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e-CAPP: A distributed collaborative system for internet-based process

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 Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Manufacturing Systems

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jmansys

e-CAPP: A distributed collaborative system for internet-based process

planning
Mijodrag Milosevic a,∗ , Dejan Lukic a , Aco Antic a , Bojan Lalic a , Mirko Ficko b ,
Goran Simunovic c
a
University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Technical Sciences, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
b
University of Maribor, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 2000 Maribor, Slovenia
c
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Mechanical Engineering Faculty in Slavonski Brod, 35000 Slavonski Brod, Croatia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Advances in distributed technologies have enabled engineers to communicate more effectively, col-
Received 15 July 2016 laborate, obtain, and exchange a wide range of design resources during product development. Shared
Received in revised form 7 December 2016 internet-based virtual environments allow experts in remote locations to analyze a virtual prototype,
Accepted 28 December 2016
together and simultaneously in centers in which the product is being developed.
This paper presents a system for distributed and collaborative environment which could assist manu-
Keywords:
facturing enterprises and experts in discussing, suggesting, evaluating and selecting best process plans
Process planning
for family of manufacturing parts. The represented e-CAPP system enables the implementation of expert
CAPP system
Collaborative engineering
knowledge in an appropriate knowledge repository. The knowledge from this repository is integrated into
Distributed manufacturing intra-company CAPP systems and used while generating process plans for new products. The proposed
internet-based collaborative environment, dedicated to distributed process planning, is yet another step
in the direction advancing of distributed manufacturing.
© 2017 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction number of enterprises. These enterprises are specialized for partial

