In new product development processes in the automotive industry, where a large number of people is involved and reducing lead-time is critical, sharing of the product data on the Web in real time is essential for their competitiveness. However, the CAD system CATIA V4 and its companion PDM system VPM that are most widely used in the automotive industry do not provide the functionality of web-based product data sharing. Presented in this thesis is a framework for developing a web-based product data visualization (PDV) system for automotive parts.
In order to develop the web-based PDV system, user requirements are first identified from a comprehensive analysis of the new product development process in a major automotive part supplier in Korea. To meet these user requirements, the variant BOM model is adopted as the E-BOM data structure of the proposed PDV system. Algorithms necessary for visualizing product data are also developed. A prototype PDV system has been implemented employing an object oriented development methodology and is currently being used in a automotive part supplier. The validity and usefulness of the proposed PDV system are demonstrated by the acceptance of the users in the company.
