Development of intelligent mold shop

Abstract

Presented in the paper is an approach to developing an intelligent mold shop as a means to overcome the difficulties faced by mold-makers due to skill shortages and increased global competition. A machine shop where as much as of the human skills are replaced by a set of intelligent systems is called an intelligent machine shop, and an intelligent mold-making machine shop is called an intelligent mold shop (IMS). By analyzing the contents of operators skill, three intelligent S/W stations have been designed: Technical Data Processing (TDP) Station, Loading Schedule Station, and Real-time Monitoring Station. A detailed architecture of the TDP station is described, and measures of effectiveness of IMS are elaborated.