Collaborative Design Procedure for Supply Chain Process Integration Using UML

Abstract

The auto industry has embraced B2B e-commerce as a way of assembling their suppliers at one place so as to purchase parts and process equipment over the Internet. Suppliers who want to be successful in this environment will need to use Internet capabilities not only to quote projects but also to collaborate with other suppliers to execute the design and build activities at the quoted price, delivery and functionality requirements at an appropriate quality level. This will require interaction between product, process and tool engineers. Collaboration and interactions do not happen by accident. They require a common vocabulary and language along with explicit planning and management framework. The Unified Modelling Language (UML), is on its way to being adopted by the computer industry as the standard modelling language. This paper suggests that this object modelling language can be one component of this communication framework. In order to successfully use the Internet to accomplish these tasks, a framework/ procedure is needed to capture needed interaction and assignment of responsibilities that become the basis of the bid. These agreements can also be used to manage the interactions needed during design, construction and tryout stages. The proposed procedure utilizes a fundamental objectives tree to define the voice of the customer, the IDEFO model language to define the life cycle of the design and construction activities and the UML to document and guide the needed interactions and communication. The process can also be used to manage the program in order to achieve the performance objectives. This paper describes the procedure and provides a case study for the design of a press material handling system. The equipment manufacturer relies on the die process and design functions as well as press manufacturer to interact at appropriate time to ensure successful operation of equipment. © 2001 by Springer Science+Business Media New York.