Rapid development of internet technologies allows rapid
growth of distributed application systems that exceed traditional
physical and timing constraints, and helps connecting geograph-
ically dislocated users, systems, resources and services. Efficient
utilization of latest information and communication technologies,
as well as technologies in the field of company’s business, is only
possible in flexible and collaborative working environment [1]. This
environment enables successful cooperation among project teams
based on the exchange of digital information, thus ensuring greater
innovation and better quality, with the reduction in cost and time
required to launch a new product to the market [2]. Frequent prod-
uct changes result in the emergence of multiple product variants,
while distributed collaborative engineering brings new tools and
methods for more efficient administration work during all stages
of product’s lifecycle, its different variants and customer needs
[3]. By relying on web-based collaborative systems, designers and
engineers are able to exchange knowledge and share work at the
global level [4–6]. In modern conditions, the production of complex
products is realized on principles of distributed manufacturing in a
∗ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mido@uns.ac.rs (M. Milosevic).
process plans. Complex products, which consist of a large number
of parts, components and modules, are assembled into a functional
product in one enterprise, but these are often manufactured in dif-
ferent parts of the world. Therefore, it is crucial to have an adequate
coordination between teams who work in different places on the
same project [7,8].
Process planning represents one of the most important tasks
to be solved in the distributed manufacturing environment, in
which different companies participate in collaborative product
development [9]. Activities related to process planning at the intra-
company level are usually realized by applying the CAPP systems
[10–12]. Thereby, it enables the application and implementation
of procedures that use engineering drawings, bills of materials
and other technological specifications as input information in
order to identify and select machining processes, resources, pro-
cess operations and other parameters necessary to transform raw
material into a finished product [13]. CAPP tools integrate decision-
making mechanisms and knowledge bases and thus build the basis
for defining the machining processes. However, their integration
with other functions in the enterprise, such as financial flows,
production planning, manufacturing resource planning and con-
trol, quality control, procurement etc., is not simple by any means
[14]. Significant changes to enterprise strategy and manufacturing
paradigms have led to the development of Internet/Web-based pro-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmsy.2016.12.010
0278-6125/© 2017 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223
cess planning and manufacturing in order to support a networked
manufacturing environment [15]. Integration and networking are
necessary in enterprises that participate in the collaborative pro-
cess with other enterprises in order to accelerate the development
of new products, where competitiveness at the global market repre-
sents the main motive. The network of enterprises that participate
in the collaboration that includes suppliers and end-users can be
defined as the extended enterprise [16–19]. The purpose of this
integration is to achieve competitive advantage by maintaining the
distributed cooperation along the entire organizational structure.
Function of the extended enterprise is based on the use of the Inter-
net because this way, it provides the infrastructure through which
the information is simultaneously available to all participants in
the production planning, whether they are designers, process plan-
ners, production managers or production workers. Therefore, new
paradigms that combine internet technologies and manufacturing
are introduced in the planning process. Some of them are Cloud
manufacturing (CMfg) [20–23] and Internet of Things (IoT) [24,25].
However, from the viewpoint of process planning, integration is
often slowed down by different constraints. Those are mostly con-
straints within the integration of CAD/CAPP/CAM systems [26], as
well as constraints on how to share information about manufac-
turing capacities and resources, which are necessary for dislocated
experts for process planning [27].
These problems can be solved by means of distributed, flexible
open systems for process planning in the collaborative environ-
ment. A system for collaborative process planning should help users
to define process plans with the required level of detail. These lev-
els are known as meta, macro and micro process planning. Meta
or conceptual process planning is performed in order to deter-
mine production processes and machines appropriate for achieving
shape, size, quality and cost of parts that are planned. Macro process
planning is responsible for the specification of equipment, min-
imum number of process operations required for manufacturing
a part, as well as the operation sequence. Micro process planning
refers to the selection of tools, fixtures, generation of CNC programs
and definition of other parameters related to the production pro-
cess so that productivity, product quality and manufacturing costs
remain optimal [27,28].
A common scenario for the extended enterprise is the case
in which there is one enterprise that uses manufacturing ser-
vices of other, geographically dislocated enterprises, in order to
produce the necessary product quantity and satisfy the appro-
priate quality standards, cost and delivery time [19]. Usually, the
observed enterprise requires process planning in the collaborative
way, with consideration of knowledge and experience of people
involved in the manufacturing process. To achieve an efficient
process planning, it is required to identify relevant collaborative
activities, information and knowledge flows, and integrate them
into a collaborative working environment which can provide good
communication and coordination.
2. Review of distributed and collaborative process planning
systems
Previous studies in the field of collaborative and distributed pro-
cess planning have led to the emergence of a number of prototype
models that differ in terms of functionality, way of communication,
applied software tools and data structures. Here, some of the most
famous solutions developed in this field are briefly reviewed.
COMPASS is a system for materials, processes and apparatus
selection that helps designers to define potential problems in man-
ufacturing in the early stages of product development, and also
enables efficient planning of heterogeneous process plans in man-
ufacturing [28]. CoCAPP is a system for process planning that uses
211
mechanisms of cooperation and coordination which are embed-
ded into distributed agents [29]. CyberCut is an Internet-based
CAD/CAM system that enables the generation of 3D prismatic parts
by simulating processing operations on raw workpieces until it
transforms them into the final part [30]. IMPlaner system repre-
sents a prototype model for distributed definition of manufacturing
activities [31]. The system relies on the existing CAD/CAM systems
and specialized CAPP solutions. MASCAPP is an object-oriented
system for process planning [32]. The prototype of this system is
focused on prismatic parts and uses techniques of artificial intel-
ligence, multi-agent systems and STEP-NC standards. VCAPP is a
networked virtual production system for small and medium-sized
enterprises [33]. In this system, dislocated users share CAD mod-
els in the virtual realistic environment and develop process plans.
The system for collaborative process planning and manufacturing
within the product lifecycle management is developed in [34]. Here,
the technological infrastructure that includes UML for representing
functional collaborations, as well as for CAPP and CAM systems, is
defined and implemented. Authors in [17,18] showed basic func-
tional requirements and technological infrastructure required for
the development of collaborative environment for process planning
(CPP) and its implementation in the PLM system. An integrated
system for product development named INFELT STEP is com-
prised of CAD, process planning and CNC code generation based
on an integrated data structure. This system is a three-layered
integrated and interoperable platform for collaborative and inter-
operable product design and development which is based on the
STEP standard [35,36]. Adaptive process planning (APP) approach
for machining is a new methodology studied in [37,38]. This mech-
anism includes a two-tier system architecture, generic supervisory
planning, machine-specific operation planning, and adaptive setup
planning. The framework in [21] is developed on the Cloud platform
and consists of two main services that are responsible for moni-
toring of machine availability and deriving process plans. This is a
novel framework for process planning that utilizes machine avail-
ability monitoring data obtained in real-time with the purpose of
identifying feasible and adaptive process plans.
Based on the analysis of the above reviewed systems, the orig-
inal model of e-CAPP environment is developed. By implementing
