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This article shows you how to use PDM to achieve information integration in the mechanical manufacturing industry, the content is concise and easy to understand, it will definitely brighten your eyes. I hope you can get something through the detailed introduction of this article.

The architecture of 1.1PDM

With the development of software technology, the architecture of PDM is becoming more and more advanced. At present, based on Java and Web, the three-stage architecture of C/B/S has become the development direction of soft Yingtai TIPDM. At present, advanced PDM systems generally adopt Web technology and a large number of industry standards, and its architecture is shown in figure 1-1.

Figure 1-the architecture of 1PDM

The whole can be divided into five layers, the bottom platform layer, the core service layer, the application component layer, the application tool layer and the implementation concept layer.

3.1.1 bottom platform layer

It mainly refers to the heterogeneous distributed computer hardware environment, operating system, network and communication protocol, database, middleware and other supporting environment. At present, the development of the underlying platform of PDM software has two main characteristics:

First, the adaptability is expanding to support more and more software and hardware environments. PDM manufacturers have been committed to launching PDM systems that adapt to more platforms. In the hardware environment, from the simplest user terminal PC to high-end workstations and servers can run the corresponding PDM system.

Second, the underlying platform is developing in the direction of low cost. On the operating system, Unix is still the main service platform used by most PDM, but PC/Windows is quietly expanding its territory because of its low cost, friendly interface, convenient operation and so on. Many large PDM servers, such as Mctaphasc, IMAN, PM and so on, are still running under Unix environment, but their own microcomputer versions have been launched one after another. The new aristocracy such as Windchill took PC/Windows as the main platform, and later launched the Unix version.

Because of the huge amount of data and high performance requirements of enterprise TIPDM systems, the underlying databases are almost without exception concentrated in large databases such as Oracle, SQL Server, Sybase and so on, especially Oracle is the preferred or exclusive database of many PDM systems. In addition, almost all PDM software supports local and wide area network standard protocols such as TCP/IP, IIOP, Net BIOS and HTTP.

1.1.2PDM core service layer

Qingsoft Yingtai PDM software products generally refer to the core service layer and PDM application component layer, because they are different in function, so they are discussed separately. Under the C/B/S S structure, the core service layer is generally the server side, and the client software belongs to the application components of PDM. Under the C/B/S structure, both of them run on the server side, but the purchase and installation of software products will be different, the core service is necessary, and the application components can be selected. For example, Metaphase's object management framework, Windchill's Windchill Foundation, IMAN's eServer and so on all belong to their respective core service layers.

The core service layer is actually a set of object models, which mainly performs three functions: one is to connect and manipulate the database downward, the second is to provide basic services for PDM application components upward, and the third is to provide application programming interface (API) for application software integration. In addition, some PDM software also add Web processing mechanism in the core layer.

1.1.3PDM application component layer

PDM application component is actually a functional module which is composed of a group of programs (interfaces) that call TIPDM basic services and can complete certain application functions. For example, the workflow management application component is a functional module which is composed of workflow definition tools, workflow executors, workflow monitoring tools and so on. Various PDM vendors continue to enrich their application components (figure 1). For example, Metaphase provides a large number of rich application components, including life cycle manager, change control manager, product structure manager, product configuration manager, component family manager, Metaphasc application integration interface with CAX/DFx/ERP/CSM/EC/SCM and other application softwares, visualization tools, collaborative design support tools, digital prototypes, and so on.

The unified user interface is also classified into the application component layer, and almost all PDM supports accessing and manipulating PDM through Web. The newer PDM of C/B/S structure, such as eMatrix and Windchill, takes the Web browser as the client, and Metaphase, IMAN and so on have launched their own Web-based clients.

1.1.4 Application tools layer

Application tools mainly refer to engineering design software such as CAx/DFx, office software such as Word, and all other application software except PDM. PDM integrates with these application software in many ways.

1.1.5 implement the concept layer

In the final analysis, PDM is not an enterprise management mode but a software tool, which can only play its role in the advanced enterprise operation mode, so the implementation of PDM is almost inseparable from CE (concurrent Engineering), CPC (Collaborative Product Business), VM (Virtual Manufacturing), SCM (supply chain Management), IS09000 and other advanced management concepts and quality standards. Only under the guidance of these advanced ideas can the implementation of PDM ensure success and play an important role. On the other hand, the implementation of PDM is one of the most effective tools and means for the successful implementation of these advanced ideas.

