A STEP AP224 agent-based early manufacturability assessment environment using XML

Abstract

Early design assessment activities have a significant impact on reducing the cost of manufacture. The efficient utilisation of the product development time and the level of coordination of the early design activities between the major stakeholders are becoming key factors for success in manufacturing today. The paper reports on a new distributed early design manufacturability assessment methodology using collaborative autonomous agents. A product data model compliant with STEP AP224 and corresponding process and facility data models are proposed to support the decision-making process. XML was used as a medium for exchange of requests and information between design, manufacturing, and facility planning agents. A prototype Web-enabled system for rapid product manufacturability assessment in the extended enterprise has been developed using distributed multi-agent CORBA objects. The reported research is a step towards the development of a generic prototype tool for collaborative design evaluation and rapid assessment of the manufacturing feasibility and resource availability at different stages of the product development process.