Design and manufacturing is the essential element in any product development lifecycle. Industry vendors and users have been seeking a common language to be used for the entire product development lifecycle that can describe design, manufacturing and other data pertaining to the product. Many solutions were proposed, the most successful being the Stadndard for Exchange of Product model (STEP). STEP provides a mechanism that is capable of describing product data, independent from any particular system. The nature of this description makes it suitable not only for neutral file exchange, but also as a basis for implementing, sharing and archiving product databases. ISO 10303-AP203 is the first and perhaps the most successful AP developed to exchange design data between different CAD systems. Going from geometric data (as in AP203) to features (as in AP224) represents an important step towards having the right type of data in a STEP-based CAD/CAM system. Of particular significance is the publication of STEP-NC, as an extension of STEP to NC, utilising feature-based concepts for CNC machining purposes. The aim of this book is to provide a snapshot of the recent research outcomes and implementation cases in the field of design and manufacturing where STEP is used as the primary data representation protocol. The 20 chapters are contributed by authors from most of the top research teams in the world. These research teams are based in national research institutes, industries as well as universities.

Collaborative design has attracted much attention in the research community in recent years. With increasingly decentralized manufacturing systems and processes, more collaborative approaches and systems are needed to support distributed manufacturing operations. "Collaborative Design and Planning for Digital Manufacturing" presents a focused collection of quality chapters on the state-of-the-art research efforts in the area of collaborative design and planning, as well as their practical applications towards digital manufacturing.

"Collaborative Design and Planning for Digital Manufacturing" provides both a broad-based review of the key areas of research in digital manufacturing, and an in-depth treatment of particular methodologies and systems, from collaborative design to distributed planning, monitoring and control. Recent development and innovations in this area provide a pool of focused research efforts, relevant to a wide readership from academic researchers to practicing engineers.

Collaborative Product Design and Manufacturing Methodologies and Applications introduces a wide spectrum of collaborative engineering issues in design and manufacturing. It offers state-of-the-art chapters written by international experts from academia and industry, and reflects the most up-to-date R & D work and applications, especially those from the last three to five years. The book will serve as an essential reference for academics, upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and practicing professionals.

Design and manufacturing is the essential element in any product development lifecycle. Industry vendors and users have been seeking a common language to be used for the entire product development lifecycle that can describe design, manufacturing and other data pertaining to the product. Many solutions were proposed, the most successful being the Stadndard for Exchange of Product model (STEP). STEP provides a mechanism that is capable of describing product data, independent from any particular system. The nature of this description makes it suitable not only for neutral file exchange, but also as a basis for implementing, sharing and archiving product databases. ISO 10303-AP203 is the first and perhaps the most successful AP developed to exchange design data between different CAD systems. Going from geometric data (as in AP203) to features (as in AP224) represents an important step towards having the right type of data in a STEP-based CAD/CAM system. Of particular significance is the publication of STEP-NC, as an extension of STEP to NC, utilising feature-based concepts for CNC machining purposes. The aim of this book is to provide a snapshot of the recent research outcomes and implementation cases in the field of design and manufacturing where STEP is used as the primary data representation protocol. The 20 chapters are contributed by authors from most of the top research teams in the world. These research teams are based in national research institutes, industries as well as universities.

Collaborative Product Design and Manufacturing Methodologies and Applications introduces a wide spectrum of collaborative engineering issues in design and manufacturing. It offers state-of-the-art chapters written by international experts from academia and industry, and reflects the most up-to-date R & D work and applications, especially those from the last three to five years. The book will serve as an essential reference for academics, upper-level undergraduate and graduate students and practicing professionals.

With the rapid advances in computing and Internet technologies, an integrated and collaborative environment, which is based on the complementary functions of concurrent engineering and Internet-based collaborative engineering, is imperative for companies to facilitate and expedite the product realization processes. Topics such as concurrent and collaborative engineering, feature-based design and manufacturing, evolutionary computational techniques such as Tabu Search, Simulated Annealing, Genetic Algorithms features, intelligent and computer-aided process planning are important strategies and enabling technologies for developing an integrative environment, facilitating modern product design and development. This book covers the state-of-the-art research and development status of these strategies and technologies. Implementation strategies and case studies are provided with an emphasis on technical details to help readers understand the underlying algorithms and infrastructures.