Manufacturing process selection in engineering design. Part 1: the role of process selection

Whilst material selection methods are becoming mature, the selection of processes has been neglected — particularly after the preliminary design stages. This paper presents a view of current approaches to selection issues in engineering design with particular reference to process selection techniques. The need is highlighted for more focused selection techniques once a manufacturing task has been identified. A new methodology to aid the creation of task-based process selection procedures is outlined in Part 2 (A.M. Lovatt, H.R. Shercliff, J. Mater. Des., 19 (1998) 217–230).