Methods for the capture of manufacture best practice in product lifecycle management

• Published in: International journal of production research 2010-10, Vol.48 (20), p.5885-5904
• Main Authors: Gunendran, A.G., Young, R.I.M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Best practice; Correlation analysis; Decision theory. Utility theory; Exact sciences and technology; Firm modelling; information and knowledge organisation; Inventory control, production control. Distribution; Knowledge management; Manufacturing; manufacturing best practices; Operational research and scientific management; Operational research. Management science; Product development; Product lifecycle management; Studies; system design; Systems design; UML
• ISSN: 0020-7543; 1366-588X
• DOI: 10.1080/00207540903104210

The capture of manufacturing best practice knowledge in product lifecycle management systems has significant potential to improve the quality of design decisions and minimise manufacturing problems during new product development. However, providing a reusable source of manufacturing best practice is difficult due to the complexity of the viewpoint relationships between products and the manufacturing processes and resources used to produce them. This paper discusses how best to organise manufacturing best practice knowledge, the relationships between elements of this knowledge plus their relationship to product information. The paper also explores the application of UML-2 as a system design tool which can model these relationships and hence support the reuse of system design models over time. The paper identifies a set of part family and feature libraries and, most significantly, the relationships between them, as a means of capturing best practice manufacturing knowledge and illustrates how these can be linked to manufacturing resource models and product information. Design for manufacture and machining best practice views are used in the paper to illustrate the concepts developed. An experimental knowledge based system has been developed and results generated using a power transmission shaft example.