• CAM
• CAPP
• Multicriteria decision methods

The following issue describes the work made to develop a multi criteria evaluation system for alternative process plans in cutting processes. The project has been accomplished during an internship at the IFW, Institut für Fertigungstechnik und Werkzeugmaschinen in Hannover, during an exchange program between the Pisa University and the Leibnitz University of Hannover in Germany. The work is presented in eight chapters.
The first chapter explains why at the state of the art is required an evaluation system for alternative process plans. In this chapter is first made an overview on process planning and on the tools available nowadays to automate this phase. Secondly are given some basics concerning the multicriteria decision making theory.
In the second chapter are listed the tasks accomplished during the project.
The third chapter illustrates the making of the scenario upon which the system has been tested. This phase has been developed mainly with the aid of NX 4, a CAM software supplied by unigraphics.
In the fourth chapter an analysis on the most used multicriteria decision methods is made. Beside on the base of such analysis is presented the architecture of the evaluation system that best fits the requirement for this project.
In the fifth chapter is given an example of a tool that connects the results of the evaluation with the parameters that characterize the process plans. Such tool is meant to give a feedback to the process planner to improve his plans.
The sixth chapter shows the implementation of a software application where is possible to run the system. The implementation has been done using Access by Microsoft.
In the seventh chapter the system is tested using the scenario made on chapter three.
The test has been accomplished trying out the system in six different cases.
In the eighth chapter there are the conclusions: on the base of the test an analysis on the goodness of the results is performed. Moreover a list of advantages/disadvantages is made and some hints for further improvement are given.