Constraint-based computer-aided manufacturing process planning Recently, we have modeled computer-aided manufacturing process planning (CAPP) as a large-scale constrained optimization problem.The model captures several kinds of resource, operation ordering and grouping (so-called setup) constraints. Two planner systems have been built on the top of general-purpose constraint programming systems [2,8]. The planners can cope with conditional and antagonistic (soft) constraints as well. The model is generic: it was validated in the domains of machining prismatic parts and of bending sheet metals. Recently, customized search methods have been developed that combine constraint satisfaction, branch-and-bound search and multi-dimensional Pareto optimization. In the bending domain, planning was integrated with geometric reasoning.
