Generic referencing: Methodology of parts characterization

Abstract

Production planning and control (PPC) processes are based on information about part information, bill-of-materials (BOM), routings and production resources information. Managing these different types of information efficiently is fundamentaal for PPC success. Consumers require increased diversity of offer and this adds additional stress to information management in PPC systems. Standard representation models don’t offer enough flexibility and ease of use to cope with high product diversity. Models of representation of product information based on generic referencing aims to cope with these new requirements in a more efficient way. With these models a generic reference identifies a family of parts characterized by a set of common properties. Identifying adequate properties that characterize a family require the ability to evaluate different possible alternatives and select the best suited for each case. To deal with this challenge a methodology for parts characterization using generic referencing models is proposed. This methodology uses grammatical classification integrated with knowledge of the production system. An industrial case study of baby clothes is used as an example of application of the methodology.