Synchronisation of Distributed Configuration Tools using Feature Models

摘要

The strategic market positioning of machine tool manufacturers in high-wage countries is characterised by a combination of configure-to-order based on predefined variants and a subsequent customisation (engineer-to-order) to meet individual requirements. Since the product defining data is modified, any involved engineering system has to be initialised with a globally consistent configuration. Due to the lack of tool support and systematic, manufacturers are faced with high complexity concerning data management and workflows. This paper presents a concept for efficient management of engineering data for product families. The solution is based on distributed tool-internal configurators from which standardised feature models are automatically created.