Cloud-based Product Life Cycle Management (PLM) Framework for Fault identification in distributed manufacturing

This paper proposes a cloud based framework for facilitating product lifecycle management (PLM) system interoperability cross supply chain for fault identification. The warranty data which is primarily used for fault identification is scattered on different segments of distributed manufacturing supply chain. This data is very useful for fault diagnosis in complex products having multiple components. Multiple factors are dependent on fault identification in these complex products. There is great need of integrating the factors and sharing the data from heterogeneous business and engineering information systems across supply chain. Latest developments in ICT (information and communication technology) have made convergence easier, which are: (1) standardized product development engineering models for meta-data; (2) standardized business process systems; (3) service-oriented architecture (SOA) for data and information sharing. These developments helped in designing a cloud based PLM which is a service oriented framework. Cloud based PLM provides integration of supply chain from manufacturing company central cloud platform. The integration of supply chain with manufacturing company cloud provides easy and prompt access to warranty data, field data, customer feedback and manufacturing measurements. Already developed warranty identification methods, engineering techniques and tools could be used by engineers and designers on the collected data for analysis and fault identification. The cloud framework also facilitates engineers and designers in designing of new products by analysing previous history. The significance of our cloud based PLM framework is that any product meta-data (detailed product information) can be accessed and shared directly by using software as a service (SaaS) across supply chain. Versatile cloud deployment models makes it an ideal choice of adoption for small and medium size companies with minimum upfront investment.