Process Planning and Production Scheduling for Affordable Space Systems

The Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory is a constituent laboratory of the Institute for Systems Research at the University of Maryland.

Process Planning and Production Scheduling for Affordable Space Systems

This research, supported by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space, is part of the ASSIST project. The Advanced Technology Center is leading the ASSIST project, which is funded by the U.S. Air Force.

Project Team:

Dr. Jeffrey W. Herrmann, Principal Investigator
Dr. Mark Fleischer, Research Associate
Dr. Edward Lin, CIM Lab Manager
Mr. Vidit Mathur, Research Assistant

Current Work:

At this point we have developed and prototyped IPPS, which performs integrated production planning and production scheduling for affordable space systems manufacturing. We are currently enhancing the system based on feedback from users.

Project Summary:

This work has designed and constructed an integrated planning and production scheduling tool that can be used to control the manufacture of custom satellite propulsion systems. The system dynamically creates manufacturing process plans and schedules the required assembly, integration, and test operations for all propulsion systems based on material, personnel, and equipment availability. Rescheduling is done periodically as conditions in the factory change.

Affordable Space Systems Intelligent Synthesis Technology (ASSIST) for Manufacturing is an intelligent knowledge management system for dramatic reductions in cost and time in low volume space system manufacturing. ASSIST selects collaborative and information management tools that have been successfully demonstrated in a stand-alone environment and integrates them in an innovative and extendible infrastructure. The resulting environment, which provides a seamless electronic communication system, overcomes enterprise-wide manufacturing cost and time consumption due to limited availability and inefficient use of information.

On-line papers related to this work:

J.W. Herrmann, M. Fleischer, E. Lin, V. Mathur, and J. Glasser, Affordable Space Systems Manufacturing: Intelligent Synthesis Technology, Process Planning, and Production Scheduling, DETC2001/CIE-21281, to appear in Proceedings of DETC'01, ASME 2001 Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, September 9-12, 2001.

Last updated by Jeffrey W. Herrmann, April 24, 2001.