Process Planning

Definition:
- The act of preparing detailed instructions to produce a part.
- How to realize a given product design.

Ultimate Goal of P.P. Systems

To integrate design and production data into a system that
generates useable process plans.
A process plan is prepared based on the design data (the
goal) and the process knowledge (the intelligence).
The PPS is the decision-making mechanism.

Two approaches in CAPPS (Computer Aided Process Planning Systems)

1. Variant Processing Planning
-this approach uses a data retrieval system to receive
existing process plans.

2. Generative Process Planning

-a system that synthesizes process information in order to
create a process plan for new parts automatically.