Support modules and system structure of web-enabled collaborative environment for design and manufacture

This paper presents the support modules and system structure of a Web-enabled environment (WEE) for collaborative design and manufacture. The WEE provides an effective and efficient way of collaboration between designers, engineers and manufacturers at different locations by integrating necessary design resources, including experts from different domains and their own design tools and applications. Four support modules are described first, which provide functions of remote execution, design data sharing, manufacturing resource access, and product data management. Then, two basic working models of the collaborative environment are presented: the server centralized model suits the administrative tasks, while the point-to-point model is more efficient in other circumstances, such as CAD data exchange and program invocation. A hybrid structure of these two models is implemented in the system development. A hierarchical architecture of naming services is also utilized within the WEE to manage various design resources, including CAD, CAM, product data management, and design optimization tools and applications.