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SUMMARY
Process planning is the task of generating a plan for transforming raw material to its finished form according to design specifications. The existence of alternative feasible process plans for a part and the manufacture of several parts in a single facility sharing constrained resources, makes careful selection of process plans essential. This paper formalizes the selection of process plans with the objective of minimizing the total processing time and the total number of processing steps. The set of plans are then consolidated to minimize the resources used. This is accompanied by intangible benefits such as simplified planning and scheduling, fewer constraints on designing the layout, and an overall reduction in the manufacturing cost. As a word of caution, it may be added that process plans have wide ranging impact on factory operations and it is unrealistic to expect a single model to be comprehensive in addressing the problem. The model outlined in the paper highlights the key issues and provides an analytical basis for selecting process plans.
