Putting Knowledge- Based Concepts to Work for Generic Programmable Logic Controller Programming

This chapter is a case history of the computer-aided logic expert system (CALES), a quality and productivity tool for programmable controller software engineering now being used in an engineer-to-order manufacturing company. Strategic goals for CALES included the removal of a corporate bottleneck in the electrical engineering department and the development of a foundation for knowledge-based engineering in other parts of the company. Our ultimate knowledge-based engineering goals are to make our corporation more responsive to customer needs and to offer greater customer values with less effort, thereby ensuring a more profitable corporation. CALES helped remove the electric corporate bottleneck and provided a foundation for other knowledge-based engineering tools. As a result of our experiences, we developed the following generalizations: First, we want to develop only those knowledge-based applications that will