Preproduction process estimation by the means of fuzzy statements

Abstract

A business process estimation method is proposed. It is directed on preproduction stage that starts with proto-design and ends with production planning. A method of extraction of the target product and process characteristics from the requirements specification is considered. The estimation method is based on fuzzy reasoning and uses linguistic expressions to evaluate the process. The process improvement procedure, based on Bellman's Principle of Optimality, is proposed. The results of software implementation are described. To obtain integration with product lifecycle software systems web-technologies are used. The proposed estimation method is helpful to evaluate the products and the processes on early stages. It deals with non-numerical attributes of a product and process, which influence may not be calculated directly. The work is directed on automotive, electronics and aerospace industry. The approach may be applied in medical sphere. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.