A web-based collaborative product design platform for dispersed network manufacturing

Micro manufacture is the production of products whose functional features or at least one dimension are in the order of (m. The production of micro products differs from the production for conventional products in many ways, not only the size of the products, but also the issues concerning the material properties, tooling, equipment and handling. These differences drive the need for a new design methodology and associated design tools to aid designers to assess their micro product design. This paper describes the development of a Web-Based Collaborative Design Tool (WBCDT) for assessing product design for micro-manufacturing in Masmicro project. The WBCDT supports the knowledge intensive collaboration among the micro-product designers and the discrete organizations through Internet. In the WBCDT, a knowledge model with the classified assessment modules and knowledge representatives is created to implement the distributed design and manufacturing assessment. The modules address the assessment on the following issues: geometry features relating to manufacturability, manufacturing process, availability and selection of tool and machine, material and manufacturing cost. The Microsoft C# programming language, ASP.NET web technology and Microsoft Access database are used to develop the WBCDT. Users can access the User Interface (UI) of the WBCDT in a specified service server to assess and optimise their product design. Users can also access the knowledge base and Knowledge-Based Decision System (KBDS) which are integrated into the WBCDT. The WBCDT prototype system has been tested with assessment of the micro-products for micro-forming which shows increase of design efficiency in knowledge intensive, web-based collaborative design environment.KeywordsMicro ManufactureWeb-Based Collaborative Design Tool (WBCDT)Micro Product

With the rapid development of economic globalization, more and more complex products have to be designed by the cooperation of the designers in different geographic locations. The effective sharing and deployment of collaborative design software are of great significance to enhance the capability of cooperative research and development of products. To solve the problem of software integration for collaborative design in the distributed and heterogeneous environment, a distributed software integration framework for collaborative product design based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) was proposed. Based on Web Service technology, a collaborative design platform was built, which encapsulates the functions of Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Aided Engineering (CAE), Product Data Management (PDM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to integrate distributed collaborative design software in heterogeneous environment.

In the field of underground engineering, the construction model of two-dimensional design and decentralized management is no longer able to enhance the efficiency trend of multi-party collaboration and information management, nor can it meet the future demand for refined management and sustainable development of engineering construction. Therefore, this paper first summarizes and analyses the current development status of collaborative design platforms at home and abroad, and proposes a “cloud + terminal” overall technical architecture suitable for underground engineering collaborative design management. This architecture consists of a foundation layer, data layer, service layer, functional application layer, and user interaction layer. The functional modules of the platform also adopt microservice architecture design. In response to the shortcomings of model checking, an IFC component of the model checking module was designed based on an optimized multi view convolutional neural network algorithm to correct errors in the lowest level category information data. At the same time, technical routes were proposed around “three zone independence” and “problem positioning.” Developed a prototype platform with basic functions and applied it to the design process of a certain engineering project. By comparing with traditional design patterns, the results show that the collaborative platform proposed in this paper effectively improves work efficiency and achievement quality. Next, we will continue to expand the functions and application scenarios of the collaborative platform, providing strong support for improving the construction quality and efficiency of underground engineering throughout its entire life cycle.

Traditional mass production offers a limited variety of products, in which order processing mostly concentrates on the acquisition of customer needs, and support for the sales configuration at most. With mass customization, the fulfilment of customized orders involves frequent design changes and recurrent process variations due to product differentiation. It is imperative to manage the complexity and large variety associated with customer orders, product design and production planning. This paper adopts a holistic view of order fulfilment encompassing sales, design and production. The principle of collaborative product and process variety management is presented. The paper develops a coordination mechanism of variant handling based on the specification of variety handlers and their states. A product-process variety grid is introduced to unify product data and routing information. Also proposed is a coding-based system for effective variety management. A Web-based collaborative platform is outlined to support distributed order fulfilment among multiple functional departments.

After analyzing the requirement of large-scale equipment installation, both the functions and the faults of asynchronous collaborative design system and synchronous collaborative design system were discussed. And then, a combined collaborative design platform, which combined the product data management system with the synchronous collaborative design system, was proposed. A framework for the combined collaborative design platform was put forward. The product data management system and the synchronous collaborative design system were discussed in detail. And then, the strategies for sharing and exchanging of product data and information were presented. Operation steps of the combined collaborative platform were described in detail. Finally presented was a case study that using the combined collaborative design platform in electric dust collector installation.

