| Fixture planning and design is defined as all the activities and information required to locate and hold a workpiece for subsequent machining. The recent research literature has made contributions to this emerging area towards automation, but most of the developments have focused on micro issues of fixture design. Therefore, there is a need from the research community to understand the current practices of fixture designers to help integrate future computer-aided fixture design (CAFXD) systems.; This empirical research approach sought out to satisfy three objectives. Firstly, to gather a general assessment of current fixture design practices of manufacturing companies in the United States and their research needs. The survey results suggested that companies are reducing the cost of fixture design relative to total production cost, and recommend more research initiatives are focused more on integrating numerical control (NC) programming with future CAFXD systems.; Secondly, the survey results provided a framework for the development of a working generic IDEF (ICAM Definition) model of the fixture planning and design process. The model promotes the integration of fixture design and process planning via information sharing.; And thirdly, a classification and coding scheme for modular fixture selection was developed to compliment the activities in fixture design using a CAD/CAM system. The motivation of this task was initiated by the results of the survey.; This empirical study provides a framework for researchers in developing, integrating, and implementing future computer-aided fixture design systems within the industrial community, and confirms that their research efforts are addressing the needs requested by practicing fixture designers. |
