Consistency Check of the Functional Solution Model in Special Purpose Machinery

Individual customer demands and increasing technical complexity are placing an even greater importance on the engineering process for special purpose machine manufacturers. To support the engineering process the Manufacturing System Dependency Model (MaSDeM) was developed. The basic idea of the MaSDeM concept is to install a cross-domain solution model at the beginning of the engineering process representing the principle solution. The building blocks for this model are functionally categorized automation components. However, since the resulting system is more than the sum of its components, the links between the elements need to be examined. In this paper a consistency check for the MaSDeM cross-domain solution model is proposed. This involves the identification of the different types of links between the components. The features of the links and the component categorization are used to build up a knowledge base for the consistency check. Thereby the static and procedural structure and the process functionality of the solution model can be verified. Moreover, the links can provide further engineering information. A profound principle solution is hugely important for the engineering process, and thus the consistency check is a vital contributor to increasing the efficiency of the engineering process in special purpose machinery.