Operational definitions for system requirements as the basis of design automation

This paper introduces formal definitions to system requirements as the basis of design automation. Semi-formal requirements for real-time systems are expressed in the form of system verification diagrams, and the graph model of behaviour represents the design, capturing three aspects of system behaviour—control, data and interpretation. The design model is considered operational as an underlying token machine governs its actual behaviour. To achieve automatic design synthesis, the semantics of each construct in the requirement model have to be formally defined. These definitions constitute the core of a knowledge base in an automatic design synthesis tool.     

Fostering continuous innovation in design with an integrated knowledge management approach

In the global competition, companies are propelled by an immense pressure to innovate. The trend to produce more new knowledge-intensive products or services and the rapid progress of information technologies arouse huge interest on knowledge management for innovation. However the strategy of knowledge management is not widely adopted for innovation in industries due to a lack of an effective approach of their integration. This study aims to help the designers to innovate more efficiently based on an integrated approach of knowledge management. Based on this integrated approach, a prototype of distributed knowledge management system for innovation is developed. An industrial application is presented and its initial results indicate the applicability of the approach and the prototype in practice.     

Causal design knowledge: Alternative representation method for product development knowledge management

This paper presents a mathematical comparison of procedural knowledge and causal knowledge, and discusses the potential roles and feasibility of causal knowledge across product development knowledge management. Since reuse of knowledge is so important in product development, various knowledge management approaches have been introduced. Most of the product design knowledge is represented by procedural knowledge, which unfortunately requires cumbersome processes to define, and is typically inadequate for representing the kind of knowledge generated during the product development process. A causal knowledge representation, however, can help us to overcome this limitation and is an alternative formalism for representing product design knowledge. In this paper we compare the procedural and causal knowledge representations. We present the mathematical definitions of two knowledge paradigms, then mathematically describe the relationship between the two. Both knowledge paradigms are then compared based on the perspective of knowledge expression, decision alternative representation, reasoning capability, and knowledge cultivation. This paper concludes that causal knowledge representation is superior to procedural knowledge representation based on the four perspectives. Finally, the knowledge systems are modeled using Systems Modeling Language (SysML), and we present a case study that demonstrates the causal knowledge features using a realistic example from industry.     

A process knowledge representation approach for decision support in design of complex engineered systems

Process knowledge is of considerable significance to the digitalization and intelligentization of the manufacturing industry. Current research on the process knowledge representation of decision-making in engineering design has predominantly focused on either mathematical models of individual decisions at the micro-level or organizational models of group decision consensus at the macro-level. However, the management of complexity and uncertainty in the model-based realization of engineered systems is critical to achieving rational, comprehensive, and robust decisions, especially in terms of knowledge-intensive design. The efficiency and effectiveness of decisions in system design are intrinsically linked to the process, knowledge, and system concepts involved, necessitating a more flexible and systematic decision process representation scheme that supports both the management of complexity and uncertainty. Hence, in this paper, we propose a decision-centric design process representation scheme named the Phase-Event-Information X (PEI-X) diagram and its corresponding systematic design guidance method for designing decision workflows. Using the proposed method, designers have the ability to (1) model hierarchical decision processes that cover vertical and horizontal interaction patterns, and (2) exploit the synthesis of the “Formulating-Identifying-Reusing-Exploring” iterative process to extend the understanding and prediction of decision process behaviors in design. We achieve the aforesaid abilities through the implementation of a knowledge-based design guidance system for collaborative decision support and we demonstrate the efficacy by adopting a specific multi-stage manufacturing process design problem, hot rod rolling system design, and carry out an integrated design of materials, products, and related manufacturing processes.     

