Abstract
Means are considered that can structure design and building processes associated with integrated manufacturing systems. To meet the identified needs, the paper proposes the use of an environment for executing models which adopts and extends the concepts and guidelines identified by the CIM-OSA (computer integrated manufacturing-open sytems architecture) consortium.
A key component of the environment concerns the execution of models of behaviour. The paper describes (with reference to on-going implementation work) how CIM-OSA behaviour models can be represented and handled by stochastic time Petri net model execution tools.
The use of the design and building environment is illustrated with reference to a case study application involving the batch manufacture of a family of electronic products. Here, the necessary form of key CIM-OSA and Petri net models are described, as are results from the Petri net simulation studies. The paper also comments on the advantages and limitations of the CIM-OSA modelling approach and how certain of those limitations are circumvented by adopting the proposed environment for model execution.