An interactive modular rule-based expert system for plastic injection moulding processes (EX-PIMM) and its industrial application

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Federal Electric Egypt, Cairo, Egypt.

2 University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.

Abstract

Abstract:
This paper presents a shop-floor application of a developed system called EX-PIMM
(An Expert System for the Determination of Injection Moulding Parameters for
Thermoplastic Materials). The methodology and the structure of the system were
explained in detail in the previous work of author. In this study, the system was tested
for an automotive product in a company. The outputs generated by the system and the
workshop results are compared. The results show that EX-PIMM is an efficient and
reliable system in order to determine the most suitable injection moulding machine and
thermoplastic material as well as optimum number of cavities for a given job. The best
machine and material were selected for the given part, which resulted in reduction in
production cost and increase in production capacity.

Keywords