1 Standardization of Components, Products and Processes with Data Mining Bruno AGARD Département de Mathématiques et de Génie Industriel, École Polytechnique de Montréal, C.P. 6079, succ. Centre-ville, Montréal (Québec), H3C3A7, Canada bruno.agard@polymtl.ca and Andrew KUSIAK Intelligent Systems Laboratory, 2139 Seamans Center, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, The University of Iowa, IA 52242 - 1527, USA andrew-kusiak@uiowa.edu ABSTRACT Data mining offers tools for extracting knowledge from databases. This paper discusses applications of data mining in standardization of components, products, and processes. Standardization of components is accomplished using association rules derived from customers’ requirements. A design process is proposed for the standardization of products. The design of a unique standardized product, different standardized products, and a standardized product for a selected group of customers are considered. A methodology for process standardization is proposed. Each approach discussed in the paper is illustrated with an industrial scenario. Keywords: Data mining, standardization, component, product, process. 1. INTRODUCTION Engineering design, manufacturing, and marketing activities generate large volumes of data. The data collection efforts are often driven by productivity improvement efforts. This large quantity of data makes it almost impossible for a person to develop a complete understanding of it without using any tools. Examples of data sources growing in size include (see Figure 1): − Data from marketing studies describing customers’ expectations. − Data describing actual designs. − Data characterizing manufacturing processes used in a company. Figure 1. Typical databases Researches have demonstrated that standardization may result in improved efficiency by taking advantage of the economy of scale and simplifying manufacturing processes. Different levels of standardization are considered (see Figure 2): − Use of common components in different products. − Design of standardized products for comparable requirements. − Standardization of a manufacturing process for similar products. Figure 2. Different levels of standardization Components Products Processes Marketing Design Manufacturing B. Agard and A. Kusiak, Standardization of Components, Products and Processes with Data Mining, International Conference on Production Research Americas 2004, Santiago, Chile, August 1-4, 2004.