Conclusions
An exhaustive database has been designed and developed in
an ORACLE V 7.1 RDBMS package to control, store and
retrieve associated data. A form-based interface has been created
to access the database. A menu interface has been
developed that can call items like submenu, forms, etc., to
carry out the data processing requirements.
The major useful data that can be derived from the tool
management system are:
Status of tool, such as available tools, issued tools, or out of
use tools.
Life status of tools – both numerical information and graphical
output.
Tool storage information details.
Status of tool transactions on a day-wise graphical output.
With the implementation of the above tool-management
system, it is expected that 30% of the product manufacturing
cycle time pertaining to the tooling problem can be significantly
reduced, based on a trial conducted. Thus, a computerised
database management system helps to eliminate the tooling
problem and thereby enhances the productivity and system
requirements. The above module can also be integrated with
other available modules in the shop floor for future modification.
Acknowledgements
The authors duly acknowledge the assistance of P. Sivakumar,
P. Mohanasundaram, and V. Mohanram in this project.