virtualization of design and production a thesis - Bilkent University

• Numeric Controlled (NC) machining
• Production management and stock control (Fellows 44).
Most of the CAM applications work in accordance with the data provided by the
CAD. As Howard puts it, the integrated works of CAD and CAM technology is a
sort of ‘marriage of many engineering disciplines (i.e. product design) and
manufacturing disciplines’ (Bowman 1) they are both computer hardware
oriented but they are equally dependent upon specialized software united through
a common database.
According to the CAM Guidebook of 1983, a simplified interpretation of the
content of the term reads as follows: “CAD/CAM is simply a general name or
umbrella term for the many ways the computer can be used as a tool to help
design, make and sell all kinds of products. More specifically, CAD/CAM
implies the automation of this process.” (Kochan 198)
3.3.1. Conventional Product Cycle versus Computer-Aided Product Cycle
Compared to the conventional product cycle (fig. 4), the computer aided product
cycle (fig. 5) does not propose quite distinguishing differences except for that the
data is kept in computer files. The interactive interface contributes to every step
of computer aided product cycle which means the direct usage of computer
technology throughout the designing and manufacturing processes.
However, fig. 6 stands for a more advanced type of engineering product cycle
that aims to get use of the product database. The obvious feature of a
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