The representation of manufacturing requirements in model-driven parts manufacturing

Abstract

Today there is a need to make process and production planning more cost-effective while not compromising the quality of the product. Manufacturing requirements are used to ensure producibility in early development phases and also as a source for continuous improvement of the manufacturing system. To make this possible it is essential to have correct, updated information available and to be able to trace the relations between requirements and their origin and subjects. To trace requirements' origin in resources or processes is today very difficult owing to system integration problems. This article discusses the relations that need to be represented and proposes the use of model-based methods to enable traceability of requirements. Because requirements are a collaborative effort a standard for information exchange is needed. The ISO10303 STEP application protocol AP233 System Engineering is proposed for this purpose.

Keywords:

• information management
• manufacturing
• requirements

Acknowledgements

This research article is a result of the research conducted in the ModArt (Model driven parts manufacturing) project. ModArt is a collaborative research project with several research organisations and industry partners, which is financed by VINNOVA. The participants include KTH, IVF, Scania, Sandvik Coromant, ITT-Flygt, Haldex Brake Systems, NMW, UGS, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, Eurostep, SIS, Epsilon, and Microtech.