Role of laser sensor systems in automation and flexible manufacturing

New industries and production plants require a flexible system, which is capable of picking up objects of various shapes, weights, and colors with arbitrary position and orientation. Such a system also needs recognition and guiding sub-systems. The recognition system includes target function for the recognition sub-system and relation between object characteristics and recognition target. The laser sensor system can be used for such object recognition. Wire-based telemetry and control systems can cause many problems in shop floors and factories, and so there has been a strong growth of interest in wireless guidance like vehicles equipped with laser guiding and navigation systems. For the continuous measurements of parameters such as temperature, etc. optical laser sensor technology seems to become more applicable at this stage. This article describes the operational principles and the use of the most advanced laser sensor systems for quantity measurements, guiding, navigation, pattern recognition, and vision systems for inspection purposes. A variety of laser-based sensors, which can be used as sensing devices in manufacturing, and production technology, are described in this study. Adaptive cruise control systems that can be used in automobile industry to monitor distance and speed are described in this report. As a typical example, the principal operation of a laser guided mobile robot using a laser navigation system is also described.     

A framework to integrate design knowledge reuse and requirements management in engineering design

This paper presents a framework to integrate requirements management and design knowledge reuse. The research approach begins with a literature review in design reuse and requirements management to identify appropriate methods within each domain. A framework is proposed based on the identified requirements. The framework is then demonstrated using a case study example: vacuum pump design. Requirements are presented as a component of the integrated design knowledge framework. The proposed framework enables the application of requirements management as a dynamic process, including capture, analysis and recording of requirements. It takes account of the evolving requirements and the dynamic nature of the interaction between requirements and product structure through the various stages of product development.     

Intelligent automation of design and manufacturing in machine tools using an open architecture motion controller

Several issues including accurate programming, proper tool selection, machining feeds and speeds selection, thermal error compensation, vibration monitoring, etc. contribute significantly to the performance and productivity of a machine tool in an industrial scenario. Only when all these are properly set and controlled it is possible to ensure consistent accuracy and productivity of the machine tool. Significant developments have been made in enhancing the capabilities of a commercial computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine to address this challenge. In this paper, an attempt is made to present the concept of Rapid-Computer Aided Manufacturing (Rapid-CAM) using intelligent automation of a machine tool in order to address the above scenario through a real-time open architecture motion controller as well as to illustrate some of the features that are being implemented in a 3-axis vertical machining centre (VMC).     

信息系统项目管理的知识管理实施及评价

在基于知识管理的信息系统项目管理模式前提下,结合信息系统项目管理中的知识管理实践,集中研究信息系统项目管理的知识管理实施和评价方法,以用于指导信息系统项目管理的知识管理成功实施,进而提高信息系统建设的成功率。     

Flexibility in manufacturing automation: A living lab case study of Norwegian metalcasting SMEs

Flexibility can be defined as the ability to respond efficiently to the changing demands of the customer and is different in SMEs (Small-to-Medium manufacturing Enterprises) than the traditional OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Costs involved in implementing manufacturing flexibility to meet customer demand are more important in the SMEs, especially that are labor intensive for example metalcasting companies, when located in a high cost country like Norway. Therefore the Norwegian Research Council initiated the Autocast project to promote SME business cooperation and flexibility by automating the manufacturing processes within the Norwegian casting/foundry SMEs. The project intends to identify and improve the areas crucial for flexible manufacturing to help SMEs stay competitive in global competition. Literature confirms the difficulty in the development of objective measures for flexibility, for example, because of its property of multidimensionality. Nevertheless, an attempt has been made in this paper to identify the suitability of essential spheres of manufacturing flexibility to a foundry set-up accompanied by two living lab foundry case studies. The paper also completes the set of design rules specifically for foundry automation and assist flexibility in manufacturing. Efforts have been made to sustain the existing flexible automation implementation on the basis of poka-yoke principles. The findings from the living lab case study assist in proposing the design for flexible foundry automation (DFFFA) guidelines for flexible automation in a consortium collaborative environment could allow for better response to customer needs and support on-the-move interaction collaboration.     