This study is an exploratory survey of current electronic mail (E-mail) use, attitudes toward E-mail and likelihood of future E-mail use among freshmen university students. Increasingly, universities are giving students access to their campus E-mail systems. In this case study, the administration of the college of communication in a Northeastern university was interested in implementing an E-mail system as part of a larger organizational shift toward electronic communications. As digital media become a reality, it was deemed important that students become familiar with electronic communications. An E-mail system would be the first entry for students into the production and receipt of digital information. This study was carried out prior to and in preparation for the implementation of a college-wide E-mail system into the curriculum. By exploring students' current E-mail use patterns, attitudes about Email, and a few correlates, this study hopes to shed some light on the factors that facilitate adoption and use once the system is formally implemented. Describing E-mail E-mail is a subset of computer networking. Along with other computer-mediated communication applications like individual and group scheduling, and collaborative workgroup software, the purpose of E-mail is the facilitation of information exchange between members of an organization, whether an office, a university community, a real or collaboration, or a commercial information service like CompuServe or Prodigy (Rapaport, 1991). Basically, electronic communication technology combines computer text processing and communication tools with the speed and reach of a computer network. The result of this is that anyone with a computer account or address can send and receive information to any other members of the network (Sproull and Kiesler 1993). The importance of introducing students to E-mail is highlighted by the growing number of studies reporting on using Email as a means of university teaching, and the growing use of E-mail among corporations and businesses. D'Souza (1991) studied the impact that E-mail has on the instructional process. In this study, students in a class went on-line with E-mail. Class material dissemination, discussion and paper collection were performed on-line. D'Souza (1991 ) found that the E-mail system helped the shy or passive students overcome communication anxiety that might be present in the setting. They expressed themselves more freely (both positively and negatively) to the instructor and classmates. Another benefit of the system described by D'Souza (1991) was more efficient completion of group projects through E-mail. Students could collaborate with other class members, ask questions, share data and keep up on events through the svstem. The one negative result of the system was that it lacked the traditional non-verbal cues of face-to-face communication. Some students found this system to be too impersonal, and felt awkward communicating electronically. The possibility for a virtual classroom was also explored by Hiltz (1986). Her study wondered if an interactive learning experience could be created within a computer system that would be as effective as traditional education. Hiltz (1986) taught two sections of a class; one traditional and one on-line. Students taking the on-line class didn't feel inhibited about taking part in discussions over the E-mail system, and felt that the system provided good access to their instructors (Hiltz,1986). Graduate students were more negative about the course than the undergraduates, a fact Hiltz (1986) attributes to the greater presence of undergraduates on campus where terminal access is more convenient. This study focuses upon describing and assessing variables that predict student use of E-mail. Its purpose is to study non-curricular E-mail use patterns among students before implementing a college of communication-wide E-mail system. …

This paper analyzed the main features of product design and manufacturing in the knowledge management environment and service oriented management model based on collaborative. Based on the analysis of these two aspects, this paper puts forward the four key problems which the collaborative design activities in manufacturing supply chain will face in knowledge representation and knowledge converting and knowledge reuse and knowledge management. At last, a framework for collaborative product design(CPD) knowledge management model in manufacturing supply chain based on ontology is established under the application background of integrated platform for collaborative product design in manufacturing enterprise.

Using a real-time integrated communication system to monitor the progress and quality of construction works

Product design tends to be more complex and needs the effective cooperation among multidisciplinary designers and engineers. An ideal product design environment, which is both collaborative and intelligent, will be much appreciated. Agent technology is an innovative and promising approach to implementing distributed systems and is becoming popular in various areas of computing in recent years. In this paper, the dynamic nature of collaborative design process and the representation of collaborative design knowledge are presented. In order to model constantly evolving design process and the rationales resulted from collaboration, a Collaborative Product Data Model (CPDM), which extends traditional Product Data Model (PDM), and a constraint-based Collaborative Design Process Model (CDPM) are proposed. These are intended to facilitate the management and coordination of collaborative product design process and knowledge management. A design example is used to illustrate CDPM. While the system is being implemented, the architecture of our agent-based collaborative product design environment based on CPDM and CDPM is described.

