Application of fuzzy analytic network process for agile concept selection in a manufacturing organisation

Twenty-first century manufacturing organisations are capable of satisfying the varied requirements of modern customers called agile manufacturing (AM). AM enables an organisation to produce a variety of products within a short period of time in a cost-effective manner. Few researchers have brought out models for enabling organisations to improve their agility level. Total agile design system (TADS) is a model that is analogous to the technology integrated agile product development cycle. Concept selection is an important phase of TADS which is a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. Selection of the best concept from agile perspective gains vital importance. Analytical network process (ANP) is a holistic approach that considers interactions and dependencies of various attributes and alternatives in a hierarchical framework used in MCDM problems. The concepts of fuzzy logic have been integrated with ANP in order to overcome the vagueness and uncertainty associated with opinions of the decision makers. Fuzzy ANP has been used to enable the selection of best concept. The case study has been carried out in an Indian traditional manufacturing organisation. The results of the validation indicate that fuzzy ANP is an effective approach for selecting best concept thereby improving agility of product development process.     

Estimation of reliability and validity of agility constructs using structural equation modelling

The main objective of this study was to create an agile manufacturing (AM) model and to validate the model using structural equation modelling (SEM). AM concentrates on turbulent market changes and the responsive actions of the manufacturing firm, in terms of process, tooling, material and trained experts. The AM model consists of five major drivers of agility, namely the workforce, manufacturing management, manufacturing strategy, manufacturing technology and organisational structure. After development of the AM model, a questionnaire was prepared and data collected from 30 automotive organisations located in Tamil Nadu, India. After data collection, the SEM approach was used to conduct a statistical validation. The results indicate the validity and reliability of AM constructs.     

应用成组技术实现制造敏捷化、分散化、网络化

本文分析了敏捷化、分散化、网络化制造与应用成组技术之间的关系，提出了应用成组技术实现敏捷化、分散化、网络化制造的方法，探讨了我国制造企业基于成组技术的敏捷生产组织构建方法以及敏捷制造单元的成组与重构技术，为我国中小企业特别是离散型制造企业实现敏捷化、分散化、网络化制造作了有益探索。     

Optimal concurrent product design and process planning based on the requirements of individual customers in one-of-a-kind production

One-of-a-kind production is a new manufacturing paradigm for producing customised products based on the requirements of individual customers while maintaining the quality and efficiency of mass production. This research addresses the issues in optimal concurrent product design and process planning based on the requirements of individual customers. In this work, a hybrid AND-OR graph is developed to model the variations of design configurations/parameters and manufacturing processes/parameters in a generic product family. Since different design configurations and parameters can be created from the same customer requirements, and each design can be further achieved through alternative manufacturing processes and parameters, co-evolutionary genetic programming and numerical optimisation are employed to identify the optimal product design configuration/parameters and manufacturing process/parameters. A case study is introduced to identify the optimal design configuration/parameters and manufacturing process/parameters of custom window products of an industrial company to demonstrate the effectiveness of the developed method.     

Applying path analysis method in defining effective factors in organisation agility

Changes in business environment are leading firms to adopt a new production model called agile manufacturing. This term moves away from the traditional mass production paradigm and focuses on manufacturing highly customised products when customers require them. In this paper, we present an initial approach to agile organisation based on case studies in an Iranian industrial organisation. An agile organisation conceptual model has been drawn up, based on the conclusions of the case study. The study presented here is of an exploratory factor analysis and the conclusions are drawn through path analysis, propose possible routes for future research in the field of agile organisation. By the definition of effective factor on organisation agility, as independent variables required information were compiled through questionnaires which are about an Iranian industrial organisation, and then direct and in-direct effects of the variables on organisation agility were surveyed as a depended variable by the path analysis method. Interior variables which directly affect on organisation agility are distinguished from exterior variables which indirectly affect on it due to t-value indicator and final model of path analysis which were defined for researched organisation. By this method, with partial standardised regression coefficient, the priority and grade of every independent variable could be defined based on effecting depended variable.     

Amalgamation of mass customisation and agile manufacturing concepts: the theory and implementation study in an electronics switches manufacturing company

This paper reports a research which was pursued with the purpose of indicating the need of amalgamating mass customisation and agile manufacturing principles for achieving competitiveness in organisations. The research findings and observations on these principles were used to design a model named as agile customisation programme. The implementation study of this programme was conducted in an electronics switches manufacturing company situated in India. The practical implications of this programme were studied by gathering feedback from the executives of this company. The details of these works are briefly presented in this paper. Further, the practical implications were used to propose a roadmap. Future researchers may adopt this roadmap and implement this programme in various types and sizes of companies. The performance of this programme in those companies shall be measured using agile manufacturing metrics such as responsiveness, time compression, quality improvement and profitability.     