Traceability and management of dispersed product knowledge during design and manufacturing

Product development processes comprise highly creative and knowledge-intensive tasks that involve extensive information exchange and communication among geographically distributed teams. Due to the geographical and institutional separation between the different systems involved in the product lifecycle, product knowledge sharing is becoming a key issue in the information systems of extended enterprises. This paper addresses the issue and challenges of product knowledge traceability during the product development. The aim of this research effort is to enhance the sharing and use of product knowledge acquired during the development process using traceability information.A standardized approach is proposed to trace and share product knowledge and key constructs to support traceability during the product development process are identified and formalized. This research effort is based on the premise that an important step towards achieving product knowledge sharing is providing traceability across various product knowledge elements that are used in product development phases, i.e. design and manufacturing. Two disjointed but complementary case studies illustrating the benefit of traceability are presented. The potential role of traceability is described, first to support the decision making process during engineering change management (ECM), and second to support product-oriented modelling for knowledge sharing and exchanging to meet the quality requirements. The proposed approach has been implemented using the MEGA Suite tool and applied to each of the case studies and could be integrated to PLM systems currently in use.     

Expanding bottleneck management from manufacturing to product design and engineering processes

Bottlenecks inhibit the performance of companies. Up to now, bottleneck management research has concentrated on manufacturing processes, while neglecting product design and engineering processes. This research fills this gap through developing and testing of a new bottleneck management concept for product design and engineering processes. The new concept is developed using a system theory modelling approach and comprises of four bottleneck management counter measures. Two propositions were developed to test the concept through an event-discrete simulation model. The simulation is grounded on empirical data from three design-driven companies and tests the impact of the four bottleneck management counter measures on the performance of product design and engineering processes. The findings from the simulation confirm the applicability of the newly developed bottleneck concept to improve the performance of product design and engineering processes. In doing so, this research study expands bottleneck management for the first time from manufacturing to product design and engineering processes.     

Work design and analysis for space-based manufacturing: a case analysis of initial design issues

The purpose of the present research was to investigate the nature of potential manufacturing tasks humans may execute in a space environment. The success of space-based manufacturing (SBM) is suggested to be a precursor to permanent human presence in space. A working hypothesis for this study was that human work in the SBM environment would be substantially different from terrestrial manufacturing work. To investigate this hypothesis, a case analysis approach was developed that employed a function allocation and task analysis of a representative SBM process: the production of tailored industrial crystals. This research approach was chosen as the current state of engineering design for SBM is in the conceptual and early flow sheeting phases of a system life cycle. Results of the task analysis and function allocation process suggest response to corrective maintenance functions and to abnormal system conditions should be allocated to humans as opposed to automation. These results are discussed in relation to human factors engineering challenges associated with long-duration human presence in an SBM environment.     

Method for identification and integration of design automation tasks in industrial contexts

Current industrial practice does not reflect the opportunities provided by state-of-the-art design automation methods. The limited application of computational methods to support the design process by automating design tasks is caused by the lack of methods for comprehensive design automation task definition. Therefore, potential design automation tasks are not recognized and already deployed solutions lack integration to design practice from a product lifecycle management (PLM) perspective. In response to these shortcomings, this work proposes a method for identification and integration of design automation tasks that features collaborative workshops and enterprise architecture modelling for comprehensive analysis of design processes including its technological environments. The method applies design automation task templates that contextualize the knowledge levels required for design automation task definition and the design process including its technological environments. Evaluation with three industrial cases shows that the method enables efficient identification and integration of potential design automation tasks in a PLM context. The application of knowledge levels in conjunction with enterprise architecture modelling support the identification and validation of the relevant sources of knowledge required for design automation task formalization. Thus, this work contributes by introducing and evaluating a novel method for design automation task definition that brings the opportunities of state-of-the-art design automation methods into line with requirements stemming from design practice and the related PLM.     

The maintenance of legal knowledge based systems

Legal knowledge based systems (KBSs) are, by definition, grounded on law. Very often the relevant law is subject to routine amendment and repeal, such changes occurring at irregular and unpredictable intervals. These systems are thus particularly affected by significant problems of adaptation as a result, a fact which has limited their practical take-up. If they are to be of more practical use the maintenance issues associated with these systems must be taken seriously. In this paper we discuss the issues associated with the maintenance of legal KBSs and describe a suite of maintenance tools designed to address these issues.     

