The training of neural networks to model manufacturing processes

Neural networks have been increasingly used in various areas of manufacturing. Modelling of manufacturing processes, to allow experimentation oil the model, is one of the areas in which successful applications have been reported. Most literature in this area is focused on network results. This paper concentrates on methods for training neural networks to model complex manufacturing processes. It summarises the use of neural network for process modelling in the past decade and provides some detailed guidelines for network training. A case study of a complex forming process is used to demonstrate a real implementation case in industry, and the issues arising from this case are discussed.