internet technologies, this model links distributed process planning
knowledge sources. It is a distributed collaborative CAPP system
which, while generating process plans, uses opinions and expe-
rience of geographically dislocated experts, or so called heuristic
knowledge of an online expert virtual team. Hence, the system,
with the aid of internet technologies, enables the online implemen-
tation of expert heuristic knowledge in the knowledge base of an
intra-company CAPP system. Heuristic expert knowledge, based on
the personal experience and beliefs, through the knowledge repos-
itory, dynamically changes and supplements the knowledge used
for generating process plans. Knowledge base of intra-company
CAPP systems changes according to the opinion of an expert virtual
team that becomes the primary opinion when generating a stan-
dard process plan for part family. Such an approach differs from the
previous distributed collaborative process planning solutions.
The system also uses a multi-criteria decision approach for eval-
uating process plans which is insufficiently represented in the
previous distributed process planning systems, except in one paper
which used a hybrid methodology for determining the actual status
of machine tools [21].
Numerous studies in this field put more emphasis on the micro
process planning [30,33,35]. The meta and macro level of process
planning are of greater significance in the e-CAPP system where the
opinions of experts are essential and crucial. Apart from machining
operations, the analysis of process plans also covers the analysis of
selected raw material, casting operations, heat treating operations,
as well as auxiliary operations. This is very important because poor
212 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223
selection of raw material, manufacturing processes (for example,
by selecting tools and fixtures, optimizing cutting parameters, opti-
mizing tool path and so on), machine tools or type of heat treating,
means that there is a possibility that the improvement of a pro-
cess plan at the micro level will be affected. For this reason, the
e-CAPP is based on the two-layer decision-making process which
is, for example applied in the DPP and Web-DPP systems [37,38].
The first and primary level of knowledge is the online expert heuris-
tic knowledge that is incorporated into the knowledge repository
and used for meta and macro process planning. The second level
of knowledge is the knowledge base of the intra-company CAPP
system which is used for micro process planning.
3. Developing the structure of the e-CAPP distributed
collaborative system
A system for the collaborative process planning should provide
an efficient cooperation between all relevant entities involved in
the direct production preparation [34,35]. The main task of this
system is to efficiently include appropriate human resources in
the decision-making process when defining process plans for spe-
cific product groups. However, assuming that a decision cannot
be realized without adequate input geometric and technological
data, as well as the data about direct manufacturing conditions
and resources, a collaborative system should provide an access to
crucial data base on which the appropriate manufacturing solu-
tions can be found [39]. Also, the system should allow archiving
of obtained solutions for their future analysis and exploitation, as
well as generating of necessary documentation. Considering that
such a system is applied in the area of distributed manufacturing,
it is imperative to use modern information and communica-
tion technologies, as well as the Internet technologies above all.
The development of a system for collaborative process planning
includes a preliminary analysis of collaborative environment and
its basic modules in which the predicted collaborative activities
are realized. One of the entities that initiate a collaborative pro-
cess is the external enterprise which orders a product, assembly
or some individual part from the parent enterprise that deals with
manufacturing, as well process planning. The parent enterprise can
operate in distributed manufacturing conditions, which involves
physically dispersed elements of the production plant or planning
departments. It is implied that such an extended enterprise struc-
ture operates on principles of e-Manufacturing [40], or so called
cyber manufacturing [41]. It also requires the implementation of
an appropriate collaborative system that allows a direct cooper-
ation and prompt transfer of necessary information between all
segments of the enterprise [42].
Collaborative environment includes three basic modules
(Fig. 1):
• Intra-company process planning,
• Collaborative system administration, and
• Expert evaluation of standard process plans.
Collaborative environment relies on the network of computer
and human resources whose operation is based on the use of
the Internet and internet technologies [43,44]. Experts involved
in a collaborative process must have access to all necessary data
regardless of their geographical location. Therefore, a collaborative
system should be developed to meet all the requirements of dislo-
cated experts and engineers, and to simultaneously enable effective
implementation and application within the parent enterprise. One
of the main tasks of a collaborative system is the acquisition of
expert heuristic knowledge in order to expand the knowledge base
for automated process planning. In addition, this system must be
reliable and able to provide adequate protection of the data belong-
ing to the parent, or the extended enterprise.
Having taken these requirements into account, one of the pri-
mary stages in the development of the system is the identification
of key actors in the collaborative environment, as well as their roles
or tasks in the collaborative process.
3.1. Knowledge repository
Along with the knowledge exchange, gathering of engineer-
ing and expert knowledge and its storing for future exploitation
and analysis is the essential meaning of the implementation of
the collaborative system. A knowledge repository includes data
and information related to procedural knowledge, business rules,
expert analysis, decision support, etc. [45,46].
One part of this repository is the expert knowledge in the field
of process planning. The expert knowledge that is formed within
the predicted collaborative environment will be stored in this
repository and subsequently used for implementation in the direct
production preparation.
Obtained standard process operations and variants of process
plans will be placed in the knowledge repository. An example of
the routing sheet for the standard process plan for one part type
is shown in Fig. 2. This repository also involves the reports gen-
erated in the administration module that are referred to expert
suggestions for new manufacturing solutions. By analyzing these
reports, future process plans can be improved and procurement of
new equipment can be planned.
3.2. Modeling the collaborative processes
Fig. 3 shows the use case diagram of the collaborative system
for process planning, which represents main actors, their primary
roles and predicted interactions in the system.
There are four types of actors in the system: customers, engi-
neers, experts and system administrator. Each of these actors has
roles assigned within the collaborative system that are in mutual
interaction and can be shared and/or extended to other use cases.
Detailed analysis of the interactions in time among objects is shown
by the interaction diagram. UML interaction diagrams show the
mutual communication between objects in the system [47–49].
They display flows through the use cases in a step-by–step pro-
cedure, specifying which objects are required in order to carry out
a flow, which actor is responsible for initiating a flow, what mes-
sages are exchanged between the objects and what is the message
sequence. One of the interaction diagrams is the sequence diagram
that shows different processes or objects in the e-CAPP system
which exist at the same time, as well as their mutual timing inter-
actions and messages that are mutually exchanged. In this way, it
is possible to provide a graphical representation of event scenarios,
or objects, lifelines, interactions and messages in the system.
Fig. 4 shows the sequence diagram of collaborative process plan-
ning in accordance with the provided use case diagram. The process
begins with a customer who orders a new product after which an
engineer performs the analysis of an order and creates variants of
the standard process plans. Collaborative process planning can also
start without an order of a new product if the development of new
products is one of the strategic objectives of the parent enterprise.
Variants of the standard process plans are available to the experts
through the Internet. They are logged in to the system and form
a virtual team with a controlled membership. Team members can
suggest new variants of process plans, discuss and finally perform
expert evaluation. Expert evaluation consists not only of the eval-
uation of variants of the process plans on the basis of the proposed
criteria, but also of the evaluation of the importance of certain cri-
teria. Within the parent enterprise the analysis of the evaluation
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223 213