A mathematical model to evaluate the role of agility enablers and criteria in a manufacturing environment

Modern manufacturing arena necessitates the need for responsiveness by practicing agile manufacturing (AM) principles. AM imposes the transformation of the manufacturing organisation so as to respond to dynamic market changes. This article focuses towards the application of graph theory (GT) for conceptual modelling the agile system and to compute the dependencies among the individual agile enabler, criteria and attributes as a top-down approach. Using GT approach, digraphs were systematically constructed for agile enablers and variable permanent matrix values were computed for different scenarios and the relative importance of agility enablers were determined. The permanent values of ‘Management responsibility’ enabler and technology enabler are found to be 920 (minimum) and 3529?×?10¹⁴, respectively for the existing situation, whereas for the practically base case situation, it was found to be 1185 (minimum) and 5081.17?×?10¹⁴ (maximum), respectively. The Comprehensive Agility Index was found to be 1.3996?×?10⁴⁵, which can be even used to benchmark with other best-in-class agile organisations.     

工业设计敏捷管理的绩效评价体系构建

借鉴敏捷制造与敏捷开发的研究成果,从方法、管理和人员方面对工业设计的敏捷性进行了分析。在此基础上,结合敏捷项目管理的价值、质量和约束三要素,阐述了工业设计敏捷管理的绩效评价要素内涵。基于CTRS和CIPME模型,从价值、成本、响应时间、稳健性和自适应范围等5个方面构建了敏捷设计管理的VCTRS绩效评价指标体系,并对各指标进行了定量衡量。     

基于网络的产品设计系统

在分析了企业产品设计的现实需求的基础上 ,指出基于网络的产品设计系统是敏捷制造企业联盟的重要组成部分 ,是企业开展创新产品设计、降低成本、实施并行工程的现代产品设计手段 .并对基于互联网和统一产品数据模型的产品设计系统进行了可行性分析、系统结构分析以及系统实现关键技术分析 .     

New integrated model to estimate the manufacturing cost and production system performance at the conceptual design stage of helicopter blade assembly

This paper describes a new integrated model development to estimate the manufacturing cost and production system performance at the conceptual design stage. A fully automated conceptual framework for design for manufacturing (DFM) has been developed. An integrated product process design concept using activity based costing is applied in this paper. The new integrated model consists of four sub-modules: the geometric parameters generation module, processing time estimation module, activity based costing (ABC) module and production system performance module. All of the input-output data flows of developed modules are fully integrated for automated manufacturing cost analysis and production system performance. A developed integrated model is very useful for designers or integrated product development team to make a decision for evaluating the design alternatives and trade-offs between design and manufacturing phases at the conceptual design stage. A case study for a composite helicopter rotor blade is included.     

公理化设计在Raz-Kids平台中的问题研究

目的对Raz-Kids平台的应用进行公理化设计分析,验证其设计合理性并提出改善性意见。方法通过公理化设计原则对平台的功能需求、设计参数进行相关性分析,用UCINET分析出各变量之间的关系,找出权重变量,进一步分析其合理性。结论 Raz-Kids平台的部分设计符合公理化设计,平台存在着不同程度的问题。解决优化这些问题会使该平台得到更好的发展,也为以后的软件设计提供新的设计分析方法。     

Agility evaluation using the IF–THEN approach

The recent trend in the manufacturing sector is to develop highly customised products to satisfy niche needs of customers. In order to satisfy this requirement, a newer manufacturing technique has been deployed; this is called Agile Manufacturing (AM). AM principles are used to manufacture highly customised products within a shorter period of time. In this article, the IF–THEN rules approach has been used to evaluate the current agile position of the firm. The assessment has been carried out in an Indian modular switches manufacturing company. The assessment revealed that the organisation is fairly agile. Besides computing agility level, the gaps that impede agility have been identified, and proposals for agility improvement have been derived. The identified proposals are subjected to implementation in the case organisation.     

Agile manufacturing: Enablers and an implementation framework

Tougher competitive situations have led to increasing attention being paid to customer satisfaction, of which timely and customized services are the key concepts. As the product life cycle becomes shortened, high product quality becomes necessary for survival. Markets become highly diversified and global, and continuous and unexpected change become the key factors for success. The need for a method of rapidly and cost-effectively developing products, production facilities and supporting software, including design, process planning and shop floor control system has led to the concept of agile manufacturing. Agile manufacturing can be defined as the capability to survive and prosper in a competitive environment of continuous and unpredictable change by reacting quickly and effectively to changing markets, driven by customer-designed products and services. This article details the key concepts and enablers of agile manufacturing. The key enablers of agile manufacturing include: (i) virtual enterprise formation tools/metrics; (ii) physically distributed manufacturing architecture and teams; (iii) rapid partnership formation tools/metrics; (iv) concurrent engineering; (v) integrated product/production/business information system; (vi) rapid prototyping tools; and (vii) electronic commerce. A conceptual framework for the development of an agile manufacturing system and future research directions are presented in this paper. This framework takes into account the customization and system integration with the help of business process redesign, legal issues, concurrent engineering, computer-integrated manufacturing, cost management, total quality management and information technology.     

