Jahresbericht 2006 - Biba - Universität Bremen

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter H. Müller
Division PPC
The research division Product Development,
Process Planning and Computer
Aided Engineering (PPC) develops and
evaluates concepts, methods and tools
for cooperative product development.
Focal point is the support of decision
making processes during product development
as well as the optimisation
and redesigning of development and
production processes using innovative
information and communication technologies.
The division explores the early
phases of product lifecycle, from product
planning and bid preparation, design
and procurement up to the making of
prototypes and tools.
The division supports organisations
supports in finding answers to current
questions in inter-organisational product
development. We aim to develop solutions
to:
shorten time-to-market
reduce costs
improve product and process quality
information and communication
•
support of product development
Research is carried out in close cooperation
with enterprises, both in publicly
funded projects and industrial contracts.
Therefore, the division is closely networked
with numerous companies and research
organisations all over Europe. The division
has three departments: In the department
Virtual Product Development and
Rapid Technologies geometric product
descriptions are converted into real products.
Software solutions for one-of-a-kind
and prototype manufacturing processes
are mainly developed here.
The field of Virtual Reality particularly
addresses the integration of Virtual Reality
in product development processes and
the therefore necessary data processing
and visualisation. The sector Rapid Prototyping,
Rapid Tooling, Rapid Manufacturing
uses and advances the processes of
stereo lithography, vacuum casting and
injection moulding of prototypes. The keyword
Knowledge-based Manufacturing
covers the development of knowledgebased
processes and tools to support
development and manufacturing.
The department Integrated Product
Development develops technical information
and communication solutions
for supporting the product development
process as well as the handling
of products during their life cycle. Areas
of configuration are information and
communication management and
their appropriate technologies, product
development process, and product as
well as organisational structures. The sector
of Information and Communication
Management deals with information and
communication structures for an efficient
exchange of information and knowledge
in product development as well as during
a product life cycle. The activities aim at
making available the needed information
at the right time at the right place and
carrying dynamic information concerning
the product through Product Embedded
Identification (PEID) along the product
respectively. Within the sector Product
Modelling and Product Data Management
concepts for representing product
data are developed and implemented.
Product data models on the one hand
have to be universally valid and extensive,
on the other hand they have to be
simple and user-friendly. These conflictive
goals determine the research questions
such as the development of standards for
cross-company product data exchange,
or the integration of PDM concepts into
CAD or PPC environments.“
Dieter H. Müller
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