Methods and tools that support a fast and efficient design-to-order process for parameterized product families

For many companies, mass-customized products have become the de facto standard products. For these companies, “non-standard” or “customized” means products that even the most sophisticated of product or process configuration tools for parameterized product families cannot define in advance. Products like this need a design-to-order production environment (DTO). This paper starts by presenting industrial examples that need the quickest and most efficient engineering process before releasing the customized manufacturing order. It then goes on to examine the organizational requirements, methods and tools that support a fast and efficient DTO process that comes close to the needs of mass customization.     

Design and management of manufacturing systems for production quality

Manufacturing companies are continuously facing the challenge of operating their manufacturing processes and systems in order to deliver the required production rates of high quality products, while minimizing the use of resources. Production quality is proposed in this paper as a new paradigm aiming at going beyond traditional six-sigma approaches. This new paradigm is extremely relevant in technology intensive and emerging strategic manufacturing sectors, such as aeronautics, automotive, energy, medical technology, micro-manufacturing, electronics and mechatronics. Traditional six-sigma techniques show strong limitations in highly changeable production contexts, characterized by small batch productions, customized, or even one-of-a-kind products, and in-line product inspections. Innovative and integrated quality, production logistics and maintenance design, management and control methods as well as advanced technological enablers have a key role to achieve the overall production quality goal. This paper revises problems, methods and tools to support this paradigm and highlights the main challenges and opportunities for manufacturing industries in this context.     

Human Hybrid Robot: a new concept for supporting manual assembly tasks

Due to the volatile conditions in today’s production, flexible assembly systems are required. However, current plants are often custom-made which are designed for a fix product spectrum. Especially for the assembly of unique products or products with a small-scale lot size and large-scale lot size with a high diversity of variants, many manufacturing steps are difficult or non economic to automate. Thus, a large part of the manufacturing processes is to be performed manually. These can be supported by assistance systems, but appropriate systems are seldom available. A new approach for supporting manual assembly tasks is the hybridization of biological and technical systems, a so-called “Human Hybrid Robot” (HHR). The kinematic chains of human, machines and tools are configured task-depended in serial and parallel arrangement. By doing so, the individual skills are used optimally. Main focus of this concept is improving the assembly accuracy and error prevention to boost the overall quality of the assembly processes. This paper presents the theoretical concept. Possible applications and realization of exemplary components are outlined to show the potential of HHR.     

供应链企业中基于BPR的定制ERP解决方案研究

本文研究供应链企业中基于BPR的定制ERP解决方案。首先通过对现代制造企业实施供应链管理的思索 ,分析了ERP和BPR在供应链管理中发挥的重要作用 ;并以一个典型的制造企业为背景 ,提出了一个基于BPR的定制ERP解决方案 ,为企业进一步实施供应链管理以及电子商务奠定了良好的基础     

面向个性化定制的汽车方向盘模型快速设计制造

为提高个性化定制汽车方向盘模型的设计与制造效率,给出利用三维CAD软件的方程式功能快速设计方向盘模型的方法,提出基于方向盘预加工半成品模型和分层制造与数控加工相结合的正反面铣削加工快速制作方向盘模型的方法。同时给出各加工阶段三维工艺模型的建模、数控铣削轨迹生成方法,并且在三轴数控铣床上完成了方向盘模型的制作。     

Modularity in small machine tools

Up to now, machine tools in micro production hardly feature modularity and hence offer only few opportunities to reconfigure or individualize a manufacturing process. This article gives a summary of concepts, how modularity in small micro machine tools can be designed and implemented. A size-adaptable machine frame is the basis for various possible process layouts. Adapters, a feed module with replaceable drive and kinematics, equipped with appropriate interfaces as well as a supply concept are introduced to allow further configuration. The combination of those concepts characterizes a small modular machine tool system. Technical solutions and fully functional prototypes will be shown and discussed in the following paper.     

A novel hob cutter design for the manufacture of spur-typed cutters

Spur-typed cutters with multiple cutting angles are important tools frequently used in the manufacture of many machine elements. Due to their complex geometry, the production of these cutters involves milling and several grinding processes. Such a complex manufacturing process, coupled with the need for expensive manufacturing tools, makes the cutters costly.Undercutting is a phenomenon that causes weakness at the root of a gear. Engineers use shifted gears, modified tooth profiles, or changes in the pressure angle to overcome undercutting in gears. However, in this paper, by utilizing the undercutting phenomenon, a novel design of straight-sided hob cutter with multiple pressure angles is proposed for the manufacture of spur-typed cutters. With the simultaneous application of multiple pressure angles, this tool design concept significantly simplifies the manufacturing process. The effects of cutting angles, the degree of undercutting, and the width of the top land of the cutter are studied. The concepts and results proposed in this paper are beneficial as design guidance for tool designers and manufacturers.     

