A new computer model designed by engineers at Ohio University could improve communication among computer software systems used in the manufacturing industry, cutting production time and costs for many companies. By integrating these systems, industrial engineers can work more efficiently throughout the manufacturing process, something current computer software doesn't allow, said David Koonce, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems at Ohio University and one of the researchers on the project. Koonce presented the research May 18 at the Sixth Annual Industrial Engineering Research Conference in Miami. CAD, CAPP and MRP systems are used for part design, process planning and the manufacturing resource planning needed to complete the production manufacturing process. A method that allows the three systems to transfer data between each other would decrease the amount of time it takes to design and manufacture machined parts, and allow a company to get their item into the marketplace faster, Koonce said.
Manufacturers rely on many different computer programs to design and produce machined parts.
To work together, the systems need to communicate with each other, transferring digital data among several software applications, Koonce said. Currently, no technology exists that allows this communication between systems, which has been one of the biggest problems facing the manufacturing industry, according to the researchers on the project. The researchers' model is the first step toward automating the entire process. Other attempts to integrate manufacturing systems have focused on creating one database to house data from each of the different systems. This approach is problematic, Koonce and Judd said, because each system must be programmed to communicate with the database, a timely and difficult process.