Intelligent Manufacturing by Enhanced Product Models

As the quality of manufactured products as well as the quality of the used manufacturing processes has become more and more important for a company in order to stay competitive in the last decades, an integrated quality management leading towards intelligent manufacturing represents a key factor today. Therefore, new methods are required for considering quality information in all phases of the product life cycle. Feature technology and especially the use of so-called measurement and quality features represent an approach towards integrated quality management and the achievement of process-oriented and global quality control loops. Furthermore, feature technology in general also represents a high potential just within the area of sheet metal forming where it can be used to provide additional information for designing manufacturing processes and constructing tools and devices in manufacturing systems.