Intra-company Expert
Collaborative system evaluation of standard
process planning administration
on the macro level WW
process plans
W Definition of Selecting the product
Input data
Order of analysis and product categories, group/type for
a new product product groups/types expert evaluation
classification
for expert
evaluation
Analysis of existing
Standard process N variants of the standard
plan for a new product Presentation of process plan
exists? process plan variants
required for
Y expert Suggested new
evaluation variants of the standard
process plan
N Modification of
the existing standard
process plan? Analysis of summary
expert evaluations Expert discussion
Y

Planning new Variants of Accepting the best The best Evaluated

standard evaluated variant of the standard Evaluation of the criteria
variants of the process plans process plan
standard process plan weight of criteria weight
standard process plan

Defining Analysis of Report on Evaluation of variants

Criteria for
validation criteria process plan suggestions for suggested new
of the standard
for the evaluation of evaluation new variants of process plans
standard proces plans process plan
standard process plans

Knowledge
CAPP system repository

Fig. 1. Structure of the collaborative environment for process planning.

Database of standard process operations: Product type:

Cylinder liner

Routing sheet for the standard process plan:

No. Standard operation Machine/Device
1. CENTRIFUGAL CASTING Carousel
2. ANNEALING Heat tr. Furnance
3. TURNING facing PA-22
4. TURNING external - parting SP 16CNC
5. TURNING external - finishing SP 16CNC
6. GRINDING external - finishing 3A-151
7. HONING hole - finishing Z2-800-180
8. SELECTION mark & conserve Oil bath
9. PACKAGING Packaging machine

Fig. 2. An example of a routing sheet for a standard process plan in the knowledge repository.

results is performed and decisions are made about the selection of
the best process plans from the part family which will be imple-
mented in the intra-company CAPP system and be applied in real
manufacturing in the future.
Special attention during the development of the system is dedi-
cated to experts whose function is important in the evaluation and
planning of high-quality process plans. Fig. 5 represents the use
case diagram with the expert as an actor.
It is anticipated that the expert completes the preliminary reg-
istration in the system, and is then able to sign in and sign out with
own username and password. In addition, the primary activities
that the expert can perform in the system are the review of variants
of the standard process plans, proposal of new variants, discus-
sion and expert evaluation. New variants of process plans refer to
the macro level of process planning, which allows the expert to
propose a new routing sheet for the standard process plan for the
214 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223

Internet-based online collaborative system

<<include>>
Expert discussion Analysis of expert discussions

<<extend>> Administrator
Expert <<include>> Analysis of evaluation results
Expert evaluation
<<include>>
<<extend>>
Select and add new variants of
<<include>> the process plan to evaluation <<extend>>
Suggesting a new
variant of the process plan

<<extend>>
Change or modification
of a current process plan
Classification
of the new product

Manufacturing <<include>>
Generating the process planning
documentation

Customer
Order of a new product <<include>> Engineer
Analysis of the order

Fig. 3. Use case diagram of the collaborative system.

