A standard manufacturing information model to support design for manufacturing in virtual enterprises

Manufacturing enterprises are being forced into greater collaboration with customers and suppliers in order to produce quality products in smaller batches, shorter lead times and with greater variety. Consequently, the design-for-manufacturing task must be conducted in these virtual and distributed enterprises across traditional organizational boundaries. This paper proposes the use of standard information models to support the product realization process. While extensive work has been performed in developing product data models little effort has been performed in developing a manufacturing model. The design-for-manufacturing stages are identified with their requisite information requirements. Different approaches used to model various aspects of manufacturing processes are reviewed and found inadequate for supporting the entire design-for-manufacturing task. The development of a standard manufacturing systems information model written in EXPRESS and based upon the modelling methodology adhered to by standard for the exchange of product (STEP) is proposed to fill the void. Initial developments in this area are discussed, the model is illustrated with an example, and the potential benefits to manufacturing are reviewed.