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Trends in Computer Aided Process Planning

1. CAPP systems play a key role in integrating design and manufacturing by considering resources and constraints. Recent research focuses on areas like feature recognition to reduce human involvement between design and planning. 2. An efficient CAPP system properly integrates design and manufacturing, and can reduce costs by up to 30% and engineering time by up to 50%. 3. While CAPP was conceived in the 1960s, it did not become widely used until the 1970s and systems developed in the late 1970s, though research and development has continued since to improve integration of design and manufacturing.

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Abuzar Ali
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12 views3 pages

Trends in Computer Aided Process Planning

1. CAPP systems play a key role in integrating design and manufacturing by considering resources and constraints. Recent research focuses on areas like feature recognition to reduce human involvement between design and planning. 2. An efficient CAPP system properly integrates design and manufacturing, and can reduce costs by up to 30% and engineering time by up to 50%. 3. While CAPP was conceived in the 1960s, it did not become widely used until the 1970s and systems developed in the late 1970s, though research and development has continued since to improve integration of design and manufacturing.

Uploaded by

Abuzar Ali
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© All Rights Reserved
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ASSIGNMENT – PART II

SUMMARY OF THE PAPER

1. CAPP system plays a key role to integrate design and manufacturing or assembly systems properly
considering available resources and design constraints. Many CAPP systems have so far been
developed. Different researchers adopted different advanced techniques and approaches such as
feature or solid model based design, object oriented programming, technological databases, and
utilized advanced computing methods including expert system and artificial intelligence. Recently
some research areas such as feature recognition or feature extraction from CAD file, application
of AI techniques like Genetic Algorithms (GAs), Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Fuzzy logic are
gaining more attention among the researchers. Feature recognition improves overall
effectiveness of a manufacturing system by eliminating the human involvement between design
and process planning. Due to the rapid development of computing technology, AI techniques have
been found to be very suitable at different stages of process planning. Poor responses of the
current static CAPP systems to the real time shop floor status and dynamic nature of the
manufacturing environment made many researchers to develop dynamic CAPP systems. In this
paper, a comprehensive overview of the current trend in research works on CAPP is presented,
classifying those works into several categories according to their focus.
2. An efficient CAPP system has a key role to integrate the design and manufacturing or assembly
systems properly considering available resources and design constraints. It has been found that
15% of the process planner’s time is spent on technical decision making while remaining time is
spent equally between gathering data, calculating and the preparation of documentation.
Investigation shows that an efficient CAPP systems could result in a total reduction of the
manufacturing cost by up to 30% and time in the manufacturing cycle and the total engineering
time could also be reduced by up to 50%.
3. Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) is a very old idea. Niebel presented the first idea of using
the speed and consistency of computer to assist in the determination of process plans. Despite
the early recognition of possibility of extracting operations and processing sequences from the
part geometry as described in CAD, computer aided process planning has not been addressed
broadly until 1970s. In 1976 two CAPP systems (CAPP and MIPLAN) were developed. Subsequently
Wysk (1977) presented a generative system for detailed process selection titled APPAS. Since then
CAPP has begun to be widely addressed.
4. Task of process planning involves a series of steps. During manual process thinking, a process
planner first reviews an engineering drawing to identify major removable features of the part. The
planner then studies the design specifications and compares these specifications with his/her
knowledge about the production. The planner can also take help of the available documents to
ascertain the ability of producing the design part. Finally based on the shop floor capacity, the
process planner may either decide to sub-contract the work or to make the part in-house, which
results in the preparation of a list of manufacturing steps to manufacture the part. So process
planning activities basically include the following: interpretation of product design data, selection
of machining processes, selection of cutting tools, selection of machine tools, determination of
setup requirements, sequencing of operations, determination of the production tolerances,
determination of the cutting conditions, design of jigs and fixtures, calculation of process times,
tool path planning & NC program generation, generation of process route sheets etc.
5. Since the first CAPP system was developed in the early 1960's, there has been a proliferation of
development that leads to various CAPP systems, from research and industrial prototypes to
company and commercial packages, being tailored to different planning problems and offering a
wealth of different solutions. At present, there are two general approaches to computer aided
process planning variant and generative; each one is associated with specific planning techniques.
These two approaches are discussed in brief.