While PDM software manufacturers promote their software products, they are also promoting its ideas, such as those advocated by Qingsoft Yingtai TIPLM. And PDM software is a kind of software that can perfectly combine with the enterprise and embody its value only through implementation. Therefore, the implementation concept is listed at the top of the PDM architecture.

1.2PDM information integration model

PDM technology is based on network and database, integrates the information generated by computer in product design, analysis, manufacturing, process planning, production management and quality management, and uniformly manages the data in the whole life cycle of the product. CAD/CAPP/CAM systems based on PDM integration platform can extract the information they need from PDM and put the results back into PDM. It really realizes the integration of 3C, so PDM is CAD/CAPP/CAM.

Integration platform; a lot of information in enterprise resource planning (ERP) also comes from CAD/CAPP/CAM system, so the relevant information can be transmitted to ERP system in time through PDM system, and the information generated by ERP can also be transmitted to CAD/CAPP/CAM system through PDM. Therefore, PDM system is the bridge of information transmission between 3C system and ERP system. Therefore, PDM is the key to realize the global information integration and sharing of enterprises. The main considerations of establishing PDM information integration model are as follows:

PDM information runs through all stages of the product life cycle:

The information flow and control are carried out with the support of database and network, and form a local closed loop, and the activities of each link have concurrency.

Information flow plays an important role in organizing, managing and controlling logistics.

Information integration model framework: see figure 1-2:

Figure 1-2 Information Integration Model Framework

In the product life cycle, CAD is used for product design and analysis, CAPP is used for process design, CAM is used for computer-aided NC programming to realize manufacturing automation, and ERP is responsible for the management of enterprise resources. First of all, the use of CAD tools for product design, and gradually set up the enterprise's basic information database, materials, tools, technology and other basic data related to products into the database. The CAPP system obtains the geometric information and machining information of the parts from the CAD system, and then obtains the standard process near the shed from the standard process library according to the similarity of the parts, and quickly generates the process files of the parts, so as to realize the information connection between the CAD system and the CAPP system.

Similarly, the CAM system needs to obtain the geometric shape, process requirements and corresponding machining attributes of the parts in time from the CAD and CAPP systems, generate the correct tool path and NC code, and realize the function of the CAM system. ERP manages customer demand and sales and accepts the BOM passed on by CAD. It can be seen that in the product life cycle, information transmission is a frequent and necessary function. According to the PDM information integration model, the information entity model is established as shown in figure 1-3:

Figure 1-3 Information entity model

1.3 using PDM to support the Information Integration of CAD/CAPP/CAM

After the application of CAD, CAPP and CAM systems, a large number of electronic documents are produced rapidly on computers, especially for large enterprises. How to ensure the integrity, consistency and correctness of electronic documents is a big problem after the application of CAD, CAPP and CAM systems. Most enterprises generally only use the shared directory structure for simple management of electronic documents, no permission control, no version control, no hierarchical structure, no efficient and simple query means, no database submission mechanism. As a result, it is difficult to query electronic documents, the degree of sharing is not high, the speed of data information transmission is slow, and the utilization rate is low. The design BOM and process BOM of many enterprises can not be generated automatically by CAD and CAPP systems, and there is still a lot of manual labor and repeated input.

We know that the greatest benefit of applying computer systems comes from integration and sharing. Although CAD and CAPP can significantly improve the design and process efficiency, if they can not achieve integration and sharing, then their benefits are still limited, which is one of the reasons why enterprises are confused about the benefits of CAD and CAPP applications. Because the computer-aided technologies such as CAD, CAPP and CAM are developed separately, most of the applications of these technologies are scattered and isolated single applications, they do not have the ability to integrate with each other, and they can not realize the automatic transmission and exchange of information between systems. there are a large number of secondary repeated input problems, which form many isolated islands of automated information in the practical application of enterprises. Therefore, it is very necessary to use PDM information integration model to realize the information integration of CAD, CAPP and CAM.

