Plan-based manufacturability analysis and generation of shape-changing redesign suggestions

In this paper we describe Design Advisor, a plan-based tool for generating cost-reducing design suggestions. In general, there are many tools that will provide design evaluations, but few that will provide specific design suggestions as to how to improve a design. Design Advisor takes a feature-based artifact description and provides specific suggestions on how to change the shape of those features so as to reduce the overall manufacturing cost of the artifact. It does so by generating a manufacturing plan and analyzing what changes in the design will result in fewer manufacturing steps. In doing so, Design Advisor creates a link between the artifact design and complex manufacturing cost factors. An additional difficulty with suggestion generators is that they may generate many unreasonable design suggestions. By unreasonbale, we mean that they may produce design suggestions that reduce cost, but do so by eliminating or modifying the design in ways that compromise its function. Design Advisor addresses this problem using both functional and cost information to prune design suggestions. Without this pruning, an overwhelming number of design suggestions could be generated. This method can aid designers by providing them with manufacturability information early in the design cycle. This enables them to rapidly pinpoint the parts of the design that contribute most to cost. The result is shorter design cycle times and higher-quality, lower-cost product designs.