Using image processing based on neural networks in reverse engineering

Various techniques have been employed to recover three-dimensional (3D) surfaces in the redesign of products, customized designs, and the building of virtual environments. Reverse engineering methodology provides an efficient tool for the manufacturing of free-form and sculptured shapes. This paper describes an image processing approach to the 3D shape recovery based on neural networks that tackles the major bottleneck in the current reverse engineering process, namely the lack of a rapid link between the physical object and its design representation. A range of applications has shown this method to be feasible and efficient.     

An agile production network enabled by reconfigurable manufacturing systems

Emergencies, and efforts to address them, create disruptions to local and global supply chains and surges in demand of emergency resources, which substantially affect global production. Reconfigurable manufacturing systems are promising solutions to improve flexibility and to reduce the effort needed to adapt supply chains and production networks to fit a perturbed environment. This paper proposes a method for coordination of reconfigurable manufacturing resources from multiple enterprises to structure ad-hoc production networks for critical products required in emergencies. Network optimization models and interaction algorithms are integrated to evolve the production network through synchronous machine-level and network-level reconfiguration driven by data.     

Manufacturing and sustainability of bonding systems for grinding tools

Grinding and honing processes are quality-defining operations in the production of many modern products. Process performance and product quality are contingent on selecting the correct abrasive tool for a specific application. Thus, tools with different bonding systems are used, namely resin bonded tools, vitrified bonded tools, and metallic bonded tools. Tool manufacturers have great knowledge in the choice and intricate production of these bond types and their countless variants. Most bond systems pass through mixing, forming, pressing, heat treatment, and post-processing steps. Single-layer metallic bonds can be generated by electroplating or brazing processes. This article reviews the manufacturing of tools with different bonding systems and discusses their ingredients. Furthermore, the economic, environmental and social dimension of tool production and tool use are considered to understand sustainability issues of different bond types. The review of tool manufacturing is necessary to enable informed life cycle assessments or other sustainability analyses for grinding or honing.     

Single point incremental forming of PVC

Polymers represent an important percentage of the raw materials currently utilized in manufacturing applications but their conventional processing techniques are mainly suitable for mass production. Growing requirements of low volume, high quality, customized products are triggering the need for developing innovative flexible polymer processing techniques that are capable of dealing with the new agile manufacturing trends involving very short life cycles and very short development and production lead times.This paper is concerned with these issues and is focused on the possibility of employing the single point incremental forming technology currently being developed for flexible sheet metal forming applications, for producing low cost, small-batch, high-quality polymeric sheet components. Experimentation is based on the utilization of an ordinary CNC milling machine and a single point forming tool to shape commercial PVC sheets and the overall investigation is centred on the characterization and evaluation of the formability limits of the process as a function of the major operating parameters.Results show that single point incremental forming of commercial PVC sheets at room temperature seems promising for the manufacture of complex polymer sheet components with very high depths.     

Design for additive manufacturing: Framework and methodology

In recent decades additive manufacturing (AM) has evolved from a prototyping to a production technology. It is used to produce end-use-parts for medical, aerospace, automotive and other industrial applications from small series up to 100,000 of commercially successful products. Metal additive manufacturing processes are relatively slow, require complex preparation and post-processing treatment while using expensive machinery, resulting in high production costs per product. Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM) aims at optimizing the product design to deal with the complexity of the production processes, while also defining decisive benefits of the AM based product in the usage stages of its life cycle. Recent investigations have shown that the lack of knowledge on DfAM tools and techniques are seen as one of the barriers for the further implementation of AM. This paper presents a framework for DfAM methods and tools, subdivided into three distinct stages of product development: AM process selection, product redesign for functionality enhancement, and product optimization for the AM process chosen. It will illustrate the applicability of the design framework using examples from both research and industry.     

Using lean methodologies for economically and environmentally sustainable foundries

Lean manufacturing is often seen as a set of tools that reduce the total cost and improve the quality of manufactured products.The lean management philosophy is one which targets waste reduction in every facet of the manufacturing business;however,only recently have studies linked lean management philosophies with improving environmental sustainability.These studies suggest that lean manufacturing is more than a set of lean tools that can optimize manufacturing efficiencies;it is a process and mindset that needs to be integrated into daily manufacturing systems to achieve sustainability.The foundry industry,as well as manufacturing in general,has significant challenges in the current regulatory and political climate with developing an economically and environmentally sustainable business model.Lean manufacturing has proven itself as a model for both economic sustainability and environmental stewardship.Several recent studies have shown that both lean and green techniques and "zero-waste" policies also lead to reductions in overall cost.While these strategies have been examined for general manufacturing,they have not been investigated in detail for the foundry industry.This paper will review the current literature and describe how lean and green can provide a relevant framework for environmentally and economically sustainable foundries.Examples of lean and green technologies and techniques which can be applied to foundries in a global context will be described.     

