A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering, School of Engineering and Technology

Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1992

Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM) is a promising concept to enhance the productivity and flexibility of enterprises through the integration of all activities of a manufacturing firm to remain competent in competitive environment. The integration of functions means not only the physical connections of hardware, but the data communication and data sharing among sub-systems. The database is the heart of integration. To date researchers have been unable to present a concrete data model and database architecture to support the CIM system. The problem undertaken in this study is to select the appropriate database models best suitable to support all sub-systems of CIM. In this work, the database model is proposed based on data analysis of the manufacturing system. From the data analysis, a CIM data model has been developed which ultimately led to derive the database requirement for generic CIM systems. The selection criteria for the CIM database is established from this database requirement. The available database models are evaluated critically in the context of each and every selection· criteria. Finally the database model is selected using multi-criteria technique Analytic Hierarchic Process (AHP). Finally the two closely and most compatible database models are implemented on Bill of Materials (BOM) and Material Requirement Planning (MRP) modules to prove the superiority of object-oriented database over relational database in the context of CIM systems.