COMPASS: Computer oriented materials, processes, and apparatus selection system

Abstract Today's competitive manufacturing environment requires a shortened product development time. Although great emphasis has been placed on concurrent engineering, it is still a challenge for engineers to bridge the gap between design and manufacturing. This paper proposes a new approach to an emerging concept, Meta Planning, which brings manufacturing issues upstream by generating timely and appropriate feedback to design engineers. While a product or feature is being designed, all feasible downstream manufacturing processes can be compared. A meta planner can be integrated into existing CAD/CAPP/CAM systems to automate high-level process planning such that heterogeneous processes can be organized into a coherent plan. COMPASS (Computer Oriented Materials, Processes, and Apparatus Selection System), developed as a meta planner, has the basic framework to provide essential information regarding production cost, cycle time, and product quality for all of the candidate processes. It is a tool that helps design engineers identify potential manufacturing problems in the earlier stages of product development. Three different hole-making process models are implemented in COMPASS to illustrate the mechanism that analyzes and compares different manufacturing processes. Close interaction between design parameters and manufacturing performance for selected processes is demonstrated through a detailed case study involving a single feature.