KNOWLEDGE-BASED APPROACH FOR THE FORMATION OF RE-CONFIGURABLE ASSEMBLY CELLS-A USE CASE STUDY

The current market turbulence has forced the companies to increase their productivity in order to remain in business, not only to remain competitive. Companies that make high volume products involving labour-intensive assembly operation normally use automated assembly since it may reduce the company cost and increase productivity. Improving productivity is focused in the assembly area since it contributes a bigger portion of manufacturing cos

Realising the open virtual commissioning of modular automation systems

To address the challenges in the automotive industry posed by the need to rapidly manufacture more product variants, and the resultant need for more adaptable production systems, radical changes are now required in the way in which such systems are developed and implemented. In this context, two enabling approaches for achieving more agile manufacturing, namely modular automation systems and virtual commissioning, are briefly reviewed in this contribution. Ongoing research conducted at Loughborough University which aims to provide a modular approach to automation systems design coupled with a virtual engineering toolset for the (re)configuration of such manufacturing automation systems is reported. The problems faced in the virtual commissioning of modular automation systems are outlined. AutomationML - an emerging neutral data format which has potential to address integration problems is discussed. The paper proposes and illustrates a collaborative framework in which AutomationML is adopted for the data exchange and data representation of related models to enable efficient open virtual prototype construction and virtual commissioning of modular automation systems. A case study is provided to show how to create the data model based on AutomationML for describing a modular automation system

Product to process lifecycle management in assembly automation systems

Presently, the automotive industry is facing enormous pressure due to global competition and ever changing legislative, economic and customer demands. Product and process development in the automotive manufacturing industry is a challenging task for many reasons. Current product life cycle management (PLM) systems tend to be product-focussed. Though, information about processes and resources are there but mostly linked to the product. Process is an important aspect, especially in assembly automation systems that link products to their manufacturing resources. This paper presents a process-centric approach to improve PLM systems in large-scale manufacturing companies, especially in the powertrain sector of the automotive industry. The idea is to integrate the information related to key engineering chains i.e. products, processes and resources based upon PLM philosophy and shift the trend of product-focussed lifecycle management to process-focussed lifecycle management, the outcome of which is the Product, Process and Resource Lifecycle Management not PLM only

Innovative configurable and collaborative approach to automation systems engineering for automotive powertrain assembly

Presently the automotive industry is facing enormous pressure due to global competition and ever changing legislative, economic and customer demands. Both, agility and reconfiguration are widely recognised as important attributes for manufacturing systems to satisfy the needs of competitive global markets. To facilitate and accommodate unforeseen business changes within the automotive industry, a new proactive methodology is urgently required for the design, build, assembly and reconfiguration of automation systems. There is also need for the promotion of new technologies and engineering methods to enable true engineering concurrency between product and process development. Virtual construction and testing of new automation systems prior to build is now identified as a crucial requirement to enable system verification and to allow the investigation of design alternatives prior to building and testing physical systems. The main focus of this research was to design and develop reconfigurable assembly systems within the powertrain sector of the automotive industry by capturing and modelling relevant business and engineering processes. This research has proposed and developed a more process-efficient and robust automation system design, build and implementation approach via new engineering services and a standard library of reusable mechanisms. Existing research at Loughborough had created the basic technology for a component based approach to automation. However, no research had been previously undertaken on the application of this approach in a user engineering and business context. The objective of this research was therefore to utilise this prototype method and associated engineering tools and to devise novel business and engineering processes to enable the component-based approach to be applied in industry. This new approach has been named Configurable and Collaborative Automation Systems (CO AS). In particular this new research has studied the implications of migration to a COAS approach in terms of I) necessary changes to the end-users business processes, 2) potential to improve the robustness of the resultant system and 3) potential for improved efficiency and greater collaboration across the supply chain... cont'

A modular product structure based methodology for seamless information flow in PLM system implementation

Product development process deals with large amount of information generated from market survey, concept design, manufacture, test, limited production, production, service, and obsoleting. The information should be stored systematically so that it is easily traceable and reusable for future product development. This paper presents a methodology for seamless product information flow between the three main enterprise information systems such as Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), Product Data/Lifecycle Management (PDM/PLM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) used in the process of innovative product development while implementing PLM. PLM implementation deals with various existing product data and information generated over years both from CAD and ERP systems. Data integration is very challenging in multi-national engineering companies and has important impact on future decisions while creating new processes. The aim is to define a modular product structure that can be used to connect the product information throughout the life cycle that can be reused effectively and efficiently for future similar products

Design of generic modular reconfigurable platforms (GMRPS) for a product-oriented micro manufacturing system

