Katherine C. Morris

Sharing manufacturing information in virtual enterprises

ecent advances in communications technology make it possible for manufacturers to transmit data to each other in fractions of a second. However, if these corporations do not use the same software tools, understanding of the data can be delayed for weeks or months while employees purchase and learn to use new tools. This article describes ongoing research into an information infrastructure that seeks to use standards (formal and de facto) to reduce the problems that occur when manufacturers want to use different tools to process each other’s data. Communicating information between different software tools is a problem common to many application domains. For example, many researchers who have collaborated on research projects are familiar with arguments over which word processor to use for a particular project. In manufacturing, the multifaceted nature of design information makes communications particularly difficult. A mechanical design may contain geometric, tolerance, material, process control, and many other kinds of information. An information infrastructure is needed to allow manufacturing applications to communicate efficiently. The infrastructure should allow engineers to use familiar applications whenever possible. A successful infrastructure will reduce the time to market for new products while letting multiple organizations apply their specialties to product development. Manufacturing has a long history of reducing communications problems through standards. Some of the most significant advances in the industrial revolution occurred when standards were established. For example, drafting standards for drawings represented a significant contribution in the 18th and early 19th centuries. In the modern era, electronic communications are more important every year. Standards are needed so manufacturers can communicate efficiently through the Internet. The required standards are becoming increasingly complex as the range of information the industry wants to communicate becomes wider. Demand for these standards is increased by the desire to allow corporations to communicate in virtual enterprises.

Data protocols for the industrial virtual enterprise

High performance computer networks allow companies to share data and technology electronically and thus collaborate in virtual enterprises. One barrier to such collaboration is the lack of interoperability among the application systems of different companies-the data produced by the systems at one company cannot be read by those at another. The National Industrial Information Infrastructure Protocols (NIIP) Consortium was formed to address this problem. The article describes three layered protocols being developed by the NIIP data protocol team.

Lessons learned developing protocols for the industrial virtual enterprise

Abstract The protocols selected and developed by the NIIIP Consortium have been validated in three end-of-cycle demonstrations. In each cycle, a team with expertise in technical product data, object modeling, workflow management, security, and knowledge representation came together and demonstrated how technical barriers to the dynamic creation, operation and dissolution of “virtual enterprises” are overcome by the NIII protocols. This paper describes the protocols that were selected and developed by the product data team and makes predictions about how they will affect the future development and deployment of standard product data.

Standards landscape and directions for smart manufacturing systems

The future of manufacturing lies in being able to optimize the use of resources to produce high quality product and adapt quickly to changing conditions. From smaller lot sizes, to more customization, to sudden changes in supply chain; the variability that manufacturers face is rapidly increasing. A key to enabling adaptive and smart manufacturing systems is the appropriate definition and use of information. Standards are fundamental 1) to facilitate the delivery of the right information at the right time, 2) to enable actions based on that information and 3) to reduce risk of technology adoption and development. This paper provides a review of the standards - a standards landscape - in which future smart manufacturing systems will operate. The landscape focuses on standards used to integrate within and across three manufacturing lifecycle dimensions: product, production system, and business. Opportunities and challenges for new standards are discussed. Emerging activities addressing these opportunities are presented. This paper will allow manufacturing practitioners to better understand the standards useful to integrate smart manufacturing technologies within their areas of expertise.

Database Management Systems in Engineering

Most engineering-related software addresses specific problems. These problems are typically computation-intensive and limited in scope. Until relatively recently this approach has been an effective use of computer and human resources. However, in the future, engineering and manufacturing processes will need more integrated product development environments. Both cultural and procedural changes are needed to support the engineering environments of the future, and these changes will require integrated software systems. Databases are essential for integrating software and for reliably sharing data among diverse groups of people and applications. Database technology will be an integral part of the emerging software environments. In this article the application of database technology to engineering problems is examined for different levels of complexity within the computing environment. This introduction provides some background on the topic and includes the description of an example that is used throughout the article. In the first section, the use of database technology for standalone applications is considered. Mechanisms for data representation to support engineering applications are particularly important for implementing engineering software. The second section discusses database techniques for managing changes within the software environment. The third section discusses considerations for supporting multiple engineers working cooperatively. The state of database technology is discussed in the concluding section. Keywords: engineering problem; database schema; physical organization; change management; schema evolution; cooperative engineering environment; tools; standard interfaces; commercial databases; state-of-the-art

Enabling Smart Manufacturing Technologies for Decision-Making Support

Smart manufacturing combines advanced manufacturing capabilities and digital technologies throughout the product lifecycle. These technologies can provide decision-making support to manufacturers through improved monitoring, analysis, modeling, and simulation that generate more and better intelligence about manufacturing systems. However, challenges and barriers have impeded the adoption of smart manufacturing technologies. To begin to address this need, this paper defines requirements for data-driven decision making in manufacturing based on a generalized description of decision making. Using these requirements, we then focus on identifying key barriers that prevent the development and use of data-driven decision making in industry as well as examples of technologies and standards that have the potential to overcome these barriers. The goal of this research is to promote a common understanding among the manufacturing community that can enable standardization efforts and innovation needed to continue adoption and use of smart manufacturing technologies.

