Research on Product Data Management Based on Multi-agent System

PDM (product data management) is one kind of techniques based on software and database, which integrates information and process related to products. But it is not enough to perform the complication of PDM in enterprises. Then the mechanism to harmonize all kinds of information and process is needed. The paper introduces a novel approach to implement the intelligent monitor of PDM based on MAS (multi agent system). It carries out the management of information and process by MC (monitor center). The paper first puts forward the architecture of the whole system, then defines the structure of MC and its interoperation mode.

Statecharts for Distributed Product Data Management System Modelling

Product data management (PDM) has been accepted as an important tool for the manufacturing industries. In recent years, more and mor e researches have been conducted in the development of PDM. Their research area s include system design, integration of object-oriented technology, data distri bution, collaborative and distributed manufacturing working environment, secur ity, and web-based integration. However, there are limitations on their rese arches. In particular, they cannot cater for PDM in distributed manufacturing e nvironment. This is especially true in South China, where many Hong Kong (HK) ma nufacturers have moved their production plants to different locations in Pearl R iver Delta for cost reduction. However, they retain their main offices in HK. Development of PDM system is inherently complex. Product related data cover prod uct name, product part number (product identification), drawings, material speci fications, dimension requirement, quality specification, test result, log size, production schedules, product data version and date of release, special tooling (e.g. jig and fixture), mould design, project engineering in charge, cost spread sheets, while process data includes engineering release, engineering change info rmation management, and other workflow related to the process information. Accor ding to Cornelissen et al., the contemporary PDM system should contains manageme nt functions in structure, retrieval, release, change, and workflow. In system design, development and implementation, a formal specification is nece ssary. However, there is no formal representation model for PDM system. Theref ore a graphical representation model is constructed to express the various scena rios of interactions between users and the PDM system. Statechart is then used to model the operations of PDM system, Fig.1. Statechart model bridges the curr ent gap between requirements, scenarios, and the initial design specifications o f PDM system. After properly analyzing the PDM system, a new distributed PDM (DPDM) system is proposed. Both graphical representation and statechart models are constructed f or the new DPDM system, Fig.2. New product data of DPDM and new system function s are then investigated to support product information flow in the new distribut ed environment. It is found that statecharts allow formal representations to capture the informa tion and control flows of both PDM and DPDM. In particular, statechart offers a dditional expressive power, when compared to conventional state transition diagr am, in terms of hierarchy, concurrency, history, and timing for DPDM behavioral modeling.

Establishment of Person and Enterprise Process Model in Product Data Management System

Before the implementation of product data management (PDM) system, person model and enterprise process model (EPM) must be firstly established. For the convenience of project management, all the related users must be allocated to the “Person User Role Group” net. Based on the person model and the direction of information flow, the EPM is established subsequently. The EPM consists of several release levels, in which the access controls are defined. The EPM procedure shows the blueprint of the workflow process structure. The establishment of person model and EPM in an enterprise has been instanced at the end of this paper.

How to Implement Product Data Management

introduced are the main implementation contents and brought out is a cycle optimal PDMimplementation methodology by phases through studying requirements of enterprises' datamanagement and summarizing the existing method. The implementation contents include documentsmanagement product structure and configuration management, product classification and codingmanagement, workflow management and software encapsulation. It divides the PDM implementationinto preparing, software selechon and training, implementation plan making, concrete implementingand evaluating. By the cycle of the last two pheses, the successful implementation of PDM can beobtained. This methodology has been used in the CIMS project of two companies and proved to bepractical.

Research on Concurrent Engineering Oriented Integrated Product Development Process Management System

In concurrent engineering, effective process management is the key to improve the efficiency and quality of product development. Although in project management system, workflow management system and PDM system, process management functions are provided, they can not meet the needs of product development. In this paper, we integrate the project management, workflow management and product management technique together and a concurrent engineering oriented integrated product development process management system is proposed. The system structure, integrated product development model and running method are introduced. The practice proves this system is powerful in supporting product development process.