基于公理设计的可重构制造系统设计

可重构制造系统是面向客户定制的一种新的制造模式.先阐述了可重构制造系统的概念及其特点,并对目前关于可重构制造系统的设计研究进行了总结.然后,以快速响应市场变化为目标,提出了基于公理设计理论的设计方法及设计步骤,对可重构制造系统进行设计,降低了设计的复杂性.层次化设计和分解方法保证了在设计过程中以适当的顺序做出合理决策.最后给出了可重构制造系统的工作流程图.     

包装设计虚拟制造技术的应用探析

虚拟设计结合虚拟制造技术应用在包装设计中不仅可以让设计和制造高度集成,推动生产力的提升,还可以降低生产风险和成本,改进生产、节约资源。当前,可通过精益生产、并行工程、敏捷制造和绿色设计及制造等方式来进行包装设计的虚拟制造。     

Design and implementation of a virtual information system for agile manufacturing

In the new and emerging agile manufacturing paradigm, where multiple firms cooperate under flexible virtual enterprise structures, there exists a great need for a mechanism to manage and control information flow among collaborating partners. In response to this pressing need, this paper addresses the design and implementation of an agile manufacturing information system integrating manufacturing databases dispersed at various partner sites. We propose a framework in which: (1) information is modeled in a hierarchical fashion using object-oriented methodology (OOM); (2) information transactions are specified by the workflow hierarchy consisting of partner workflows; (3) information flow between partners is controlled by a set of distributed workflow managers (WM) interacting with partner knowledge bases, which reflect partner specific information control rules on internal data exchange, as well as inter-partner mutual protocols for joint partner communications; (4) the prototype system is accomplished using the World Wide Web based on a client-server architecture. The overall approach and system provides within a dynamic environment, where virtual partnerships are synthesized in response to specific business initiatives, a dynamic and flexible mechanism to support partner information exchange and to keep the dispersed information consistent.     

Axiomatic design of hybrid manufacturing systems in erratic demand conditions

In order to respond to part demands on time in an erratic demand environment, a complete road map for the design of hybrid cellular manufacturing systems (HMS) is proposed in this study, based on axiomatic design (AD) principles, such that all functional requirements of a complete HMS design are satisfied by the corresponding design parameters. With this methodology, first, a preliminary HMS is formed including exceptional operations. To facilitate one-piece flow within the cells of the HMS, these exceptions are eliminated by the proposed decision rules, where alternative machines are employed (Satoglu et al. 2010). Then, the sufficiency of current resource capacities is verified, using a simulation technique. In other words, stock accumulations are identified and then value stream through the system without any obstacles is ensured. These are achieved by means of procedures for identifying and eliminating the bottleneck resources. The proposed methodology is completed with the HMS layout design. This complete methodology based on AD principles is a unique aspect of this study. The methodology is applied on the data of an automotive supplier, and the results are discussed. Finally, using simulation models, it is shown that applying the proposed model results in a statistically significant improvement in lead time of the current available system.     

Lean,agile or leagile? Matching your supply chain to the marketplace

Many enterprises have pursued the lean thinking paradigm to improve the efficiency of their business processes. More recently, the agile manufacturing paradigm has been highlighted as an alternative to, and possibly an improvement on, leanness. In pursuing such arguments in isolation, the power of each paradigm may be lost, which is basically that agile manufacturing is adopted where demand is volatile, and lean manufacturing adopted where there is a stable demand. However, in some situations it is advisable to utilize a different paradigm on either side of the material flow de-coupling point to enable a total supply chain strategy. This approach we have termed the Leagile Paradigm. This paper therefore considers the effect of the marketplace environment on strategy selection to ensure optimal supply chain performance. Real-world case studies in the mechanical precision products, carpet making, and electronic products market sectors demonstrate the new approach to matching supply chain design to the actual needs of the marketplace.     

基于改进型功能方法树的公理化设计

分析了公理化设计在产品设计中的应用现状,指出现有公理化设计的两大不足：不能提供从功能域到物理域具体的映射实现手段和公理化设计不能支持这种经验性设计行为．针对公理化设计中存在的不足,提出基于改进型功能方法树的公理化设计方法的框架模型：以设计知识库为基础,建立改进型功能方法树,并以此为依据促成公理化设计的功能需求与设计参数的分解与映射,实现公理设计中功能与结构的同步演化;最后,通过自动化糖果包装机设计为例验证了该方法的可行性．