This paper reviews the emerging field of layered manufacturing. This field is little over 10 years old but a significant amount of research has been conducted and results to date are quite promising. We consider three broad topics namely, design systems for heterogeneous objects, layered manufacturing processes, and process planning techniques. Several applications/examples are included in the ...

Sequencing is perhaps the single most important production planning routine for mix flexibility achievement on a shared manufacturing resource. However, unlike discrete manufacturing, there are limited prescribed techniques for sequencing routines in process manufacturing. This paper explores sequencing via the product wheel technique through its application in two case studies.

The paper shows a novel approach to the modelling of the production cells of discrete manufacturing by asynchronous version of a statecharts formalism. For the proposed model, the functional speciication of the model based on the speciication language of temporal logic is presented. The speciied behaviours are translated into the syntax of statecharts as guarded constraints on the transitions r...

We show that in an o-minimal expansion of an ordered group finite definable extensions of a definable group which is defined in a reduct are already defined in the reduct. A similar result is proved for finite topological extensions of definable groups defined in o-minimal expansions of the ordered set of real numbers. ∗With partial support from the FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) pr...

A new business concept that offers products and services in a different way of traditional product-sales businesses is getting more attention especially in manufacturing industries. This paper investigates how this new business by means of integration of products and services is achieved in Germany and Italy. In addition, it analyzes the differences according to the company sizes. The results i...

Today, industry is confronted with a fast changing market. Customers demand a high-quality, low price and tailored product. This requires flexible manufacturing systems. At K.U. Leuven, a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) is designed, that allows to adjust execution to quickly changing circumstances. This paper discusses how this MES can cooperate with existing planning systems. A collaborat...

The basic concepts of lighten 3D data is introduced; the problems of the traditional three-dimensional visualization technology and the current development status of three-dimensional visualization as well as the development trend of three-dimensional visualization are analyzed in this paper. A variety of solutions of the three-dimensional visualization are compared, the applications and direct...

Changes in market and production profiles require a more flexible concept in manufacturing. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) describes an integrative concept for joining business and manufacturing islands. In this context database technology is the key technology for implementing the CIM philosophy. However, CIM applications are more complex, and thus, more demanding than traditional dat...

This paper demonstrates how MES can help meet the challenges of sustainable production in addition to conventional uses. The methodology for extending the scope of MES to achieve energy efficiency and other sustainability goals is explained using standardized practices and actual installations.