Towards Operational Use of Unit Manufacturing Process Models

Abstract

Unit Manufacturing Processes (UMP) are models that capture succinct definitions of individual manufacturing steps in a manufacturing system. They are used to facilitate model composition and reuse. However, mainly due to their textual nature, they are difficult to use in conjunction with other types of computational models and in subsequent analysis activities such as optimization. This paper describes our method that allows UMP models (conforming to the ASTM E3012 standard) to be combined with other types of manufacturing system models (such as analytical, data-driven, and simulation models). This is done through an interface between a tool used to create UMP models (in the ASTM E3012 standard) and an analytical framework for the composition and analysis of manufacturing process models. Additionally, we present an example showing how the combination of the two tools can be used in practice.