Research on Product Digital Collaborative Design System

Network economy had changed manufacturing environme nt at all. Open global market offer more choice to customer, and it become changea ble and unpredictable as consumers’ needs become more and more characteristic an d diversified. Various new technology coming forth and application accelerate th e rapid change of the market. The manufacturing enterprises were compelled t o change their strategy by the variability of the market, and time has been put to the all-important place. There is a need driven by the market to set up a ne twork design and manufacturing mode which have rapid market responsiveness. In order to meet the need for network manufacturing, the organization and manage ment of manufacturing enterprise need a completely innovation, next generation o f manufacturing system must have the character such as digitization, flexibility , agility, customization and globalization and so on. As for an enterprise in au to industry, how to gather together the orders through the distribution, and rap id produce the product which can meet the customer’s need, it is the key that th e contemporary enterprises succeed in the competitive market. The competitive market requires rapid product development. Close cooperation amo ng the designers will accelerate the product development by shortening the devel opment cycle, improving the product quality and reducing the investment. It has been emphasized in the methodology of concurrent engineering (CE). But sometimes those partners are distributed in the world, so there is a need for an importan t technology contribution to collaborative engineering, and supporting distribut ed designers for rapid product development. This paper focuses on a collaborative design system: Product Digit Collaborative Design System (PDCDS). The solution of PDCDS can make it more efficient and rel iable to visit teledata as well as we can get it from local database. It will be ease to get the newest design process information aided by PDCDS, and it will h ave higher efficiency by collaborative work. Comparing with other traditional Pr oduct Data Management (PDM) software system, PDCDS have some new characters such as group, dynamicness, synchronization or asynchronism working mode, and the hi story recorder is needed, and it also surport Webservice.

RESEARCH ON PRODUCT INNOVATION DESIGN IN VIRTUAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

An integrated template of virtual product development alters primarilysequential tradition mode of product life cycle. The template integrates all processes of productdevelopment using digital modem. An environment of virtual product development provides productdevelopment environment of integration, communion, network, concurrent and collaboration. Combiningdevelopment of new rapier loom, an innovated design process is researched in virtual productdevelopment, which consists three portions: constructing an integration development environment,innovation design and manufacturing simulation. The innovated design process realizes reversedesign, mechanism concept design, structural design and analysis, performance analysis andmanufacturing process simulation of virtual product, which can enhance greatly product performanceand reduce cost and development cycle of new product.

Key Techniques for the Development of Web-Based PDM System

Some key techniques for the development of web-based product data management （PDM） system are introduced. The four-tiered B/S architecture of a PDM system-BITPDM is introduced first, followed by its design and implementation, including virtual data vault, flexible coding system, document management, product structure and configuration management, workflow/process and product maturity management. BITPDM can facilitate the activities from new product introduction phase to manufacturing, and manage the product data andtheir dynamic changing history. Based on Microsoft. NET, XML, web service and SOAP techniques, BITPDM realizes the integration and efficient management of product information.

Research on the Component-Centered Version Model in the PDM System

A version of a product consists of the product structure tree and the versions of all its components. The model includes two sets of data： attributes and documents describing each component. The paper discusses the version change relations between a sub-node component and a up-node component in a product structure tree, analyzes the version control system for a static reference and that for a dynamic reference and proposes a product structure model in support of dynamic reference, which is easy to use and contains a complete set of information providing an essential way of data organization for the PDM system.

PLM Solutions:Emerging Unification Force Across the Enterprise

Over last few years, web services, Java 2 and XML have provided the cheaper means for trading partners to make use of EDI. It is now possible to share data with less reliance on expensive dedicated EDI networks. The second comes the realization that Product Definition can be reused by virtually all business processes downstream. This has made collaborative product development a practical reality. These technologies have enabled effective implementation of Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Solutions. This paper presents a literature review about PLM solutions, looking at its definitions, through to its need and scope of applications. It also presents the most generally envisaged architecture, explaining as to how it may be looked at and what it is expected to deliver. At the end it examines the market trend and revenue growth over recent years including future trends for the most prominent vendors pitched in the field of PLM solutions.

Integrating Polymorphic PDMs

Along with the explosive increase of product data management systems (PDMs),integrating polymorphic PDMs is becoming one of the focuses in the field. Aner brief describing several features of PDM, and market requirements and required performance for integrating the polymorphic PDMs, the paper specializes in discussing some key technologies involved in virtual enterprise oriented integrated development. Some implementing strategies and procedures are proposed.

Object Management Framework for CAx Information Management

As CAD/CAM becomes more and more popular, efficiently managing large amounts of engineering data becomes essential for improving design efficiency and quality. This paper analyses five basic features of product data management and combines them with real industrial examples. Then, an object oriented product data management model is presented. To carry out the model, the paper presents the architecture of the Cax information management and integration system (Cax IMIS), and focuses on its core technology, implementation of an object management framework, and discusses the process of realizing the inherent attributes, relations, and messages between objects using the object dictionary and storing detail information about the persistent objects in relation database management system (RDBMS). The method provides an effective object management framework for Cax IMIS.