流程工业知识自动化及其在铝电解生产中的应用

流程工业中存在大量的知识型工作,其中包括企业管理、车间调度和设备运行等,它是需要相关人员对知识的利用和创造才能完成的工作.流程工业知识自动化通过知识发现技术获得相关的领域知识,并采用知识推理方法进行自动推理,从而能够自主决策,最终实现流程工业的智慧化、绿色化以及高效化生产.论文综述了国内外有关流程工业在知识发现、自动推理以及自主决策等知识自动化相关的研究现状,以及基于知识的自动化应用技术以及相关的工业软件,并对这些方法以及已开发的软件存在的问题进行了分析.通过铝电解槽况辨识以及异常槽况的溯因分析详细阐述了流程工业知识自动化在铝电解行业的一些研究工作.     

A knowledge support approach for the preliminary design of platform-based products in Engineering-To-Order manufacturing

A product platform is a design approach for meeting the demand for customizable products. Traditional knowledge-based technologies or systems lack flexibility in supporting both configuration and parameter design of platform-based products. In many cases, customers’ requirements and knowledge models both contain incomplete information, and there are complex relations among various solutions, functions and solution parameters in Engineering-To-Order (ETO) products. A knowledge model for the preliminary design of ETO products is presented in this paper, and linkages are established between configuration design knowledge and parameter design procedures. The basis of the knowledge model is the Extended Function-Solutions (EFS) tree, from which design case trees, design modules, constraint checking rules, and module interface templates derive. A corresponding knowledge retrieval and reuse strategy is also presented. It uses an improved fuzzy information axiom to search for the optimal configuration with incomplete information. The parameter design process model of new products then can be generated based on the optimal configuration. The case study demonstrates the knowledge modeling, retrieval and reuse for the preliminary design of open-type crank presses. Moreover, the effectiveness of the methodology is discussed by analyzing the verification approach and the satisfaction of customers’ requirements.     

A hypernetwork-based context-aware approach for design lesson-learned knowledge proactive feedback in design for manufacturing

Design lesson-learned knowledge (DLK) clearly describes various design quality problems exposed in past manufacturing stages, solutions and preventive measures. If knowledge management system could proactively feed DLK back into design process, many previous quality problems would be avoided, thus helping designers better implement design for manufacturing (DFM) in a smarter manner. However, since design quality problems are not pointed out in design process, problem-relevant information extracted from design contexts might be inaccurate. In this situation, traditional context-aware approach is prone to acquire design quality problems that designers do not need. Facing these challenges, a hypernetwork-based context-aware DLK proactive feedback approach is proposed to construct hypernetwork-based DLK representation model and predict possible design quality problems in the design process, thus providing corresponding DLK and helping designers reduce the reoccurrence of previous quality problems in DFM. Specifically, hypernetwork-based DLK representation model is first constructed, which consists of designer context network, task context network and DLK network. Based on this model, a context-aware collaborative reason strategy is constructed to predict possible design quality problems according to complex design contexts. To validate the proposed approach, a practical product development case on the shipbuilding design is implemented, and some comparative experiments are conducted. Experiment results show the proposed approach is effective and has a positive performance in DFM. It is anticipated this work opens up a promising way to help designers reuse DLK for reducing the reoccurrence of previous design quality problems in a smarter manner, thus better implementation of DFM.     

Multi-objective optimization of product variety and manufacturing complexity in mixed-model assembly systems

Product variety has increased dramatically as manufacturers compete for market shares. While higher variety of products may satisfy a broader range of customers, it also introduces complexity in manufacturing. A multi-objective optimization approach is proposed to balance product variety and manufacturing complexity when designing a product family and the mixed-model assembly system. Relative complexity is introduced to measure the complexity and to find the best set of product variants to be offered while balancing market share and complexity. Numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the approach.     

企业知识管理及其知识仓库的解决方案

分析了知识管理的概念、内容、关键问题及其解决方案，提出了知识仓库的概念，给出了知识管理的知识仓库解决方案。     

基于知识管理的信息系统项目管理研究

以构建基于知识管理的信息系统项目管理模式为目的，提出了以知识管理为中心的信息系统项目管理领域模型、以知识管理为主导的信息系统项目管理过程模型、以知识为基础的信息系统项目管理组织发展层次模型以及以知识和知识管理为纽带的信息系统项目管理总体框架，用于指导信息系统项目管理实践。