Towards an Unified Additive Manufacturing Product-Process Model for Digital Chain Management Purpose

Abstract

Additive Manufacturing (AM) is a real example of emerging technologies that can influence the whole product development process. During the AM process, large amounts of data are created, modified stored and retrieved. The management of large amounts of data, as well as the complexity of the relationships between stakeholders are amongst the major challenges. Design activities should be well-integrated with the production process to ensure the consistency of the whole AM value chain, which begins from the conception to the production and post-treatment of the product. This paper discusses the main characteristics of the AM process. The Business Process Modelling Notation (BMPN) is used to describe the entire AM value chain and the connection between design and manufacturing processes. This is a preliminary step towards the definition of complete model dedicated to the representation of AM related knowledge. Semantic interoperability and the monitoring of the whole digital chain involved in the AM value chain are the most important applications of the proposed modeling framework.