The software systems developed to generate manufacturing process plans use two main methods: a variant method and a generative one [1, 3]. The modern CAPP systems are generative ones. These systems use the solid models of the parts as the input data, to which technological information, useful in planning process, is then added. Usual, the solid model is generated within a CAD system and the technological information are transferred to the module of process plans’ generation through a transfer file, having a certain format [3]. In the following sections a method for identifying the features within generative CAPP system is described. The method is based on an algorithm composed by the following steps: define the initial data, define the constraints and establish in advance the variants of process plans, establish the technical possible variants and select the optimum one and design the jigs and fixtures. The paper presents the aspects concerning the design of the module for identification of the parts’ shapes, emphasizing the algorithm for feature recognition.