/Customer /Engineer /Product /Standard PP /Administrator /Web /Expert /Suggested /Discussion group /Evaluation results
standard PP
Ordering a new product
New variants of the
Analysis process plan are genera-
of the order
ted if process plan does
Analysis of the not exist for this product
process plan or modification of existing
process plan is necessary

Planning new variants of the PP Variants of the

process plan For all
experts
Selection Representation of
the variants of PP Log in Suggest new
variant of the PP Expert has a possibility to
suggest his own variant
of the process plan
Representation of the suggested
variant of the PP
Discussions, comments, replies

Criteria weighting
Expert evaluation

Analysis Representation of the expert evaluation and collaboration

Report

Analysis of the evaluated solutions New

process plans Change or modification
Decision on changing the current PP of the current process
plan according to the
Current evaluation results
process plan

Fig. 4. Sequence diagram of the collaborative process planning.

appropriate part family, including possibly new standard machin-
ing operations, machines, as well as the selection of raw material.
Fig. 6 shows the sequence diagram that defines the interaction
and communication between the expert and objects in the collab-
orative system.
The process of expert interactions begins by logging in to the sys-
tem, after which the expert selects an appropriate product group,
or product type. For the selected product group, variants of the
standard process plans are given. They can be supplemented with
expert suggestions. The expert is involved in the discussions related
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223 215

Replies Analysis of differentiated Analysis of summary

Following comments View profiles of an expert team scores
scores

<<extend>> <<extend>>
<<extend>>
Discussion search
<<extend>>
<<extend>> Evaluation of variants Analysis of personal evaluation results
of a process plan
Registration Discussion

<<include>>
Pairwise criteria comparison
Log in
Evaluation of the weight
Expert of criteria
Log out
Criteria weighting

Analysis of variants <<extend>>

Profile deactivation Suggest a new variant
<<include>> of a process plan of a process plan <<include>>

Selection of
a raw material
Product detailed view <<include>> <<extend>>
<<include>> <<extend>>

Suggest a new process

Analysis of process operations Suggest a new machine tool operation
Raw material detail view

Fig. 5. Use case diagram showing the role of an expert in the collaborative system.

/Expert /Login GUI /Product /Variants of PP /Discussion group /Expert evaluation /Database
results
Log in

Select a product family

Analysis
of the PP New
New variant of the process plan process plan

INSERT into DB

Expert discussion
INSERT into DB

Replies
INSERT into DB

Expert evaluation of variants of the process plan

Evaluation of the weight of criteri
criteriaa Criteria

Criteria weighting
using pairwise
comparison method INSERT into DB
View own evaluations scores or percentage

Fig. 6. Sequence diagram of expert interactions in the collaborative system.

216 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223

Engineer Administrator Expert

Expert suggests a new standard process plan?
Order of a product
Analysis of input data yes no

New product? Suggested new variants of

the standard process plan
yes
Product classification
Representation of process
no plan variants required
for an expert evaluation

Using intra-company Planning new Expert discussion

CAPP system variants of the standard
process plan
Ekspert wants to change weight of criteria?

Generate documentation Defining validation criteria

for the evaluation of Analysis of evaluation results yes no
of the individual process plan
standard process plans
Evaluation of
weight of criteria
Modification of the
existing process plan needed?
yes Decision on change or Change or
modification of a current modification of a current
standard process plan standard process plan
Evaluation of variants of
the standard process plan
no

Manufacturing

Fig. 7. Activity diagram of the e-CAPP system.

1: Order of a new product

/Product on /Administrator
/Customer
lecti
7: Representation of a

Se
standard PP variants
15: Analysis of

sis
a standard PP

6:
evaluations
3: Analysis of

aly rt
:A
n
e po
2 :R
16
f a
P
eo P
a ng dard
h n 10. Representation of the
18: Analysis of evaluated solutions : C sta suggested variant of a standard PP
19 ent
rr
cu
n s
4: Planning of new solutions
/Standard PP tio /Suggested
/Engineer of a standard PP alua /Web
w P standard PP
ev ne d P
ert t a dar
8: Log in

xp s
e n
5: Planning new 17: Create fe gg sta
variants of PP a new PP on o : Su t of
i 9 an
tat va
ri
s en
re
ep
4:R 11: Discussion,
1 12: Expert evaluation of a standard PP comments, replies

/Expert evaluatio
evaluationn /Expert /Discussion group
results

13:Evaluation of weight of criteria

Fig. 8. Collaborative diagram of the e-CAPP system.

to the selected product group and, afterwards, has the respon-
sibility to perform the evaluation of all suggested variants. This
evaluation also involves an evaluation of the weight of criteria by
applying multi-criteria optimization methods.
The role of the administrator in the collaborative system is pri-
marily related to the synchronization of activities included in the
collaborative process. After the expert evaluation, the adminis-
trator does the analysis of the expert discussions and evaluation
results or the suggestions for new standard process plans. The
evaluation can be performed for each expert individually, or by
summarizing the evaluations scores of all experts at the level of
the observed product. Based on the performed analysis, the report is
generated. This report is used in the parent enterprise for modifying
the existing process plans or for implementing the best evaluated
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223 217

