Hierarchical Sequencing of Operations with Consideration of Setups

Abstract Process planning is a critical gap between design and manufacturing. Process planning accepts the design information of mechanical part such as dimensions, tolerances, geometry etc. and converts it into orderly manufacturing steps. This paper explains the development of an architecture for rule based setup planning for prismatic parts on 3-axis and 4-axis milling machines and implemented its prototype. The rule based setup planning system ‘RB-SPS’ generates the minimum number of setups for a given prismatic parts on 3 and 4-axis milling machines using heuristic approach. Following steps are involved in setup planning - Feature and Process clustering, Setup formation, Operation sequencing and Setup sequencing. Rules are successfully executed to accomplish those tasks to generate feasible setup plan. The prototype is integrated with the IMPlanner system and GUI has been developed for monitoring the steps for setups generation. The GUI provides the necessary functionality for the user to navigate the system. The developed RB-SPS system has been tested on real mechanical prismatic parts and successful results are achieved.