Integrated integration definition language 0 (IDEF) and coloured Petri nets (CPN) modelling and simulation tool : A study on mould-making processes

The use of the Integrated Integration Definition Language 0 (IDEF) descriptive model or similar tools alone in the analysis of complicated processes like the mould-making process usually encounters difficulties due to the complexity of process. A quantitative analysis model thus seems necessary to supplement the IDEF0 tool for better modelling and simulation of complicated processes. The paper proposes to integrate the IDEF0 tool with the coloured Petri nets (CPN) tool for systematic analysis of complicated processes. It introduces an effective modelling and simulation language-hierarchical timed CPN-based workflow nets (HTCPNWF-nets). The rules for translating IDEF0 into HTCPNWF-nets have been developed. After mapping the IDEF0 model onto HTCPNWF-nets, several performance analyses can be achieved by simulation of HTCPNWF-nets model. The proposed methodologies have been successfully applied to the mould-making process. The paper presents the rationales and current progress of the proposed methodologies.