Automated Software for Streamlining Optimisation of Resource Planning for an Additive Manufacturing System

The use of additive manufacturing (AM) systems in scale production has rapidly increased in recent years. The growing tendency to adopt AM technologies into established manufacturing systems has led to research that considers the optimisation of both process and resource planning. In order to maximise the outputs of such a production process, planning must be conducted rigorously. This paper proposes an automated software tool, called EasyPlan, which streamlines the optimisation of resource planning. The algorithm is developed using LabVIEW and is demonstrated for an AM component from the medical industry. For the evaluation process, parameters such as stock levels, delivery terms and technical charts of the products are provided. A user friendly interface is developed, making EasyPlan versatile to all types of environments.