Mechanical module interfaces for reconfigurable machine tools

Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMS) enable industrial companies to adapt to frequent and unpredictable changes of production requirements in a cost-efficient way. RMS are constituted by modular machine tools that provide variable overall functions with the ability to add, remove, rearrange and replace functional sub-units. The performance of these machine tools as regards the quick and flexible arrangement of modules and high work piece quality strongly depends on the properties of the mechanical module interfaces. In this paper, performance parameters for mechanical module interfaces were defined and their influence on the machine tool’s performance discussed. Then flexibly arrange-able quick-coupling interfaces as a promising solution for module assembly were analyzed. Finally, tools for the determination for those interface performance parameters are presented, which require technical testing.     

Facility Layout Planning Using Self-Organization Method

This paper proposes a novel approach to facility layout planning based on the concept of biological manufacturing systems that deal with the inherent complexity of manufacturing using ideas of self-organization, evolution and learning. A self-organization method is proposed to generate facility layout plans autonomously according to the material flow which emerges from the local interactions among production elements. A case study of facility layout planning is presented for semiconductor manufacturing, in which it is difficult to find a proper layout because of complex process flow. The effectiveness of the proposed method is discussed in terms of the accumulated traveling distance of products and the throughput.     

Improving decision making by simulating and visualizing geometrical variation in non-rigid assemblies

Customer demands on quality appearance as well as economical demands for shorter development time are increasing. Virtual concept verification is, therefore, becoming more and more important since an increasing number of decisions are based on digital models. This paper discusses visual quality appearance and presents the concept of geometrical and visual sensitivity along with tools for analysis and evaluation. Especially, a tool for non-rigid variation simulation and visualization is presented. It allows manufacturing and assembly deformations to be visualized with high level of realism long before any physical prototypes are being made. Different design concepts can thereby be compared in realistic environments. The quality of decisions based on digital models can thereby be improved.     

Assembly system design and operations for product variety

Assembly is the capstone process for product realization where component parts and subassemblies are integrated together to form the final products. As product variety increases due to the shift from mass production to mass customization, assembly systems must be designed and operated to handle such high variety. In this paper we first review the state of the art research in the areas of assembly system design, planning and operations in the presence of product variety. Methods for assembly representation, sequence generation and assembly line balancing are reviewed and summarized. Operational complexity and the role of human operators in assembly systems are then discussed in the context of product variety. Challenges in disassembly and remanufacturing in the presence of high variety are presented. We then conjecture a future manufacturing paradigm of personalized products and production and discuss the assembly challenge for such a paradigm. Opportunities for assembly system research are summarized at the end of the paper.     

A design approach for the development of flexible production machines

The rising demand for individualised products is one of the most important trends in today’s market. This is having a big impact on the manufacturing industry since it means that the flexibility of production machines must be increased. Packaging machines are greatly affected by the rising demand for format-flexibility because of decreasing batch sizes, the high number of format changes and the resulting lack of productivity. In the past, packaging machines as well as other production machines were developed with a focus on large-scale production. Hence, offering format-flexible packaging machines is a new challenge for manufacturers. Improvements in format-flexibility have to take place within the development process of the manufacture of packaging machines. This paper presents an overall concept which integrates four design modules into a generalised development process. These four design modules support developers in creating a solution regarding format flexibility which is, from a technical and economic point of view optimised for the demands of the users of packaging machines. The approach is focused on the special requirements of packaging machines, but it can be adapted for other types of production machines.     

Incorporating tolerances of customers’ requirements for customized products

Tolerancing conventionally deals with the variation of manufacturing processes to meet the requirements of product quality. With the development in product customization, it has been generally accepted that customers’ requirements also have acceptable tolerance range. This flexibility provides an opportunity to better match customer requirements with richer product offerings through customization. A probabilistic model is presented in this paper to incorporate the tolerance of functional requirements into customized product design. By leveraging on the requirements tolerance, customers are more likely to get their desired products. Customer requirements tolerance can thus open up a new dimension for product customization.     

Environmentally benign manufacturing: Current practice and future trends

The consideration of environmental issues in manufacturing has taken on increased importance in terms of global competitiveness. Life-cycle assessment tools enable analysis of the environmental efficiency of industrial processes. Often these focus on the product, with standardized or customized data provided on current processing practice. Environmental management of the total materials cycle must provide tools to evaluate the effect of changes in processing or material substitutions on a global basis, where materials use, reuse, component remanufacture, and materials recycling can be considered and the overall costs and impacts assessed. In this article, two examples of net-shape processing are discussed from this total materials cycle perspective.