6. In the last two decades huge research work is performed in different research areas in CAPP. These
work can be categorised by the types of part involved in these works, like prismatic part, cylindrical
parts, sheet metal, foundry and assembly systems. Besides this broad classification, research
works can also be categorised on the basis of geometric modelling techniques. Some new ideas
are presented in this paper.
7. Creating link between CAD and CAPP is one of the most difficult tasks in concurrent design and
manufacturing. Without proper interface between CAD and CAPP it is impossible to generate a
process plan, which will need least amount of time and cost. Feature recognition or feature
extraction is the key to achieve this objective. In mechanical assembly or machining processes a
feature is, usually, defined as a set of constituent faces. The geometric information related to a
feature is obviously subset of object. In addition to the geometric information, some non-
geometric information associated with a feature is also essential for process planning. Feature
extraction is categorised into three classes.
• Graph/pattern matching,
• Knowledge based system and
• Geometric decomposition.
Recently Artificial Neural Network (ANN) is gaining attention among the researchers. Neural
networks are a class of computing systems, which utilize a high parallel architecture. Problem
solving tasks, such as process planning, may be considered as pattern classification tasks, which
can be efficiently solved by neural network. The process planner learns mapping between input
patterns, consisting of features and attributes of a part, and output patterns, consisting of
sequencing of machining operations to apply to these parts. Thus, neural network offers a
promising solution for automating of process planning knowledge.
8. Optimization of process planning is one of the foremost targets of Manufacturing Systems, since
it is believed that only those industries capable of making effective productions would withstand
international competition in this millennium. Numbers of research works are performed for
generating optimum process plan. The optimum process plan may be on the basis of time or cost
or on the basis of some weighted combination of these two. Tool selection, machine selection,
process selection and tool path selection, process parameter selection are the most important
areas for optimization in process planning.
9. Many CAPP systems have so far been developed and commercialized. New systems adopt many
advanced techniques and approaches such as feature-based modeling, object oriented
programming, effective graphical user interfaces, technological databases and utilize advanced
computing methods including expert system and artificial intelligence. But the implementation of
CAPP systems in industry lags behind the rate of development of new systems and introduction
of new ideas in the field. Though tremendous effort has been made in developing CAPP systems,
the effectiveness of these systems is not fully satisfactory. CAPP as the main element in the
integration of design and production has not kept pace with the development of CAD and CAM.
This situation has made process planning a bottleneck in the manufacturing process. In spite of
the benefit promised by the various developed CAPP systems, their adaptation by industry is
painfully slow. Today, when companies use CAPP systems, it is mostly done in isolation from the
product design as well as the production planning and control activities. Design of a part is
generally done in the CAD environment. So it is necessary to create link between CAD and CAPP
where a two-way interaction will exist between design and process planning. It is no longer
sufficient to ensure an effective flow of information from design to process planning to provide
the data and knowledge necessary for creating an effective process plan. It is also becoming
increasingly essential to feedback information from process planning to assist the designer at an
early stage in assigning various design features not only from functional point of view but also
regarding manufacturability because a large percentage of product cost is committed once its
features, materials, tolerance and surface quality parameters have been selected at the design
stage. Dynamic process planning which is one of the key areas for research and development, will
integrate design and manufacturing and reduce the total product development time by facilitating
two-way interaction between design and process planning.

Common questions

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Feature extraction plays a critical role in the effectiveness of dynamic CAPP systems by allowing for accurate and efficient recognition of design features from CAD models, reducing reliance on human intervention in process planning . This technique helps in automating the recognition of part specifications and subsequently aids in process optimization through the use of neural networks, which map these features to machining operations . Effective feature extraction ensures that CAPP systems can handle variations in design and shop floor conditions, enhancing overall manufacturing adaptability and responsiveness .

Neural networks contribute to automating process planning knowledge in manufacturing systems by recognizing complex patterns in data and mapping these to process sequences. Their high parallel architecture allows them to efficiently handle pattern classification tasks, matching part feature attributes to appropriate machining operations . This ability makes them particularly promising for continuous learning and adaptation, continuously evolving to improve planning accuracy and efficiency over time. By automating decision-making processes traditionally performed by human process planners, neural networks reduce the necessity for manual intervention, thus optimizing planning operations and boosting overall system efficiency .

