Computer aided process planning: A comprehensive survey

Abstract

The use of computer technology for process planning was initiated four decades before. Since then, there has been a large amount of research work carried out in the area of Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP). One of the reasons for this is the role of CAPP in reducing throughout time and improving quality. Now a day’s due to dynamic market and business globalization, CAPP research faces new challenges. In this article an attempt is made to provide a comprehensive review on CAPP based on features, knowledge, artificial neural networks, Genetic Algorithms (GA), fuzzy set theory and fuzzy logic, Petri Nets (PN), agent, internet, STandard for the Exchange of Product data (STEP) compliant method, and Functional Blocks (FB) technologies for last five years (2008–2012). The design of paper includes a brief introduction of CAPP and its approaches, methods/technologies of CAPP, snap shot survey of previous research work on CAPP, survey of last five years research work on CAPP, then finally a suggestion for future and conclusion.