The idea of PDM system to realize the information integration of CAD, CAPP and CAM is to take the product structure tree as the center, uniformly manage CAD, CAPP, CAM documents and related product data, and carry out the management function closely around the product structure tree.

Information Integration Model of CAD, CAPP and CAM under 1.3.1PDM

See figure 1-4 below.

Figure 1-4 Information Integration Model

The functional Framework of 1.3.2PDM system supporting the Information Integration of CAD, CAPP and CAM

The project manager establishes the root node of the product structure tree by using the product stomach function in the PDM system, establishes the part node under the root node according to the design requirements, and distributes the part node to the responsible engineer. The product configuration can be established manually or by using the components of the standard department. Task assignment and process management are carried out visually and flexibly on the structure tree in the form of node authorization.

After entering the PDM system, the responsible engineer displays the task list, and can design the components under the corresponding nodes, establish the component nodes and distribute the component nodes. Under the component node, the component design can be carried out, the supporting component node and part node can be established, and the supporting component and part can be designed. The CAD software is started in the PDM system. The resulting data files are directly "hung" on the corresponding nodes of the structure tree, and the data of the upper and lower nodes are related to each other and coordinated automatically.

The process planning is carried out at the corresponding node, and the CAPP software is activated by the PDM system, and the resulting data files are also "hung" on the corresponding node of the structure tree. Through the structure tree, the design information such as design drawing paper and design BOM generated by CAD can be directly shared.

In the design process, the structure tree, drawing paper, process files, calculation books, instructions and other electronic documents are all stored in the server and associated with the relevant nodes on the structure tree.

The system should have powerful classification query function and provide multi-view management of product structure tree, such as design view, process view, standard part view, borrowed part view, display by professional group, display by designer, etc. Different documents and documents in different states are represented by different icons and different colors. Displaying graphical progress information by node can prompt off-period early warning information.

After the approval process, the documents are automatically submitted to the warehouse, and the modification of the documents has strict process control, provides version management function, and can save different versions of the file. The system should have strict authority control to ensure the integrity, consistency and correctness of the data. Those who have rights can view and share design drawings and process documents at any time to understand the progress of project design and task assignment.

After the drawing paper design is completed, the design BOM module automatically generates the parts list, component list, general list and so on in the corresponding nodes. After the process card is compiled, the process BOM module automatically generates the material quota, tooling list and all kinds of detailed lists in the corresponding nodes. Through the node, you can easily find all the information related to the node. The standard parts library and material supply catalogue are established in advance in the system. Provide convenient and rapid online query, transfer function, provide borrowing design function.

After the completion of the design and process, a complete structure tree will be produced, on which all the design drawings, process cards, design lists and process lists of a project or product will be stored hierarchically. It can even include calculation books, instructions and other product technical data, providing rich classified query and statistical functions, which will significantly improve the search speed and utilization rate of technical data. The technical information can be easily transferred to the next process, and the completed node data can be submitted to the archives department for management, and the authority shall be vested in the archives department.

Yes, the archives department carries on the archiving registration, copies the node data to the archiving medium (such as CD), on this basis, realizes the electronic archiving of product technical documents. The original CAD and CAPP documents use the BOM expansion function to automatically enter the Qingsoft Yingtai PDM system, and the PDM system generates the product structure tree according to the BOM information. Figure 1-5 shows a tree structure for the information integration of CAD, CAPP, and CAM through PDM.

Figure 1-5 Tree structure of information integration

Information Integration of 1.4PDM and ERP system

The integration of product data management system (PDM) and enterprise resource management system (ERP) will dramatically promote the communication among design, production, purchasing and sales departments. In fact, PDM and ERP systems are controlled by different departments in the organizational structure. The information controlled by these systems is overlapped in many ways. For example, the management of bill of materials (BOM) has always been part of the conflict. Considerable manual intervention is needed to avoid serious errors. The integration of PDM and ERP will facilitate the coordination of different functions. Reduce manual intervention and reduce errors.

PDM manages all information related to the product, from principle design to product abolishment. The ERP system is generally considered to be responsible for production and even all business operations. Because the two systems have different priorities, problems arise, especially the overlapping parts. The biggest overlap lies in the user declaration of the entry and the relevant data in the born table. When two independent systems maintain their respective versions of critical data, the possibility of conflict will always exist.

