9510456 Zhang This research aims to prove the concept of rapid development of manufacturing planning software by building a prototype infrastructure for modular computer-aided process planning (CAPP) systems. Data will be collected from industry through the collaboration of NIST and industry during an internship at NIST. Two modules of the CAPP system, process selection/sequencing and intermediate machining tolerance allocation, will be developed and integrated with the infrastructure of rapid development of manufacturing planning software proposed by NIST researchers. The NIST contribution will be to build an open software object library, functional and data requirement specification mechanisms, a knowledge-based mapping mechanism, an automated object composition mechanism, and automated software validation procedures. Software systems play a key role in the implementation of an agile manufacturing concept. However, it is difficult to modify existing manufacturing application software systems to suit a user's dynamic needs, so currently available software systems are not useful for agile manufacturing. This research should result in a general framework as well as specific methods that the manufacturing application software industry can use in developing the next generation of manufacturing planning software for agile manufacturing.
