Using XML to Increase the Value of As-Produced Workpiece Measurement Data 2001-01-2597
Precision manufacturing often includes processes that require process-associated measurements and feedback loops to increase precision and meet specifications. We must make the measurements to get the benefits. We can often reap additional benefits for free from the measurements we already have, and frequently reap still more benefits by taking a small number of additional measurements with the equipment we’ve already had to pay for.
If we have some excess capacity on a machine, we might be able to spare the machine time to make interim or final inspections, avoiding the costs of part movement, additional fixtures, personnel, and table time on coordinate measuring machines.
The value of measurement data is vastly increased when the data is properly structured, associated, and stored. Self-describing data sets have long been a possibility, but never before have there been standards and cooperative efforts which permit the easy use and reuse of the data and provide open-source, open-architecture tools to do a great deal of the necessary work.
The eXtensible Markup Language, or XML, is an emerging standard language used for storing data along with its associated structures and identifiers, and is thus a key enabler to the easy use, reuse, and sharing of manufacturing data between processes and partners.
