Recipe/Algorithm/Step-by-step instructions Fast Food Chain Same taste everywhere from NY to LA How do they do it?

it? Customization in formal dinner restaurant

Role of the master machinist in small batch manufacturing Manufacturing is more complex than cooking yet the planning for it is similar Job shop: group machines which perform same operation together Routing of parts through the various departments Process plan defines the route Reduction in the necessary skill of operator can be achieved by using a detailed process plan

Process planning is the function within a manufacturing facility that establishes which processes and parameters are to be used (as well as those machines capable of performing these processes) to convert a part from its initial form to a final form predetermined (usually by a designed engineer) in an engineering drawing.

Process planning can be defined as an act of preparing processing documentation for the manufacturing of a piece, part or an assembly. When process planning is done using a computer : Computer Aided Process Planning

Manufacturing a part to meet design specs.

Selection of initial block

Sequence of operations
Selection of machine, process
Surface finish Quality Tolerance Hardness Life Cost

Experience based and manually performed Variability in planners judgment and experience can lead to differences in that of what constitutes best quality Problem facing modern industry is the lack of skilled labor force to produce machined parts as was done in the past Hence Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Computer Aided Process Planning

CAD

CAPP

CAM

Computer Aided Design (CAD)

2D 3D Concurrent Engineering

Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP)

Variant Generative Automatic

Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM)

CNC Robotics Material Handling Just in Time (JIT) Group Technology Flexible Manufacturing Systems

Computer Aided Process Planning is the systematic determination of manufacturing methods and operation details by which parts can be produced economically and efficiently from raw materials to finished products.

Reduces the demand on the skilled planner Process rationalization and standardization Reduces process planning time and manufacturing cost Creates consistent and accurate plans Increases productivity

Variant Generative Automatic

A Process plan for a new part is created by identifying and retrieving an existing plan for similar part, followed by the necessary modifications to adapt it to the new part.
Preparatory stage: GT based i.e., Classification & Coding
Families of similar parts are created Family matrix

A process plan to manufacture the entire family is created

Production Stage

Incoming part is coded Part family is identified Process plan is edited to account for the different needs of the part

Salient points of variant process planning

Easy to build, learn and use Shorter development time and lower manpower consumption to develop process plans Experienced process planners are still required to edit the process plan Cannot be used in an entirely automated manufacturing system without additional process planning

A system which automatically synthesizes a process plan for a new component

Part description Part to be produced must be clearly and precisely defined in a computer compatible format Input can thus be either in text format or graphical format Manufacturing databases Logic of manufacturing must be identified and captured The captured logic must be incorporated in a unified manufacturing database Decision making logic and algorithms

Decision trees Expert Systems: AI based approaches

Process plan is created from information available in a mfg database without human intervention. Must have a 3D model of part produced, GT code, material code, etc. in computer readable format. Knowledge of manufacturing must be captured and encoded into efficient software. Other planning functions including machine selection, tool selection and process optimization are also automated.

 generates a complete process plan directly from a CAD drawing Requires: Automated CAD interface

Take a general CAD model ( 3D for unambiguous

data) and develop an interface to develop a manufacturing interface for this model : Feature Recognition of CAD Design the parts with available manufacturing features : Feature based CAD Dual: useful features of both approaches

Intelligent planner

(computer

based)

process

CAPP systems, over the evolution adopt many advanced techniques like feature-based modeling, object oriented programming, effective GUIs, technological databases and utilize advanced computing methods like AI and expert system. The concern is with the pace of implementation that is lagging behind rate of development of new systems and new ideas in the field. Thus CAPP as the main element in integration of design and production has not kept pace with the development of CAD and CAM. Dynamic process planning which is one of the key areas for R&D can integrate design and mfg, and reduce the total product development time by facilitating 2-way interaction between design and process planning.