manage complexity in such variable systems. However, the considered approaches are often focused on single-product development. In order to support variable products in a model-based systems engineering environment, we describe a tool-supported approach that allows us to annotate SysML models with variability data. Such variability information is exchanged between the system modeling tool and variability management tools through the Variability Exchange Language. The contribution of the paper includes the introduction of the model-based product line engineering tool chain and its application on a practical case study at Volvo Construction Equipment. Initial results suggest an improved efficiency in developing such a variable system.
Conceptual modeling for configuration of mass-customizable products
Artificial Intelligence in Engineering, 2001
The development and maintenance of product con®guration systems is faced with increasing challenges caused by the growing complexity of the underlying knowledge bases. Effective knowledge acquisition is needed since the product and the corresponding con®guration system have to be developed in parallel. In this paper, we show how to employ a standard design language (Uni®ed Modeling Language, UML) for modeling con®guration knowledge bases. The two constituent parts of the con®guration model are the component model and a set of corresponding functional architectures de®ning which requirements can be imposed on the product. The conceptual con®guration model is automatically translated into an executable logic representation. Using this representation we show how to employ model-based diagnosis techniques for debugging faulty con®guration knowledge bases, detecting infeasible requirements, and for recon®guring old con®gurations.
Model-based Product Line Engineering - enabling product families with variants
2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference, 2015
Product Lines are a group of related products manufactured or produced within or between collaborating organizations. To effectively manage a product line, one needs to understand both the similarities and differences between the different products and optimize the development lifecycle to leverage the similarities, and concentrate development on the differences. ISO 26550:2013 Software & Systems Engineering-Reference Model for Product Line Management & Engineering provides a standard for defining these similarities and differences as well as the choices between them. Model-Based Systems and Software Engineering (MBSE) using the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) and the Unified Modeling Language (UML) provide a means of modeling systems and software. Bringing the two together allows users to model product lines in industry standard formats. Combining these with an execution engine means that product models can be created for specific products, whilst maintaining the original product line model. This provides significant ROI for ground vehicles.
Product range models supporting design knowledge reuse
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 2001
Redesign, where previous information is recovered in order to be adapted to a new situation, is an area of design where information technology can potentially provide substantial bene®ts. Information support to product design and manufacturing has been pursued through the use of product and manufacturing models. This paper introduces a new concept of a complementary information model, called a product range model, that aims to support variant and adaptive design activities. The general concept and structure of such an information model is de®ned in terms of product functions and their respective design solutions. The interactions taking place between particular design solution options are discussed, and methods are proposed for their evaluation against product speci®cations and design constraints. The concept of knowledge links is introduced to maintain the relationships between solutions within the product range model and the particular model of the product being developed. The work has been explored using injection mould tooling as an appropriate product range and evaluated through the design and implementation of a design support system utilizing an object-oriented database.
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 2007
The effective integration of configuration system development with industrial software development is crucial for a successful implementation of a Mass Customization strategy. On the one hand, configuration knowledge bases must be easy to develop and maintain due to continuously changing product assortments. On the other hand, flexible integrations into existing enterprise applications, e-marketplaces and different facets of supply chain settings must be supported. This paper shows how the Model Driven Architecture (MDA) as an industrial framework for model development and interchange can serve as a foundation for standardized configuration knowledge representation, thus enabling knowledge sharing in heterogeneous environments. Using UML/OCL as standard configuration knowledge representation languages, the representation of configuration domain-specific modeling concepts within MDA is shown and a formal semantics for these concepts is provided which allows a common understanding and interpretation of configuration task descriptions.
MODELING CONFIGURABLE PRODUCT FAMILIES
1998
This paper presents a method for managing and modeling a product family as a configurable product. The method enables efficient management of a large number of product variants. The modeling is based on a recently proposed conceptualization of configuration domain, which is a synthesis and extension of the main approaches to configuration. The concepts of the conceptualization are components, attributes, resources, ports, contexts, functions and constraints. In addition to discussing the concepts, we give guidelines on using them. The conceptualization was evaluated through a case study of modeling rock drilling equipment.
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 2000
The key challenge of implementing mass customization manufacturing lies in the variety dilemma exhibited by frequent design changes and recurrent process variations. A holistic view of variety handling gives rise to the importance of variety coordination from design to production. This paper proposes a concept of process platform for coordinating product and process variety. Fundamental issues of process platforms are studied regarding generic product and process structures, generic planning, and generic variety representation. Variety handlers and associated states are introduced to model the meta-structure inherent in variety coordination. A set of modeling formalisms are developed to provide a powerful syntactic model to support rigorous analysis and manipulation of process platforms, while facilitating the application of semantics to support process platform enactment and detailed observations from a number of perspectives involving customers, design and production. Also reported is a case study of mass customization manufacturing of vibration motors for mobile phone products. The managerial implications of process platform planning are further discussed.