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In the last decade, the production of mechanical components to be assembled in final products produced in high volumes (e.g. cars, mopeds, industrial vehicles, etc.) has undergone deep changes due to the overall modifications in the way companies compete. Companies must consider competitive factors such as short lead times, tight product tolerances, frequent market changes and cost reduction. Anyway, companies often have to define production objectives as trade-offs among these critical factors since it can be difficult to improve all of them. Even if system flexibility is often considered a fundamental requirement for firms, it is not always a desirable characteristic of a system because it requires relevant investment cost which can jeopardize the profitability of the firm. Dedicated systems are not able to adapt to changes of the product characteristics while flexible systems offer more flexibility than what is needed, thus increasing investment and operative costs. Production contexts characterized by mid to high demand volume of well identified families of products in continuous evolution do not require the highest level of flexibility; therefore, manufacturing system flexibility must be rationalized and it is necessary to find out the best trade-off between productivity and flexibility by designing manufacturing systems endowed with the right level of flexibility required by the production problem. This new class of production systems can be named Focused Flexibility Manufacturing Systems-FFMSs. The flexibility degree in FFMSs is related to their ability to cope with volume, mix and technological changes, and it must take into account both present and future changes. The required level of system flexibility impacts on the architecture of the system and the explicit design of flexibility often leads to hybrid systems, i.e. automated integrated systems in which parts can be processed by both general purpose and dedicated machines. This is a key issue of FFMSs and results from the matching of flexibility and productivity that respectively characterize FMSs and Dedicated Manufacturing Systems (DMSs). The market share of the EU in the machine tool sector is 44%; the introduction of focused flexibility would be particularly important for machine tool builders whose competitive advantage is based on the ability of customizing their systems on the basis of needs of their customers. In fact, even if current production contexts frequently present situations which would fit well with the FFMS approach, tradition and know-how of machine tool builders play a crucial role. Firms often agree with the focused flexibility vision, nevertheless they decide not to pay the risk and efforts related to the design of this new system architecture. This is due also to the lack of well-structured design approaches which can help machine tool builders to configure innovative systems. Therefore, the FFMS topic is studied through the book chapters following a shared mission: "To define methodologies and tools to design production systems with a minimum level of flexibility needed to face, during their lifecycle, the product and process evolution both in the technological and demand aspects. The goal is to find out the optimal trade-off between flexibility and productivity". The book framework follows the architecture which has been developed to address the FFMS Design problem. This architecture is both broad and detailed, since it pays attention to all the relevant levels in a firm hierarchy which are involved in the system design. Moreover, the architecture is innovative because it models both the point of view of the machine tool builder and the point of view of the system user. The architecture starts analyzing Manufacturing Strategy issues and generating the possible demand scenario to be faced. Technological aspects play a key role while solving process plan problems for the products in the part family. Strategic and technological data becomes input when a machine tool builder performs system configuration. The resulting system configurations are possible solutions that a system user considers when planning its system capacity. All the steps of the architecture are deeply studied, developing methods and tools to address each subproblem. Particular attention is paid to the methodologies adopted to face the different subproblems: mathematical programming, stochastic programming, simulation techniques and inverse kinematics have been used. The whole architecture provides a general approach to implement the right degree of flexibility and it allows to study how different aspects and decisions taken in a firm impact on each other. The work presented in the book is innovative because it gives links among different research fields, such as Manufacturing Strategy, Process Plan, System Design, Capacity Planning and Performance Evaluation; moreover, it helps to formalize and rationalize a critical area such as manufacturing system flexibility. The addressed problem is relevant at an academic level but, also, at an industrial level. A great deal of industrial sectors need to address the problem of designing systems with the right degree of flexibility; for instance, automotive, white goods, electrical and electronic goods industries, etc. Attention to industrial issues is confirmed by empirical studies and real case analyses which are presented within the book chapters.
Now, this comprehensive and systematic overview of both the design models and quantitative solution methods for FMS support, configuration, and operation rectifies that problem. Students, production managers/planners, and FMS installation planners can now find everything they need in one authoritative and up-to-date source.
Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) are computer-controlled, automated production lines capable of varied outputs: they put together computing software, robotics, manufacturing technology with existing engineering design skills to produce a very flexible system. Based on the author's own practical experience, this book provides a general insider's appreciation in keeping with current thinking in engineering education which will be suitable for advanced students. For the professional engineer, it stresses commercial as well as technical considerations.
One critical barrier leading to successful implementation of flexible manufacturing and related automated systems is the ever-increasing complexity of their modeling, analysis, simulation, and control. Research and development over the last three decades has provided new theory and graphical tools based on Petri nets and related concepts for the design of such systems. The purpose of this book is to introduce a set of Petri-net-based tools and methods to address a variety of problems associated with the design and implementation of flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs), with several implementation examples.There are three ways this book will directly benefit readers. First, the book will allow engineers and managers who are responsible for the design and implementation of modern manufacturing systems to evaluate Petri nets for applications in their work. Second, it will provide sufficient breadth and depth to allow development of Petri-net-based industrial applications. Third, it will allow the basic Petri net material to be taught to industrial practitioners, students, and academic researchers much more efficiently. This will foster further research and applications of Petri nets in aiding the successful implementation of advanced manufacturing systems.