COLLABORATIVE Oracle APEX, PL/SQL, Java, Ajax DATABASE

SERVER Input data SERVER
Client/Expert
Product/part selection

DATABASE
Web browser

Define geometrical and

technological parameters

Corporate Define manufacturing

firewall conditions

INTERNET
J2EE Web Server
Client/Expert Oracle BI Publisher CAPP SERVER
Web browser
Digital form of
the process plans Analysis of relevant informations
about manufacturing processes
Visualization Raw material selection
Corporate X3D, eDrawings, Selection of possible solutions
firewall 3D PDF of the process plan
Meta/Macro process planning
Client/Expert Web browser Analysis
Micro process planning
Discussion Digital form
of evaluated Generate operation sheets
and/or modified
Evaluation process plans
Corporate
firewall
Select the best Store the best solution of the process plan
process plan and expert's rules into the knowledge repository

g
CAD system CAx systems CAM system rin
f actu
n u
Ma

Fig. 9. Three-tier architecture of the e-CAPP collaborative system.

and suggested process plans in real manufacturing. Following the
analysis of the generated report, the administrator is able to modify
the current variant of the standard process plan in the knowledge
repository. From that moment, for all new products classified as
this type, the best evaluated process plan by the experts will be
generated within the intra-company CAPP system.
Activity diagram represents a model of dynamic behaviour of
the e-CAPP system. Here, the dynamics of a set of objects and the
flow of specific process operations are described. The logical proce-
dures, processes and flows in the system can also be described by
the activity diagram. Fig. 7 shows the activity diagram of the collab-
orative system that consists of specific activities and nodes used for
decision-making, branching and linking. It also represents the divi-
sion of responsibilities for each activity into three main executors:
an engineer, an administrator and an expert. They are all shown in
three partitions, called swimlanes.
The activities are placed on the swimlanes with their transi-
tion from one lane to another. It can be seen on the diagram that
the engineer is in charge of the analysis of the input data, product
classification, the application of CAPP system at the intra-company
level, as well as the planning of new variants of the standard pro-
cess plans. Besides, the engineer determines the criteria according
to which the experts should perform the evaluation of process plans
and then make the final decision on possible modifications of the
current standard process plan.
On the other hand, the administrator mediates between engi-
neers and experts by analyzing their activities, and performs the
necessary modifications in the collaborative system. The expert
proposes suggestions for a new process plan, participates in the
discussion, corrects the importance of the evaluation criteria, and
finally, evaluates the suggested variants of the standard process
plans.
Based on the represented sequence and activity diagrams, the
appropriate collaborative diagram can be defined. Collaborative
diagram shows the interaction between objects in the system and
defines their mutual relationships. The purpose is to show the col-
laborative structure and organization of objects, i.e. to show the
messages exchanged between the objects in the system. Fig. 8
shows the collaborative diagram with its basic objects in the e-CAPP
system.
By following the sequence and direction of the messages
exchanged in the system, the flow of collaborative process can be
determined. Collaboration starts with an external customer who
orders a new product, through the generation of variants of the
process plans and their expertise, to the final analysis of the eval-
uated process plans and modification of the current variant of the
standard process plan.
4. Architecture of the e-CAPP distributed collaborative
system
Web-based integration assumes that the data within the collab-
orative system should be available to users through the Internet,
i.e. web browser. Fig. 9 illustrates the three-tier architecture of the
collaborative system for process planning.
The architecture, apart from clients (experts), includes the col-
laborative server as well as the database server. The collaborative
system provides the expert analysis, discussion and evaluation in
order to find the highest quality process plan for the given manufac-
turing conditions. Experts are not constrained by the possession of
any commercial system for process planning and interaction with
collaborative environment.
Collaborative server is able to provide users, experts above all,
with an insight into appropriate process plans, and also enable
the processing and storage of expert knowledge. The collabora-
tive server accepts user requests initiated by web browsers and
sends them to the database server. These requests may relate to
the representation or input of the appropriate data organized in the
repository. The collaborative server functions as a web server, but
also includes the CAPP server as a separate entity that can represent
a separate layer in the architecture.
218 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223
Fig. 10. Visualization of the geometrical data on “SVDI” cylinder liners.
By applying the CAPP server, the automated generation of pro-
cess plans on the basis of an adequate input data is performed.
Functions of the CAPP server are based on the procedures within
the integrated knowledge base, where the data on the macro pro-
cess planning is taken from the knowledge repository. In this way,
it is possible for the expert evaluations to directly influence the
process plans generated in the CAPP server.
CAPP server, in this particular case, is a specialized CAPP system
used in the parent enterprise for generating process plans.
5. Industrial case study
When implementing the proposed collaborative system, the
intra-company CAPP system for the piston-cylinder assembly parts
of the ICE is used. This system involves the process plans for cylin-
der liners, ribbed cylinders and pistons. Previously, the part families
that are manufactured within a real parent enterprise are defined.
Macro process planning for a new product within this CAPP
system is realized with a variant method which is based on the
principles of group technology. Detailed precision of process plan
