The Rulers Factory — a tool for learning product modeling techniques

The rapid increasing application of product modeling raises the need for qualifying engineers to build up such models. This article presents a tool for learning product modeling techniques using object oriented modeling techniques. The learning tool is based on a simple product and manufacturing case. During the learning process the students will go through a number of phases from analyzing the product and formulating the purpose, view and context of the product models to be build, to the actual construction and implementation of the product models. During the course a system is build for specifying rulers and their manufacturing sequences including estimated time used for each operation. The learning tool presented has been used for teaching students for the last three years with approx. 25 students on the course each year. The tool has proved to be a powerful means for learning the modeling techniques.