A STEP-NC compliant methodology for modelling manufacturing resources

Manufacturing enterprises of all sizes, from small subcontractors and job shops to transnational aerospace and automotive giants, rely on a vast array of resources to generate added value and accomplish their business goals. These resources are comprised of human resource, knowledge resources and technological resources. Achieving business goals requires relevant., timely and well-calculated decision-making. A decision making process requires a model of the decision domain to be constructed with the necessary fidelity to achieve acceptable results and to determine the best course of action in the problem context. A reliable representation of manufacturing resources is therefore necessary for making correct decisions along the manufacturing chain. In this chapter a STEP-NC compliant methodology for representing technological manufacturing resources is presented. This modelling approach is based on mechanical elements that constitute machine tools and other manufacturing hardware together with their kinematic links and is developed with a focus on supporting process planning decisions. Models for various types of machines are presented at the end of the chapter to highlight the flexibility of this approach in modelling manufacturing resources.