Configuration-oriented product modelling and knowledge management for made-to-order manufacturing enterprises

Abstract

In made-to-order (MTO) manufacturing enterprises (ME), product architectures are usually modularised and components standardised. Product configuration is a key technology for order realisation in MTO-ME and is a typical knowledge-based application. Through a configuration process, product modules or components are selected and assembled according to customer requirements. Product configuration relates to a great deal of knowledge that represents complexity relations among components or modules, such as configuration rules and assembly constraints. Traditional product modelling techniques are focused mainly on physical product modelling and geometric representation, which makes them insufficient to help in the product configuration process. This paper discusses configuration-oriented product modelling and knowledge management for MTO-ME. A general process of product configuration modelling is proposed. The configuration model represents a product family from which a specific configuration solution or product variant can be derived. Actually, configuration modelling is a process which captures and represents product knowledge. In this paper, product knowledge is organised and managed through a knowledge component (KCOM) that includes configuration rules and constraints. A KCOM-based product knowledge representation model is presented. Finally, a PDM system is extended to support product modelling and knowledge management for MTO configurable products.

How to scope configuration projects and manage the knowledge they require

“…Academics and practitioners recognise that KM has a crucial influence on the success or failure of configuration projects (Lech, 2014). Configurators involve a great deal of knowledge that represents the complex relations among components or modules, such as configuration rules and assembly constraints (Jinsong et al, 2005). The knowledge complication of configurators is due to (1) volatility problems -they are a dynamic subject domain, (2) scope expansion -because configurators are successful business tools, users will ask for more, and (3) the large size and information complexity of the knowledge in the systems (Barker et al, 1989).…”

“…Many researchers have developed product modelling techniques to meet this challenge (Aldanondo et al, 2000;Chao and Chen, 2001;Hvam, 2001;Hvam et al, 2008;Jinsong et al, 2005;Magro and Torasso, 2003;Tseng, H.E. et al, 2005;Yang et al, 2009).…”

“…By analysing the extant literature, our study has shown that implementing the KM process in configuration projects is challenging because of the amount and complexity of the knowledge involved (Jinsong et al, 2005).…”

Data Driven Product Portfolio Analysis of Electric Motors Based on Product Platforms Using Knowledge-Based Systems

“…Forza and Salvador (2002) presented with their work of a knowledge-based product configurator for power transformers. Jinsong et al (2005) described knowledge-based product configurators using an objectoriented modelling approach. Although product configurators contain huge amounts of knowledge about the product architecture and manufacturing process, in most cases these configurators are only able to provide pre-programmed solutions from a limited number of pre-calculated combinations.…”

A grammar approach for combining product configuration modelling with behavioural aspects and simulations

“…Product modelling is an essential aspect in the product family design for configuration [9,[11][12][13]. However, in CAD systems, there is no adapted formal representation for supporting designing configurations [14].…”