Abstract
An effective tool management system is one of the keys to maximizing the benefits of a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM). Tool management systems, however, are often tailored to the requirement of a highly automated system. Therefore, a different approach is needed for small and medium sized mold shops. This work deals with the implementation of tool management system for milling operations in small and medium sized CIM environment of injection mold production. In this paper, a distributed management approach is proposed for efficient tool management in relatively small machining shops in mold industry. And the design and the functions of the developed system are described.