AI techniques such as Genetic Algorithms, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), and Fuzzy Logic enhance CAPP systems by improving process planning efficiency and addressing the dynamic nature of manufacturing environments. Feature recognition, often facilitated by AI, eliminates the need for human involvement between design and process planning, thereby enhancing manufacturing system effectiveness . The learning ability of ANNs, for instance, allows them to optimally map input patterns of part features to output patterns of machining operations, thereby automating process planning knowledge . These AI techniques allow for adaptive and flexible systems that respond better to real-time shop floor conditions than traditional static systems .

Variant and generative approaches to CAPP represent two distinct methodologies for process planning. The variant approach relies on retrieving and modifying an existing process plan for similar parts based on part classification and coding systems. It is less flexible but quicker to implement for repetitive tasks . In contrast, generative CAPP creates a process plan from scratch using decision logic, algorithms, and technological databases, offering precise solutions tailored to unique part characteristics. This approach is more flexible and adaptable to changes but requires more development effort and computational resources . Both approaches influence process planning by defining how solutions are derived, impacting efficiency, adaptability, and implementation complexity.

Process planning significantly impacts cost and time efficiency in manufacturing by determining the most efficient sequence and method of operations to produce a part. An efficient CAPP system can reduce manufacturing costs by up to 30% and decrease the manufacturing cycle and total engineering time by up to 50%, by automating data gathering, calculations, and documentation preparation . Moreover, by selecting optimal tools, machine settings, and machining processes, process planning ensures that resources are used effectively, minimizing waste and maximizing productivity .

The integration of CAD and CAPP systems can improve manufacturing process efficiency by enabling seamless information flow between design and process planning, thus reducing time and cost of production. Creating a proper interface between these systems facilitates the generation of process plans with minimal time and cost investment. Feature extraction from CAD models, enhanced by techniques such as knowledge-based systems and pattern matching, is essential for this integration . Furthermore, a two-way interaction between CAD and CAPP allows feedback from process planning to assist designers in optimizing design features concerning manufacturability, thus accelerating product development .

Feature extraction is challenging yet crucial for the CAD and CAPP interface due to the necessity of accurately identifying and encoding design features into actionable data without human intervention. The complexity stems from the need to recognize both geometric and non-geometric attributes that influence manufacturability . As features in CAD are defined by sets of constituent faces, extracting them requires advanced algorithms like pattern matching and geometric decomposition, which are computationally intensive and demand robust data structures . Despite these challenges, effective feature extraction unlocks seamless interaction between design and manufacturing, ensuring efficiency and cost-effectiveness by integrating CAD data into process planning .

Dynamic process planning is essential for modern manufacturing systems because it allows integration between design and manufacturing, enabling them to adapt swiftly to real-time changes on the shop floor and design iterations. It facilitates a two-way information exchange that helps reduce product development time and cost, thus addressing the need for flexibility and efficiency in competitive markets . Such planning helps in optimizing resources by adapting the manufacturing process dynamically to suit design constraints and availability, reducing bottlenecks and enhancing productivity .

The evolution of computing technology has significantly influenced the development of CAPP systems by facilitating the implementation of advanced techniques such as feature-based modeling, object-oriented programming, and AI methods like expert systems and neural networks. These technologies enhance the ability of CAPP systems to automate and optimize process planning by handling vast amounts of data efficiently and offering solutions tailored to specific manufacturing problems . The advancement in computing power has also enabled dynamic CAPP systems to respond to real-time environments, improving their applicability and effectiveness over traditional static systems .

The main challenges hindering the implementation of CAPP systems in the industry include the lack of integration with product design and production planning/control activities, making their use often isolated. Although numerous CAPP systems have been developed, their effectiveness is limited due to insufficient feedback loops between process planning and design stages . Additionally, the fast-paced advancement of CAD/CAM technologies has not been matched by CAPP systems, causing process planning to become a bottleneck in manufacturing processes . The slow adaptation of these systems by industry results from these integration challenges and the reluctance to shift from traditional methodologies .

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