The difference and relationship between 1.4.1PDM and ERP

PDM management of product-related information and processes mainly focuses on the management of product composition information flow. at the same time, it is also an important enabling technology, which supports the product formation process based on concurrent engineering according to the constraints and some process conditions of the managed product logic information. Data storage and management, product information structure and product information configuration and management, project management, workflow management, product change information management, standard parts management, etc. ERP is a technology for unified management of all resources and processes related to enterprise and manufacturing, focusing on logistics management in the manufacturing field, and its representative functions are: master production plan, material requirement plan, raw material purchase plan, vehicle operation plan, tooling and equipment management, financial system management, inventory management and so on.

Therefore, both PDM and ERP system components include dynamic (process) and static (PDM mainly describes product state information, geometric topology and logical relationship between information, and ERP is mainly manufacturing resources such as equipment, team, workshop, capital, inventory, etc.). Therefore, in order to realize the integration between the information field represented by PDM and the manufacturing field represented by ERP. On the basis of global information sharing and consistent process goals, the requirements of PDM and ERP systems in both meditation and dynamics must be fully met. In order to achieve this goal of system integration, we must first have a systematic understanding of the differences and relations between PDM and ERP in terms of management objects, functional areas, management approaches and ways.

The difference between PDM and ERP

Differences in the content of management objects

It can be clearly known from the concepts of PDM and ERP that the management object of PDM is the logical relationship between the information describing the state of the product itself and the information, as well as the process of utilizing, regenerating and transmitting these product status information and the supporting conditions of process resources, such as product scheme demonstration process, conceptual design process, detailed design process, process formulation process and so on. As well as the staffing and collaborative relationships in the development of these processes. The management object of ERP is the manufacturing resources (equipment, materials, workshop teams, etc.) and the production process of resource utilization, including: raw material procurement, processing, manufacturing and assembly, sales, service and so on. Therefore, there are differences in the content of the objects managed by PDM and ERP in terms of time, place, areas of function, relevant supporting tools, measures taken, and so on.

Differences in management processes

The concept of "process" is included in both PDM and ERP systems, but the concept of "process" does not have the same meaning in PDM and ERP systems. The "process" of PDM is a process related to the formation of product logic, and the product of the process is the "information" describing the state of the product. The supporting objects of the process are the state "information" such as geometry and topology and the technicians who use and regenerate this information. The "process" in the ERP system is a process related to the physical formation of the product. The guidance information of the process is the product information generated by the process in PDM. The organization route of the process is restricted and guided by the logical relationship of the product state information. The product of the process is the specific product or product parts entity. The supporting objects of the process are mainly physical "material" (manufacturing resources) and "people" who are mainly operated by manual labor.

Manage the differences in relationships within objects

The relationship between management objects in PDM is: the carrier of information development is process, and the stage product of process is sufficient information; the relationship between management objects in ERP is that the carrier of material change is process, and the object of process function and consumption is material. If there are information factors in the field of ERP, then the information in PDM mainly describes the geometric and topological information of the product from a conceptual point of view, while the information in the field of ERP is mainly some resource information that arranges production from the aspect of logistics configuration.

PDM and ERP contact

From a systematic point of view of the optometry industry, PDM and ERP are closely related in the following aspects:

There is a causal relationship between the objects acted by the process.

The process action object in the ERP system, that is, the component or product in physical form, is the material representation of the process action object (the geometric or topological information describing the product state from the conceptual point of view) and the logical relationship between the process action object in the PDM system.

There is a relationship between execution and verification in the logical sequence of the process.

The production process sequence in the ERP system is sufficient to physically execute and verify the information logic relationship generated by the PDM process sequence. The optimization basis of the production process in the ERP system and the theoretical basis for determining the corresponding material support are the logical route for the development and improvement of the product information and information logic managed by the PDM system.

Consistency of management objectives

PDM and ERP have a high degree of consistency in management objectives. Although there are differences in management objects and processes between PDM and ERP, their management objectives are to try to reduce errors and rework through scientific scheduling and control, and to ensure the earliest listing of products in the shortest possible time, through the least cost of resources, and by the most economical means and ways.