operations – micro process planning, is performed using the proce-
dures from the integrated knowledge base that are intended for the
selection of cutting tools, fixtures, measurement tools, machining
allowances and cutting conditions.
In a preparation phase of the system development, the stan-
dard process plans for specific product groups are defined. Also,
the rules for specifying standard operations related to the piston-
cylinder assembly parts of the ICE are defined. Process plans are
formed on the basis of suggestions proposed by engineers from the
parent enterprise, as well as on the basis of previous experience
gained from the manufacturing plant. These plans are placed in the
knowledge repository on the basis of which process plans for the
existing and new products are generated in the specialized CAPP
system within the enterprise.
In the initial phase of implementing the e-CAPP system,
engineers from the parent enterprise form the suggestions for mod-
ifying the existing standard process plan of one family of cylinder
liners with internal designation “SVDI” in order to reduce process-
ing time and increase production efficiency. Cylinder liners from
this group are machined finally at the customer base so that the
hole finishing (honing) is performed after the engine assembly.
The virtual team for evaluation of the suggested variants of pro-
cess plans consists of registered experts, often based at different
geographical locations, hired by the parent enterprise Through the
collaborative system, experts are allowed to analyze geometrical
data on the selected product group, as well as the data on an appro-
priate group of castings (raw workpieces) [50]. Product and casting
design are represented in the form of 3D design models and con-
struction drawings within the web environment (Fig. 10). Experts
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223
Fig. 11. Evaluation of variants of the standard process plans within the online collaborative system.
have the insight into the suggested variants of process plan for
the observed group of cylinder liners, and they are also given the
representation of standard process operations that form the rout-
ing sheet for the standard process plan. Experts share knowledge
through the discussion and have the ability to suggest new and
improved process plans. New process plans can be based on the
existing standard process operations for cylinder liners, and can
also suggest the implementation of new operations and resources.
Finally, experts evaluate all the suggested variants of process plans.
The criteria used in the evaluation process are the following:
cycle time, quality, flexibility in manufacturing, material utilization
and operating cost [51]. Experts define the weights of the appro-
priate criteria in the first phase of evaluation process. In the second
phase, every expert performs the evaluation of the criteria and thus
ranks the proposed variants of process plans (Fig. 11). This figure
shows the current variant of the standard process plan for “SVDI”
cylinder liners. In addition to this variant, another 7 process plans
for this type of cylinder liner are suggested.
One of the main tasks of the system administrator is to analyze
the results of the evaluation of variants of the standard process
219
plans. The administrator has an insight into the review of the
estimated weights of the criteria, as well as the summary scores
provided by the full expert team whose members participated in
the evaluation.
Fig. 12 shows that the third variant of the standard process plan
is as the best evaluated one. The modified standard process plan is
implemented in the intra-company CAPP system through the inte-
grated knowledge base. This means that in the future each cylinder
liner that belongs to the “SVDI” family will be manufactured in
accordance with the variant 3 of the process plan that is evaluated
as the best one by experts.
If the process plan cannot be performed in real manufactur-
ing conditions for any reason, engineers in the parent enterprise
are always able to select a process plan that is next on the list of
ranked processes after the expert evaluation. However, there is a
real possibility that manufacturing resources (e.g. machine tools)
are at certain times busy or show some failure, and it is not possi-
ble for the process plan to be realized. So, if it comes to a machine
failure, re-evaluation of the process plan is not required, but the
system administrator has to select the next feasible solution from
220 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223

Fig. 12. Results of the expert evaluation of variants of the standard process plans for “SVDI” cylinder liners.

the ranking list shown in Fig. 12. Therefore, the re-generation of
the individual process plan for this part is preformed within the
intra-company CAPP system.
In the following, by applying the e-CAPP system on the macro
level, the generation of the routing sheets of the individual process
plan for ordering new “SVDI” type cylinder liner “PERKINS Ø98.48”
is performed. A new process plan includes the modification related
to a semi-finishing operation for roughing the hole (M40) as well as
the modification of an turning operation for semi-finish machining
of the external surfaces. (M50) (Fig. 13).
The detailed specification of the operations within the micro
level of the e-CAPP system is given below, resulting in the detailed
process plan for the observed cylinder liner (Fig. 14). The system
defines the tool alternatives for each complex machining operation.
Therefore, among the selected cutting tools it also offers tool holder
alternatives and appropriate inserts.
Based on the defined process plan and generated operation
sheets, manufacturing of this cylinder liner is performed.
6. Conclusions
This paper primarily discussed the importance of applying inter-
net technologies in the process planning and modern technological
production preparation. Internet, as a global information system,
is increasingly used as a communication tool in all fields of engi-
neering. Thanks to new trends in the development of internet
technologies, engineers and experts are allowed to form efficient
virtual planning environments that work on the global level.
 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223 221

Fig. 13. Modified routing sheet for the process plan for cylinder liner “PERKINS Ø98.48” generated within the e-CAPP system.