Using formal methods to scope performance challenges for Smart Manufacturing Systems: focus on agility

Smart Manufacturing Systems need to be agile to adapt to new situations by using detailed, precise, and appropriate data for intelligent decision-making. The intricacy of the relationship of strategic goals with operational performance across the many levels of a manufacturing system inhibits the realization of Smart Manufacturing Systems. This article proposes a method for identifying what aspects of a manufacturing system should be addressed to respond to changing strategic goals. The method uses standard modeling techniques in specifying a manufacturing system and the relationship between strategic goals and operational performance metrics. Two existing reference models related to manufacturing operations are represented formally and harmonized to support the proposed method. The method is illustrated for a single scenario using agility as a strategic goal.

A framework for XML schema naming and design rules development tools

Many organizations are facing enormous challenges today in trying to integrate a wide range of software systems. These systems span the functional areas within an organization, as well as, the multitude of organizations and countries involved in a business process. To address the needs of information integration a number of organizations are developing standards to define the information units that will be shared. Many of these standards are an application of the XML family of software standards, hence the proliferation of content standards or xML standards. To ensure quality in the emerging content standards, the organizations producing them also define guidelines for how the XML standards, especially XML Schema, will be used in a given context. These guidelines are published as sets of Naming and Design Rules (NDR). Unfortunately, a single set of these rules do not meet the needs of the wide range of standards being developed. Moreover, the guidelines are being published as prose (e.g., English text) rather than in a computational form. To address these shortcomings and allow for the more rapid creation of high quality NDR, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is developing a set of tools to facilitate NDR development. The tools support the development of executable tests to support NDR, collaboration on the use of those tests, the grouping of tests into testing profiles, as well as, the association of NDR documentation with executable tests. The grouping mechanism allows rules to be selected from a larger set for use in a particular context. By also providing for the association of guidelines with executable tests, a testing suite can be quickly assembled. Furthermore, the pool of guidelines and their tests can be collaboratively developed, thereby leveraging resources and creating higher quality test sets in the end. The report describes a framework for tools to support the development of NDR for XML Schema. The tools aid in producing high quality XML schemas using a standards-based approach to information integration. The tools are based on open standards, making them highly configurable and reusable. The three primary functional areas of the tools described are authoring, testing, and sharing.

Design of a flexible, integrated testing system for STEP and OMG standards

Abstract New software standards supporting integration of manufacturing and engineering systems are emerging at a rapid pace. Two groups, the Object Management Group (OMG) and the community producing the Standard for the Exchange of Product Model Data (STEP, formally known as ISO 10303), dominate in the production of standards for manufacturing and engineering industries. Their standards are based on common methods, which can be exploited in developing tests for systems supporting the standards. This paper describes the methods employed and a system that builds on those methods to support the automatic and rapid development of conformance tests for the emerging standards.

Standard Representations for Sustainability Characterization of Industrial Processes

Sustainability assessments are dependent on accurate measures for energy, material, and other resources used by the processes involved in the life cycle of a product. Manufacturing accounts for about 1/5 of the energy consumption in the U.S. Minimizing energy and material consumption in this field has the promise of dramatically reducing our energy dependence. To this end, ASTM International [1] has formed both a committee on Sustainability (E60) and a Subcommittee on Sustainable Manufacturing (E60.13). This paper describes ASTMs new guide for characterizing the environmental aspects of manufacturing processes [2]. The guide defines a generic representation to support structured processes. Representations of multiple unit manufacturing processes (UMPs) can be linked together to support system-level analyses, such as simulation and evaluation of a series of manufacturing processes used in the manufacture and assembly of parts. The result is the ability to more accurately assess and improve the sustainability of production processes. Simulation is commonly used in manufacturing industries to assess individual process performance at a system level and to understand behaviors and interactions between processes. This paper explores the use of the concepts outlined in the standard with three use cases based on an industrial example in the pulp and paper industry. The intent of the use cases is to show the utility of the standard as a guideline for composing data to characterize manufacturing processes. The data, besides being useful for descriptive purposes, is used in a simulation model to assess sustainability of a manufacturing system.