Intelligent Manufacturing € December € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 12

Products

Supply Chain Planning
Supply Chain Planning, a demand forecasting solution for manufacturers, has been enhanced with the addition of neural networks. These artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities will help more accurately determine the effect of such promotional strategies as pricing and advertising on future demand. The AI technology is being provided by Churchill Systems (Troy, Mich.). Supply Chain Planning maintains virtual views of multiple stock-keeping units (SKUs) or customers, allowing it to provide insights into forecasts for individual items or aggregate those forecasts into enterprise-wide overviews for planning purposes. The Windows-based software uses an enhanced graphical user interface to manage the AI-based demand forecasting process. The neural networks allow a computer to generate models that can handle the complex web of millions of interrelationships between demand variables.

American Software
470 East Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 261-4381

http://www.amsoftware.com

I.C.E.
Integrated Car Engineer (I.C.E.) is an application of the ICAD knowledge-based engineering system that automates the concept design stage of the production process. I.C.E. combines an expert knowledge base with safety and design legislation, manufacturing data and specific product marketing characteristics. It allows users to evaluate multiple prototypes and platform variations of a vehicle while the system maintains knowledge of the best practices and constraints of the company.

Concentra Corp.
21 North Avenue
Burlington, MA 01803
(617) 229-4600

http://www.concentra.com

dVISE
dVISE's modular structure provides everyone in a manufacturing enterprise -- including those at remote locations -- access to a universal virtual product (UVP) that incorporates real-time visualization, animation and functional simulation features. The UVP allows interactive simulation of assembly sequences with stored animations and real-time collision detection. It provides early access to product and process details, allowing more time for engineers to optimize designs for manufacturing. Components can be imported from different CAD/CAM systems to populate the UVP. Users can also populate the database with unique product data such as supplier details, price, weight, and delivery date. dVISE runs on Intel-based PCs and on Silicon Graphics and HP workstations.

Division Inc.
1400 Fashion Island Blvd. # 510
San Mateo, CA 94404
(415) 312-8200

http://www.division.com

EPM
Engineered Product Manufacturing (EPM) is a software solution for engineer-to-order manufacturers. The deployment of EPM is supported by four major components: Product Development Process Assessment (PDPA), which consists of a review of current business processes and technology based on best practices; Business Process Reengineering, which focuses on the reengineering of processes targeted for improvement as a result of the PDPA; Product Delivery, which implements the solution across all business processes; and Continuous Measurement, which enables a manufacturer to continually monitor its performance through the use of performance indicators and analysis of customer service levels.

Visibility Inc.
100 Fordham Road
Wilmington, MA 01887
(508) 694-8000

http://www.visibility.com

VisMockUp
VisMockUp digital prototyping software integrates real-time "fly-throughs" of large assemblies with numerous design analysis tools, and integrates within the existing CAD/CAM/CAE environment. It is part of Ford Motor's C3P concurrent engineering initiative (see Intelligent Manufacturing, October 1996). VisMockUp includes a variety of tools for analyzing the complete assembly, including interference analysis, measurement, sectioning and filtering on part attributes or part proximity. It enables collaborative viewing of all or part of a design using a standard World Wide Web interface, such as Netscape Navigator.

Engineering Animation Inc.
ISU Research Park
2321 North Loop Drive
Ames, IA 50010
(515) 296-9908

http://www.eai.com

Progression Series
The Progression Series 7.0 product line now includes a Production Order Processing (POP) module, which streamlines the manufacturing process by providing users flexibility in planning and tracking production. It is designed specifically to provide quick-turn manufacturers the ability to effectively control kitting, assembly and production. POP is also aimed at companies in the first phase of moving toward a complete enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. It allows the automatic creation of production orders driven directly from customer demand from a sales order or through a time-phased scheduling process. Production orders can be created from historical information. Progression Series runs on Windows-based platforms.

Macola Inc.
333 East Center Street
Marion, OH 43302
(614) 382-5999

http://www.macola.com

Assembly Manager
Assembly Manager is a Windows-based software application that enables a manufacturer to balance labor for production lines. It is designed to help in the following areas: balancing labor and operators; defining parameters and stations for a line balance; calculating the standard time for a line; defining an assembly line to determine the number of stations that are needed; decreasing the cycle time of the line; and assigning and moving labor items. Assembly Manager's four main windows are organized by function: Line Balance, Master Labor List, Station Detail and Labor Detail.

H.B. Maynard & Co. Inc.
400 Eight Parkway Center
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
(412) 921-2400

http://www.hbmaynard.com

PowerModel
PowerModel*CS Constraint System software addresses complex manufacturing problems such as concurrent engineering, design for manufacturing and corporate knowledge management. It provides capabilities optimized for building knowledge-based manufacturing and design-related applications, such as design advisors, expert schedulers and configuration systems. The system includes a flexible constraint modeling system that allows engineers and designers to build and test many "what if" designs, exploring the design space of a given set of constraints. A bi-directional link to EDS Unigraphics' mechanical CAD system enables knowledge-based models to generate CAD models.

IntelliCorp Inc.
1975 El Camino Real West # 101
Mountain View, CA 94040
(415) 965-5500

http://www.intellicorp.com

ProModel
ProModel Optimization Suite 3.5 is an intelligent software tool designed for modeling manufacturing processes. A new feature, SimRunner, can run hundreds of simulation experiments to produce the most efficient solution. Version 3.5 also includes a statistical package that can take raw data and convert it into useful information in the form of reports and graphs. ProModel runs on Windows-based platforms.

ProModel Corp.
1875 South State #3400
Orem, UT 84058
(801) 223-4600

http://www.promodel.com

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