Structured approach to the design of a production data analysis facility - Part 1: Conceptual design and information requirements

The paper reports research into a workshop-oriented machine and inspection framework for a contemporary metalworking small manufacturing enterprise (SME) that cannot be satisfactorily achieved by the rigid scaled-down versions of software applications employed within larger companies. It identifies a structured approach to the design and conceptualization of a production data analysis framework that is supported by the use of order and manufacturing data. A major feature of the framework is its generic applicability and totally integrated approach to provide rapid manufacturing control from intelligent feedback data from the inspection and manufacturing data analysis activities of manufactured components. This production data analysis approach is formally expressed through the combined application of both the activity analysis formalism of IDEF0 and object-oriented information analysis methodology of Booch. The systematic approach employed by the integrated production data analysis framework provides both product and manufacturing process control in order to close the manufacturing feedback loop. These integrated phases are described and involve the concurrent machine operation and inspection planning, simultaneous production code generation, comparative tolerance analysis, and manufacturing data analysis of manufactured components. The final part of the paper provides a critical discussion on a number of major issues of the approach and identifies the advantages and limitations of the research.