An object-based process planning and scheduling model in a product design environment

A typical product design project involves a number of activities, and each activity requires human resources support. These activities and resources must be properly planned and scheduled in order to achieve optimum project time and cost. This paper proposes a process planning and scheduling (PPAS) system which is based on the concept of process planning typically used for the planning of production activities. Object technology is chosen as the platform for the development of the PPAS model for its specific characteristics such as inheritance, encapsulation, polymorphism, etc. Presents the concept of the PPAS system, discusses its relationship with reference to product design, and proposes the use of object technology as a platform for building the PPAS.