Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 What is modern manufacturing systems
- Manufacturing refers to mass-produce goods of various kinds. In Europe, it is called
production
- Manufacturing changes the world today, examples:
- Manufacturing clothes and design clothes
- Manufacturing computers, TVs, mobile phones, …
- Manufacturing automobiles
- ……
- A brief history of manufacturing
- 1776, Adam Smith, division of labor
- 1901, Fredrick Taylor, the science of metal cutting
- 1913, Henry Ford, flow line assembly
- 1940, Henry Gantt, process planning
- ……
-
-
The later developments of manufacturing are marked by a combination of science and
team work.
The change of characteristics of modern manufacturing
- In 1960s, the success of a manufacturing enterprise depended on cost
- In 1980s, the success of a manufacturing enterprise depended on quality
- Now, the success of a manufacturing enterprise depends on the cost, the quality, the
variety, and the time to customer.
There are two major types of manufacturing:
- Continuous manufacturing: gasoline, steel, plastic film, …
- Discrete manufacturing: computers, TVs, mobile phones, automobiles, …
In this course, we will focus on the later.
1.2 The Process of Modern Manufacturing
- Modern manufacturing is a customer-to-customer process depicted below:
Tooling
design and
analysis
Machine
tool and
control
Material
handling
Design
analysis
customer
Design
Manufacturing
Process
planning
1-1
Usage and
disposal
Quality
control
customer
-
Modern manufacturing is an integrated system that must work together to produce low
cost, high-quality products as quick as possible.
As an example, the following procedure illustrates how to make a simple plastic spoon:
Mold
design and
analysis
Injection
molding
control
Loading,
unloading,
packing, …
Stress
analysis
customer
Design
(artistic &
engineering)
Manufacturing
Process
planning
-
-
-
-
Usage and
disposal
customer
Quality
control
As shown above, the study of modern manufacturing systems include various subjects,
such as:
- Design, Computer Aided Design, knowledge based design, and concurrent
engineering design
- Design analysis (e.g., using Finite Element Modeling)
- Tooling, jig and fixtures design and analysis
- Manufacturing technology (partially covered in the manufacturing technology course)
- Machines and control (partially covered in the mechanics courses)
- Materials (partially covered in the materials courses and manufacturing technology
course)
- Process planing (e.g., setup time schedule, the use of facility, labor, and etc.)
- Material handling (e.g., loading, unloading, assembly, packing and etc.)
There are some other issues, such as
- Human factors
- Operation management
- …
Many subjects have been covered in other courses, such as:
- design: partially covered in design course and CAD course
- manufacturing technology: partially covered in the previous manufacturing
technology course
- machine tools: partially covered in the mechanics course
- materials: partially covered in the materials course
- robotics: kinematics, control, and programming of robots
- …
Also, owing to the limitation on time, some subjects will not be covered, such as
1-2
-
- Tooling, jig and fixtures
- Human factors
- Operation management
What will be covered in this course are summarized below
1.3 The Road Map of This Course
- This course follows the textbook
- Chapter 2: Concurrent Engineering and Design for Manufacturing
- Chapter 3: Computer Aided Process Planning, Manufacturing Systems Planning
- Chapter 4: Computer Control and Computer Numeric Control
- Chapter 5: Automated Material Handling Systems
- Chapter 6: Statistical Process Control and Automated Inspection
- Chapter 7: Just-In-Time Manufacturing Systems
- Chapter 8: Group Technology and Cellular Manufacturing
- Chapter 9: Flexible Manufacturing Systems
- Chapter 10: Computer Integrated Manufacturing
- Chapter 11: Agile Manufacturing
- These chapters can be divided into five parts:
- Part I: concurrent engineering design (Chapter 2)
- Part II: process planning (Chapter 3)
- Part III: computer control (Chapter 4)
- Part IV: material handling (Chapter 5)
- Part V: quality control (Chapter 6)
- Part VI: manufacturing systems (Chapter 7 – 11)
Which covers the most important areas of manufacturing systems as shown below:
Tooling
design and
analysis
Machine
tool and
control
Design
analysis
customer
Design
Material
handling
Manufacturing
system
Manufacturing
Process
planning
1-3
Usage and
disposal
Quality
control
customer