A PDM-based Framework for Design to Manufacturing in Mold Making Industry - A Case Study of Business Process Integration

As the product market lifecycle is becoming shorter, molding companies are forced to reduce the time to market. At the same time, the pressure of time-to-market is also conveyed to mold making companies. To rapidly respond to molding companies and retain customers, mold making companies have to improve their overall business performance. At present, mold making companies are faced with an inefficient Information Technology (IT) environment that lacks of integration and is not capable of effectively supporting information sharing and exchange. As a result, the overall business performance can not be improved as expected though the efficiency of individual activities has increased by the corresponding software systems. This paper presents the design and development of a PDM-based system for the integration of critical business processes, including design, planning and production, to enable higher business performance. The PDM system is first extended to manage non-engineering data and support business activities of planning and production. Then, the integration-supported models, including design model, routing planning model and task model, are presented from the perspectives of information association and process automation. The integration of workflow management to streamline business processes is also investigated. Finally, the system implementation is briefly introduced.