System and method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program

A system for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• a database in signal communication with the processor, the database storing manufacturing process data and manufacturing process parameters;
• a numerically-controlled manufacturing device;
• a non-transitory memory in signal communication with the processor, the non-transitory memory storing instructions which, when executed, cause the processor to:
• obtain the manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature, the manufacturing process data associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of one or more second components, each of the one or more second components different than the first component, each of the one or more second components including the common geometric feature;
• obtain one or more manufacturing constraints for the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component;
• select a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes by evaluating the manufacturing process data for each numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes using the one or more manufacturing constraints, wherein the one or more manufacturing constraints includes one or more of a process capability (Cpk) threshold, a process performance (Ppk) threshold, a manufacturing cost threshold, a cycle time threshold, a preferred manufacturing site, or a preferred manufacturer;
• obtain the manufacturing process parameters for the selected numerical control manufacturing process;
• develop the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, the developed numerical control manufacturing program including the manufacturing process parameters;
• identify one or both of the manufacturing process data or the manufacturing process parameters for the common geometric feature using a unique ID assigned to the common geometric feature;
• and
• execute the developed numerical control manufacturing program to manufacture, at least in part, the common geometric feature of the first component using the numerically-controlled manufacturing device.

A computer-implemented method for developing a numerical control manufacturing program for a common geometric feature of a first component, the method comprising:

• defining a plurality of geometric features of the first component using a first 3D component model of the first component and a plurality of geometric features of a second component using a second 3D component model, a first of the plurality of geometric features of the first component including the common geometric feature, a first of the plurality of geometric features of the second component including the common geometric feature, a second of the plurality of geometric features of the first component different than a second of the plurality of geometric features of the second component, the first 3D component model and the second 3D component model including the common geometric feature, the common geometric feature indexed in a database using a unique ID;
• generating a 3D-model representation of the common geometric feature and assigning the unique ID to the 3D-model representation;
• identifying manufacturing process data for the common geometric feature, the manufacturing process data indexed in the database using the unique ID, the manufacturing data associated with one or more numerical control manufacturing processes for the common geometric feature of the second component, and the second component different than the first component;
• selecting a numerical control manufacturing process of the one or more numerical control manufacturing processes using the manufacturing process data, wherein the manufacturing process data includes one or more of:
• process capability (Cpk) data, process performance (Ppk) data, manufacturing cost, manufacturing cycle time, preferred manufacturing site, and/or preferred manufacturer;
• obtaining manufacturing process parameters for the selected numerical control manufacturing process;
• and
• developing the numerical control manufacturing program for the common geometric feature of the first component, the developed numerical control manufacturing program including at least some of the manufacturing process parameters.