08/09/96
Contact: Charles Parks, Ohio University, 614-593-1540, cparks@bobcat.ent.ohiou.edu
ATHENS, Ohio -- Researchers at Ohio University are working on a project to improve communication among computer software systems used in the manufacturing industry, a project that could ultimately cut production time and costs for many companies.
Manufacturers rely on many different computer programs to design and produce machined parts. To work together, the systems need to communicate with each other, transferring digital data among several software applications.
Researchers in the Center for Advanced Software Systems Integration at Ohio University are developing a system that will integrate different computer systems in a way never done before, said Charles Parks, center director and professor and chair of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering.
"This is probably one of the most difficult engineering problems for the manufacturing industry," he said. "If we can find a way to allow these systems to integrate with one another, we can apply the technology to almost any other type of manufacturing software system."
The three-year project is funded through the National Science Foundation's Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI) program. GOALI pairs academic centers with industry in an effort to increase application of NSF-funded research. Each grant includes funding for research based in a university research lab and on-site research at a partnering company. Ohio University is working with Elano, a division of General Electric that produces tubing for jet engines. The division is based in Dayton, Ohio.
Integrating three types of computer systems widely used in the manufacturing industry -- CAD, CAPP and MRP -- is at the heart of the project. These systems are used for part design, process planning, and the manufacturing resource planning needed for product realization.
"There is currently no straightforward, cost effective way to integrate these systems to allow for seamless data transfer among them," Parks said.
Robert Judd, professor of electrical and computer engineering; Dinesh Dhamija, assistant professor of industrial technology; and David Koonce, assistant professor of industrial and manufacturing systems engineering, all from Ohio University, are also working on the project.
"An integrated CAD/CAPP/MRP system means faster design-prototype lead times, reduced time for product realization, and improved ability to get a new product into the marketplace first," Koonce said.
To integrate the systems, researchers will create a common computer language that relies on similarities between the three systems. Although it sounds like a simple concept, Koonce said there are problems in executing the program.
"We need to define an overlap between the three systems that already exists," he said. "This process of integration for these systems is a difficult test case for the industry. But once complex systems such as these can be integrated, a method will exist to develop communication programs for other manufacturing systems."