Web-based Cbr (case-based Reasoning) as a Tool with the Application to Tooling Selection

Over the past few years, manufacturing companies have had to deal with an increasing demand for feature-rich products at low costs. The pressures exerted on their existing manufacturing processes have lead manufacturers to investigate Internet-based solutions, in order to cope with growing competition. The decentralisation phenomenon also came up as a reason to implement networkedapplication, which has been the starting point for Internet/Intranet–based systems. Today, the availability of powerful and low cost 3D tools, database backend systems, along with web-based technologies, provides interesting opportunities to the manufacturing community, with solutions directly implementable at the core of their businesses and organisations. In this paper a web-based engineering approach is presented to developing a design support system using CBR technology for helping in the decision-making process when choosing cutting tools. The system aims to provide on-line intelligent support for determining the most suitable configuration for turning operations, based on initial parameters and requirements for the cutting operation. The system also features a user-driven 3D turning simulator which allows testing the chosen insert for several turning operations. The system aims to be a useful e-manufacturing tool being able to quickly and responsively provide tooling data in a highly interactive way.