Methods for integration of process planning and production planning

Abstract

Integration is often considered to be a tangible word. In fact integration is diffuse: it does not express in any detail how to conduct integration initiatives. On the other hand, integration docs represent a very efficient way of improving the operational characteristics of a manufacturing facility. The concepts provided for integration are derived from the discovery of time-dependent tasks within the process planning domain. When operating in dynamic environments it is important to separate static and dynamic controlled decision making and to provide architectures capable of providing the required dynamic knowledge at the time when the decisions are made. A natural expansion of this hypothesis is the development of an approach for process planning conducted concurrently with the other engineering activities within product life. This article introduces a practical approach to the integration of process planning and production control business functions. The approach outlines systematic methods to gain insight into, and to understand, the complexity of real-world problems, and it provides solutions to solve them. Concepts for solving the integration issue based on constrained information theory are also provided