Fig. 14. One detailed operation sheet of the process plan for cylinder liner “PERKINS Ø98.48” generated within the e-CAPP system.

e-CAPP system allows geographically separate development share knowledge. Experts in a collaborative process are able to eval-
teams and experts in the area of process planning to cooperate and uate the existing process plans, modify them and suggest entirely
222 M. Milosevic et al. / Journal of Manufacturing Systems 42 (2017) 210–223
new process plans. In addition, this system enables the acquisi-
tion of expert heuristic knowledge in the appropriate knowledge
repository at the level of the extended enterprise. Assuming that
the intra-company CAPP system exists in the collaborative envi-
ronment, it is shown that in the planning collaborative process,
the knowledge exchange must take place not only between peo-
ple but also between planning systems as a source of knowledge.
CAPP system is one of the sources of knowledge, but, in this case
its knowledge base is expanded with new expert knowledge.
The e-CAPP system represents an essential part or a subset of the
e-Manufacturing concept. The goal of the e-CAPP system includes
solely internet-based process planning and this system does not
refer to a full internet-based integration of manufacturing or a
direct control of shop floor operations and CNC machines through
the Internet. By including these and other similar services, the
mentioned proposed process planning as well as complex control
structures at the intra-company level, one could form a universal
e-Manufacturing system. With minor modifications e-CAPP system
could represent one Cloud-based process planning system which
might also be a part of a complex Cloud manufacturing system.
Results of utilizing the developed collaborative system in real
manufacturing conditions are verified on the product example that
is the part of the production programme of one parent enterprise.
However, this is a general purpose system and can be applied to
any other product type or product family.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Project “Application of col-
laborative engineering for improving sustainable manufacturing
process”, no. 142-451-3556/2016-01, founded by the Provincial
Secretariat for Science and Technological Development of the
Province of Vojvodina and partially supported by Ministry of Edu-
cation, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of
Serbia, within the Project no. TR35025. We thank Alexandra Per-
ovic from University College London, for help with the preparation
of this manuscript.
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Dr.Sc. Mijodrag Milosevic is an Assistant Professor at Department of Production
Engineering, Faculty of Technical Science, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His main
field of interest is on process planning, CAPP systems and implementation of inter-
net technologies in production engineering. Other professional interest comprises
virtual and collaborative engineering, manufacturing database development and
Internet of Things. His bibliography comprises over 100 various publicized scientific
articles.
Dr.Sc. DejanLukic is an Assistant Professor at Department of Production Engineer-
ing, Faculty of Technical Science, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. His current research
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interests are process planning, manufacturing optimization and CAD/CAPP/CAM
integration. Other professional interest comprises virtual design and simulation of
manufacturing processes as well as Design For Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA).
Dr.Sc. Aco Antic, Associate Professor at Department of Production Engineering,
Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. Research and scien-
tific field: machine tools, Flexible Manufacturing Systems and automation design
processes. He is a reviewer in more than 10 international journals. Participated in
more than 20 scientific research projects from national and international programs.
As co-author he published 5 books, and several articles in international scientific
journals.
Dr.Sc. BojanLalic is an Assistant Professor and head of Department of Industrial
Engineering and Management at Faculty of Technical Science, University of Novi Sad,
Serbia. His main field of interest is on management of production systems, Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) and e-Business.Other professional interest comprises e-
Learning systems, innovation management and project management methods.
Dr.Sc. MirkoFicko is a senior lecturer at Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Uni-
versity of Maribor and researcher at Production Engineering Institute, Slovenia. His
main field of interest is on intelligent methods and their applications in manufac-
turing systems. Other professional interest comprises machine tools, manufacturing
processes and computer-integrated production. His bibliography comprises over
205 various publicized works, among them 33 original scientific articles published
in various international journals.
Dr.Sc. Goran Simunovic is a Full Professor at Mechanical Engineering Faculty in
SlavonskiBrod, Josip JurajStrossmayer University of Osijek, Croatia. His main field
of interest is on process planning, production preparation process and artificial
intelligence. Other professional interest comprises production management, Com-
puter Integrated Manufacturing and ERP systems. He is a reviewer in more than 15
international journals and member of 4 professional and scientific associations.