Data driven design and simulation system based on XML

Implementing a highly flexible manufacturing approach, like mass customization manufacturing, demands an integrated design and simulation system. This system must be able to cope with difficult issues such as a high level of product variety, uncertainty in the product demand forecast, and the reconfiguration of manufacturing resources to support the introduction and integration of new manufacturing capabilities. A data-driven design and simulation system to support flexible manufacturing is presented. A neutral model of shop information, based on the Extensible Markup Language (XML), is used to describe the important information about the manufacturing facilities and processes, to configure simulation models and to exchange data between simulation and other manufacturing applications. When demand changes, the simulation model can be quickly modified to perform analysis according to the new demand. Manufacturing capabilities and production processes can be adjusted, layout reconfigured, and resources reassigned according to the analysis results.