Knowledge reuse in manufacturability analysis

This paper describes a set of modelling guidelines for the improved reuse of manufacturing knowledge in decision support systems. The work draws on research into product and manufacturing knowledge models, and uses a case study based on a simplified jet engine combustion chamber casing to illustrate the proposed guidelines. The paper describes three principles of reuse, i.e., the separation of information from knowledge, the separation of product knowledge from manufacturing process knowledge, and the correct classification of manufacturing knowledge. Whilst the first two principles were found to be well established in the research literature, guidance on how to apply classification hierarchies for optimum reuse was found to be insufficient. The guidelines presented in this paper therefore provide improved guidance on how to classify manufacturing knowledge for optimum reuse.