Concurrent process and facility prototyping for formation of virtual manufacturing cells Available to Purchase

Reports on a new methodology for formation of virtual (“extended”) machining cells using generic capability patterns termed “resource elements”. Resource elements are used to uniquely describe the processing requirements of the component mix and dynamically match them to the processing capabilities of the machining shop. The virtual cell formation methodology is based on four steps: component requirement analysis and generation of processing alternatives; definition of virtual cell capability boundaries; machine tool selection; and system evaluation. The proposed methodology facilitates the dynamic formation of virtual manufacturing structures by providing accurate assessment of the component processing requirements and their matching with the available capabilities of the existing manufacturing facilities.