Knowledge‐based part similarity measurement utilizing ontology and multi‐criteria decision making technique

When existing parts are re‐used for the development of a new product or business‐to‐business transactions, a method for searching parts from a database that best meet user’s requirements is essential. The core of a part search method is to measure the similarity between parts’ specifications and the user’s input data in an efficient manner. In this paper, the authors suggest a new method for part similarity measurement using ontology and multi‐criteria decision making (MCDM) technique and discuss its technical details. This method ensures interoperability with existing engineering information management systems, represents part specifications in a formal manner, and has generality in search procedure. A case study with ejector pins has also been conducted for the demonstration of the proposed method.