An object-oriented knowledge-based system for automating the routing process in a manufacturing environment

Abstract

The use of intelligent computer applications is an effective means to improve time management and to increase the competitiveness of any business. The developed application is designed to minimize the time it takes to meet both a company's and its customer's needs. The Blank and Steel Socket Routing System implements the first step in determining the cost of a manufactured part. The system automates the process for determining all the operations performed on the factory floor on a requested part. The complete list of operations includes information on the specific work-centers needed to manufacture the part, and the various times that the centers will be occupied. Knowing the utilized work-centers and the length of their use, the cost of manufacturing the part can be easily approximated and, therefore, can be quickly communicated back to the customer. The Black and Steel Socket Routing System is implemented with an object-oriented knowledge-based tool. Furthermore, this program is one of a multi-part programming system embedded in a Computer Integrated Manufacturing environment. The object-oriented knowledge-based system is developed via the Automated Reasoning Tool for Information Management (ART-IM) software. ART-IM provides an inference engine that utilizes the function of parallel processing. By using the RETE algorithm, an opportunistic parallel rule execution algoritm, ART-IM enables large expert-system programs that contain a large number of rules to be read and processed rather quickly and efficiently, as opposed to the traditional methods of programming with “If...then”-based structures. The knowledge-based system contains the information regarding the various characteristics of any given part design. With this information, the part routing program searches through the rules pertaining to the given design, which is based upon the dimensions of the part entered in a data file. This data file can be altered by the design engineer to facilitate a much quicker process of obtaining the various operations to be performed for various design patterns. The implementation of this knowledge-based routing system significantly reduces the amount of time it had taken to determine the operations needed to be performed for a given part design. Furthermore, this system lowers the frustration level experienced by the design engineers, as there was no further need to scan large databases in determining the routing operations. Before the use of this system, the probability of error was significantly high and, therefore, contributed to the inefficiency of the process. The automated program, therefore, increases the reliability of the process.