The supporting conditions of the process are innate.

Even in the differences of the previous analysis, we can find that the abstract geometric and topological information of the product is not only the product of the PDM domain process, but also the activity guidance basis and result verification condition of the ERP domain process. Therefore, to strengthen the relationship between PDM and ERP, we must use the unified product geometry and topology information to communicate with the related process.

The product of an enterprise is the result of the combination of the logical relationship between the two processes.

The process sequence in PDM is carried out according to the design route from the whole to the part, while the process sequence in ERP is carried out according to the manufacturing and assembly process from the part to the whole, and the final product of the enterprise is the result of the coupling of the two process sequences developed from different routes and fields in time coordinates.

With the development of PDM and ERP, some of their functions overlap each other, especially the BOM management of product structure, the statistics and management of product parts, etc.

Information Integration Model of 1.4.2PDM/BOM and ERP/BOM

Figure 1-Information Integration Model for 6PDM/BOM and ERP/BOM

1.5 PDM Information Integration method

(1) Encapsulation mode

The integration of product data is the integration of the application that produces the data. In order to enable different application systems to share information and uniformly manage the data generated by the application system, as long as the application system is "encapsulated" and the characteristic data and data files are placed in the database and file cabinet respectively, their data can be managed effectively.

"encapsulation" is to encapsulate the properties and operation methods of an object in a defined object at the same time. The operation set is used to describe the visible external interface of the module, which ensures that the interface of the object is independent of the internal expression of the object. The operation method and structure of the object are invisible, and the interface is the description of the operation set acting on the object, which is the only visible part of the object; "encapsulation" means that the user cannot see the internal structure of the object, but the object can be used by calling the operation ⋯program, which fully embodies the principle of information concealment. Due to the use of "encapsulation", when the program design changes the internal expression of the data structure of an object type, it can not change any program that works on that object type. "encapsulation" enables data and operations to have a unified management interface.

(2) Interface and integration mode

For the data containing product structure information, because the "encapsulation" can not understand the specific data inside the file, it is also impossible to grasp the internal structural relationship of the product. At this point, integration can be achieved through the following modes:

Interface mode: according to the assembly tree in the CAD assembly file, the product structure tree in PDM is generated automatically. Through the interface program to decipher the internal relationship of the product, automatically generate the product structure tree of PDM: or extract the latest product structure relationship from the product structure tree of PDM, modify the assembly file of CAD, so that the two are consistent asynchronously.

Integration mode: through the detailed analysis of CAD graphic data and PDM product structure tree, a unified structural relationship between product data is established. As long as the structural relationship of one of them changes, the other automatically changes, and always keeps the assembly relationship of CAD synchronized with that of PDM product structure tree.

The commercialized PDM software environment can generally provide a structured set of product object-oriented public services, which forms the basis of integration and serves as a tool to realize information integration with product objects as the core.

Through the above methods, Qingsoft Yingtai PDM can realize object sharing among different users, regard PDM as a general management environment for a variety of application software, and use standard data interface to establish the relationship between the product configuration of PDM and the assembly structure of multiple application software. under the same PDM management, multiple application software share the same product structure. All users work in the same PDM working environment, realizing a new way of working independent of site, hardware and operating system.

Different PDM and ERP systems have different interface methods:

Internal function calls:

The API function provided by the system is used to access the database in order to exchange information between the two systems. This method requires each system to provide functions and API interfaces to access the underlying database, and often requires the support of the original system developers. But the highest efficiency can be achieved.

Direct database access:

According to the analysis of the database of the two systems, the database and its properties are accessed directly, but the database of the general commercial system is encrypted, so it is necessary to understand the structure of the system database to realize this method.

Intermediate file exchange:

According to the unified file format and interface requirements, the two systems use the API function provided by the system to compile their own import / export programs to realize the information exchange between the two systems. This method is easy to implement, but it has the lowest efficiency and security.

Intermediate database:

The middle data database table is used to store the common data between the two systems, and the data exchange between the two systems is realized by operating the database table.

The above content is how to use PDM to realize the information integration of machinery manufacturing industry. Have you learned the knowledge or skills? If you want to learn more skills or enrich your knowledge reserve, you are welcome to follow the industry information channel.

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