Process planning for small batch manufacturing of sheet metal parts

The paper describes process planning for order-based small batch sheet metal part manufacturing. In this domain, general purpose CNC machinery and standard tools are being used. An example of a process planning system is given and some areas of special interest are discussed in more detail. Process planning for sheet bending and tolerance reasoning are important and intricate tasks within process planning, whereas abstractions in design and nesting are important due to their relations with other manufacturing functions. In general, manufacturing functions tend to become increasingly intertwined and traditional boundaries become blurred. Sheet metal industries, customers and suppliers alike, can benefit from this.