This book provides a theoretical and application-oriented analysis of deterministic scheduling problems in advanced planning and computer systems. The text examines scheduling problems across a range of parameters: job priority, release times, due dates, processing times, precedence constraints, resource usage and more, focusing on such topics as computer systems and supply chain management. Discussion includes single and parallel processors, flexible shops and manufacturing systems, and resource-constrained project scheduling. Many applications from industry and service operations management and case studies are described. The handbook will be useful to a broad audience, from researchers to practitioners, graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
New technologies are revolutionising the way manufacturing and supply chain management are implemented. These changes are delivering manufacturing firms the competitive advantage of a highly flexible and responsive supply chain and manufacturing system to ensure that they meet the high expectations of their customers, who, in today's economy, demand absolutely the best service, price, delivery time and product quality.To make e-manufacturing and supply chain technologies effective, integration is needed between various, often disparate systems. To understand why this is such an issue, one needs to understand what the different systems or system components do, their objectives, their specific focus areas and how they interact with other systems. It is also required to understand how these systems evolved to their current state, as the concepts used during the early development of systems and technology tend to remain in place throughout the life-cycle of the systems/technology. This book explores various standards, concepts and techniques used over the years to model systems and hierarchies in order to understand where they fit into the organization and supply chain. It looks at the specific system components and the ways in which they can be designed and graphically depicted for easy understanding by both information technology (IT) and non-IT personnel.Without a good implementation philosophy, very few systems add any real benefit to an organization, and for this reason the ways in which systems are implemented and installation projects managed are also explored and recommendations are made as to possible methods that have proven successful in the past. The human factor and how that impacts on system success are also addressed, as is the motivation for system investment and subsequent benefit measurement processes.Finally, the vendor/user supply/demand within the e-manufacturing domain is explored and a method is put forward that enables the reduction of vendor bias during the vendor selection process.The objective of this book is to provide the reader with a good understanding regarding the four critical factors (business/physical processes, systems supporting the processes, company personnel and company/personal performance measures) that influence the success of any e-manufacturing implementation, and the synchronization required between these factors.· Discover how to implement the flexible and responsive supply chain and manufacturing execution systems required for competitive and customer-focused manufacturing· Build a working knowledge of the latest plant automation, manufacturing execution systems (MES) and supply chain management (SCM) design techniques· Gain a fuller understanding of the four critical factors (business and physical processes, systems supporting the processes, company personnel, performance measurement) that influence the success of any e-manufacturing implementation, and how to evaluate and optimize all four factors
Efficiently and profitably delivering quality flexible packaging to the marketplace requires designing and manufacturing products that are both "fit-to-use" and "fit-to-make". The engineering function in a flexible packaging enterprise must attend to these dual design challenges. Flexible Packaging discusses the basic processes used to manufacture flexible packaging products, including rotogravure printing, flexographic printing, adhesive lamination, extrusion lamination/coating; and finishing/slitting. These processes are then related to the machines used to practice them, emphasising the basics of machines’ control systems , and options to minimize wasted time and materials between production jobs. Raw materials are also considered, including the three basic forms: Rollstock (paper, foil, plastic films); Resin; and Wets (inks, varnishes, primers). Guidance is provided on both material selection, and on adding value through enhancement or modification of the materials’ physical features. A ‘measures’ section covers both primary material features – such as tensile, elongation, modulus and elastic and plastic regions – and secondary quality characteristics such as seal and bond strengths, coefficient of friction, oxygen barrier and moisture vapour barrier. Helps engineers improve existing raw material selection and manufacturing processes for manufacturing functional flexible packaging materials. Covers all aspects of delivering high value packaging to the customer – from the raw materials, to the methods of processing them, the machines used to do it, and the measures required to gauge the characteristics of the product. Helps engineers to minimize waste and unproductive time in production.
Production and manufacturing management since the 1980s has absorbed in rapid succession several new production management concepts: manufacturing strategy, focused factory, just-in-time manufacturing, concurrent engineering, total quality management, supply chain management, flexible manufacturing systems, lean production, mass customization, and more. With the increasing globalization of manufacturing, the field will continue to expand. This encyclopedia's audience includes anyone concerned with manufacturing techniques, methods, and manufacturing decisions.
In today’s modernized world, new research and empirical findings are being conducted and found within various professional industries. The field of engineering is no different. Industrial and material engineering is continually advancing, making it challenging for practitioners to keep pace with the most recent trends and methods. Engineering professionals need a handbook that provides up-to-date research on the newest methodologies in this imperative industry. The Handbook of Research on Developments and Trends in Industrial and Materials Engineering is a collection of innovative research on the theoretical and practical aspects of integrated systems within engineering. This book provides a forum for professionals to understand the advancing methods of engineering. While highlighting topics including operations management, decision analysis, and communication technology, this book is ideally designed for researchers, managers, engineers, industrialists, manufacturers, academicians, policymakers, scientists, and students seeking current research on recent findings and modern approaches within industrial and materials engineering.