Efficient management of product information is vital for manufacturing enterprises in this information age. Considering the proliferation of product information, tight production schedules, and intense market competition, human intelligence alone cannot meet the requirements of efficient product development. Technologies and tools that support information management are urgently needed. This volume presents the design reuse methodology to support product development. Significant efforts have been made to create an intelligent and optimal design environment by incorporating the contemporary technologies in product family design, artificial intelligence, neural networks, information theories, etc. This volume covers both theoretical topics and implementation strategies, with detailed case studies to help readers gain an insight in areas such as product information modeling, information analysis, engineering optimization, production cost estimation, and product performance evaluation.

Efficient management of product information is vital for manufacturing enterprises in this information age. Considering the proliferation of product information, tight production schedules, and intense market competition, human intelligence alone cannot meet the requirements of efficient product development. Technologies and tools that support information management are urgently needed. This volume presents the design reuse methodology to support product development. Significant efforts have been made to create an intelligent and optimal design environment by incorporating the contemporary technologies in product family design, artificial intelligence, neural networks, information theories, etc. This volume covers both theoretical topics and implementation strategies, with detailed case studies to help readers gain an insight in areas such as product information modeling, information analysis, engineering optimization, production cost estimation, and product performance evaluation.