A paradigm shift toward workforce development is essential to ensure that the future workforce meets the expectations of the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. Both industry and academic communities play different, but essential and complementary roles, which suggests a need for stronger industry–academia collaborations. These could be achieved by connecting instructors with practitioners through web-based collaborative platforms. However, user requirements for facilitating such collaborations on web-based platforms are yet to be formalized. As a precursor, this study investigates the factors which instructors in AEC-related academic programs would consider when collaborating with AEC practitioners to complement their pedagogical efforts. Understanding these factors could aid the development of web-based networking platforms that could facilitate greater interactions between industry and academia in preparing students for the workplace. To ensure triangulation, a mixed method approach was adopted, and data analysis was conducted from individual differences perspective based on demographic characteristics. Instructors’ considerations are influenced by students’ preferences and bias, students’ career and development, ease of organizing course-support activities, student learning outcomes, curriculum structure, and ethnic and gender diversity. The results showed both demographic similarities and differences in the considerations of instructors. The results of this study could serve as inputs for the design of a web-based collaborative network of instructors and practitioners. This study contributes to expanding literature on collaborations between industry and academia for future workforce development. The study also offers insights that could enhance these collaborations for maximal benefits to students.

In product design courses, prototyping offers a way for students to develop physical intuition about materials while practicing techniques used by professional designers. A web-based platform was developed to explore the use of multimedia to provide students with additional support for prototyping activities. The result is Designy (www.productdesigny.com), a platform containing a series of photo- and video-based resources meant to help students prototype effectively. Students in two product design classes — 2.00b Toy Product Design and 2.744 Product Design — were given access to Designy to aid in their project work. To better understand whether the platform was utilized by students and if access to the platform contributed to student learning and project work, researchers analyzed website activity data and interviewed students (n = 19) to collect data regarding their experiences with the platform. A core group of 24 students (27%) in 2.00b and 29 students (35%) in 2.744 generated the most activity on the platform. Interview data indicates that students used the platform to answer prototyping-related questions when designing, to better understand the landscape of prototyping tools available to them, and to increase a feeling of confidence working in a prototyping shop. Overall, results suggest that while in-person interactions with staff members can better help students in situations where the support students need is poorly identified, Designy was shown to provide efficient support in situations when students could clearly identify the type of support they needed.

An Augmented Reality Collaborative Product Design Cloud-Based Platform in the Context of Learning Factory

The distributed product data management (DPDM) is the key effectively of the remote collaborative designing and manufacturing for complex product. A study project on DPDM and consistency control techniques based on collaborative service platform (CSP) in aero subcontract production (Aero-SP) is put forwarded. First, in order to settle the problem of data exchange and share, collaborative workflow management among multiple PDM systems are critical processes for geographically distributed design and manufacturing systems. A distributed and open integrated product data management framework was developed based on a collaborative service platform by analyzing the technical performance of distributed product data management. The data communication method and safety assurance mechanism are also discussed. A simple portal is provided web-based accessing for collaborative manufacturing enterprise, and actualized expediently the data exchange, share, querying and process collaborative management. Second, in order to settle the problem of product data consistency in remote environment among dynamic alliance enterprises in Aero-SP, the distributed store strategy of product data based on original and duplicate data cooperation technique is designed and the coordinate process structure based on multi-server cooperation is setup according to the creating position and using attribute of product data. Further more, the initiative and automatic check between the central and secondary product databases among dynamic alliance enterprises is implemented by top-down product data consistency checking technique. All key enabling techniques were practiced in Aero-SP of aviation project and the consistency controlling approach was verified.

Process-oriented Semantic Knowledge Management in Product Lifecycle Management

Abstract-- Today, skill acquisition and information sharing are fundamental for professional success and personal growth in the information economy. Conventional educational systems have generally been tailored to provide content rich structure yet lack for any kind of interactive peer collaboration which might make their new knowledge practicable or put them in touch with mentors. It offers SkillVerse, an intelligent web-based collaborative platform that allows users with the skills to make their skills available to others with ask for those specific skills. In addition to safe user authentication and structured skill categorization, SkillVerse incorporates a part mutual matching system and autocorrection to facilitate as exactly possible matching up of learning person and mentor in terms of shared interests level of completion. The platform supports assessment of both participatory feedback based on a metadata description system and simple self- evaluations made by learners, thus helping to raise general quality ratings while also fostering stronger confidence within communities. Built with Python Flask as the backend operating software, SQLite for easy relational data management. Versions of SkillVerse with various front-ends that include HTML, C language among others combine high utility and efficiency. By encouraging interactive learning, building a sense of community participation in its system, and providing insights into skill trends that are going to be important in the future; SkillVerse aims to transform online communities of practice and empower everyone with equal access to education. [1][2] Keywords-- Skill exchange, web application, smart matching technology, feedback system development, collaborative platform standards