A problem solving environment for the wood-based composites industry

Product quality and cost efficiency continue to grow in importance for the wood-based composites industry. The complex dynamics of the manufacturing process lends itself to the adoption of simulation models. Simulation models may be used to understand and manipulate the many parameters involved in the manufacturing process. However, most of the simulation models that have been developed over the last two decades have not been implemented due to a lack of continued technical support and a poor user interface. WBCSim is a prototype, Web based, problem solving environment (PSE) that was developed to assist manufacturers and scientists in the design and manufacture of selected wood-based composite products. At the heart of WBCSim is a collection of legacy codes, which are described here. This PSE demonstrates the possibility of implementing scientific computing into a manufacturing application.