Chapter 8: Concurrent development and engineering

Title: Propagating engineering changes to manufacturing process planning: does PLM meet the need

Author(s): M.A El Hani, L. Rivest, C. Fortin

Address: Ecole de technologie superieure, 1100 Notre-Dame West, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, H3C 1K3 | Ecole de technologie superieure, 1100 Notre-Dame West, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, H3C 1K3 | Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, 2500, chemin de Polytechnique, Montreal (Quebec), Canada, H3T 1J4

Reference: International Conference on Product Lifecycle Management 2007 pp. 517 - 526

Abstract/Summary: Manufacturing process planning is mainly based on information coming from engineering, on manufacturing data, and on the know-how of the process planner. When an engineering change is brought to the part, the process planner has to propagate its impact to the manufacturing work instructions (MWI). In spite of the increasing interest in the PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) approach and tools, propagation of engineering changes to the MWI has received very limited support from existing applications.The research presented in this paper builds on a case study conducted within the process planning department of a manufacturing company operating in the aerospace sector. First, the detailed investigation conducted to document the change propagation process from engineering to the MWI is described. Next, an activities model (IDEF0) of the MWI development process is presented. The IDEF0 model contains 201 activities and 120 informational object-information repository couples. Lastly, an overview of an information management tool required to support MWI development process is presented. The number of informational objects without any information system as repository and the proposed Dashboard solution confirm the long road ahead for PLM systems in order to meet the real-world needs of propagating engineering changes to the manufacturing process planning.

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