With the proposition of the concept of product-service systems, many manufacturers are focusing on selling services or functionality rather than products. Industrial production is shifting production models from mass production to mass customization and highly personalized needs. As a result, there is a tendency for manufacturing system suppliers to develop product-oriented systems to responsively cope with the dynamic fast moving competitive market. The key features of such a manufacturing system are the reconfigurability and adaptability, which can enable the system respond to the changeable needs of customers quickly and adaptively. Therefore, one of the challenges for the micro manufacturing system provider has been the design of a reconfigurable machine platform which will provide the functionalities and flexibility required by the product-oriented systems. In this paper, a new micro manufacturing platform, i.e. a generic modular reconfigurable platform (GMRP) is proposed in order to provide an effective means for fabrication of high quality micro products at low cost in a responsive manner. The GMRP-based system aims to be a product-oriented reconfigurable, highly responsive manufacturing system particularly for high value nano/micro manufacturing purposes. To reuse components and decrease material consumption, GMRP is characterized by hybrid micro manufacturing processes, modularity of key components, and reconfigurability of machine platforms and key components. Furthermore, a practical methodology for the design of reconfigurable machine platforms is discussed against the requirements from product-driven micro manufacturing and its extension for adaptive production

Integrating product knowledge with modular product structures in PLM

The changes in world economy are changing very fast and the company knowledge assets and processes are becoming primary source of organization which is intellectual property that need securely stored and maintained. Challenges that companies are facing today such as need to reduce time-to- market, the development and manufacture costs, or to manage complex products with advancing technology. Due to recent global financial crisis price competition in the market has led companies to fight with competitors for limited orders. The external pressure on delivery time has increased, which again has put internal pressure on bringing down development time, which leads for collaborative work environments. Modularisation of product structures will facilitate in collaborating design activities between a diversity of disciplines in global companies, which again involves supporting computer based tools for enhancing interaction, communication and design management. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) serves as particularly useful tool for product data and knowledge management. The deployment of a PLM tool has been seen as an important facilitator for achieving success with the modular design strategy. One of the biggest challenges in implementing new techniques is how to handle existing knowledge and / or information. This paper describes how modular product structure can be implemented in PLM and connects relevant product knowledge at different levels when the product is generated in the process of new product development. This will enable to trace the information across products to compare existing information and reuse for future products

Technical product portfolio:standardization by component commonality

Abstract. One key element when considering research and development (RnD) design decisions is the final cost of the product. A big part of the product cost comes from the component costs, also known as the bill of materials (BOM) costs. In industries, the focus on reducing the cost of every single component may lead to a situation, where almost identical solutions are implemented with different components. Furthermore, the increasing amount of product variety demanded by the markets increases the number of components that need to be managed even further. This research focuses on the aspect of using common components for different products. The research consists of a literature review and a case study. The aim of this study is to understand what the benefits and the limitations of using component commonality are, and how it can be used to a company’s benefit. The aim of the case study is to analyze the current state of the component commonality in the case company’s products. Furthermore, opportunities to improve the component commonality are identified, and the effects are estimated. According to the results, the solutions for how the component management should be improved in the case company are suggested. This research was conducted by reviewing the scientific literature around the concept of product and component management, and then more precisely, on the component commonality approach. The scientific literature provided insights into the benefits and limitations of component commonality could be. Based on this, the current state of the company’s component commonality was analyzed. The products were analyzed using a chosen commonality index found in the literature. Bill of material (BOM) data were used in the analyses. The analyses suggested that using common components is indeed possible for the products: higher commonality was observed among the products developed in a single RnD site in comparison to the commonality of the products of separate RnD sites. A development point was observed in improving the cooperation between different RnD sites, to be able to use common products throughout the company’s product portfolio. A technologically feasible development opportunity to improve this cross-site cooperation was found in connector components. The monetary gains of using common connectors were estimated using a heuristic approach and a notable reduction in the costs was observed. An organizational body to improve the co-operation was recognized, and the research findings were discussed with them.Tekninen tuoteportfolio : standardointi jaetuilla komponenteilla. Tiivistelmä. Lopputuotteen kustannus on yksi keskeinen asia, joka tulee huomioida tehtäessä tuotekehitykseen liittyviä päätöksiä. Iso osa lopputuotteen kustannuksista koostuu tuoterakenteen komponenttien yhteenlasketusta hinnasta, eli niin sanotusta ”BOM” -hinnasta (bill of materials). Fokusoituminen hinnan vähentämiseen komponenttitasolla voi johtaa tilanteeseen, jossa samanlaisia suunnitteluratkaisuja tehdään eri komponenteilla. Lisäksi vaihtelevan tuotevalikoiman kasvava kysyntä lisää tarvittavien komponenttien määrää vielä entisestään. Tämä tutkimus keskittyy siihen, kuinka yhteisiä komponentteja voidaan käyttää eri tuotteiden välillä. Tutkimus koostuu kirjallisuuskatsauksesta sekä tapaustutkimuksesta. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on ymmärtää mitä hyötyjä ja haittoja yhteisten komponenttien käytöllä on, ja kuinka niitä voidaan käyttää yrityksen hyödyksi. Tapaustutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, kuinka laajasti yhteisiä komponentteja käytetään yrityksen tuotteissa. Lisäksi halutaan löytää mahdollisuuksia yhteisten komponenttien käytön lisäämiselle ja arvioida mitä hyötyjä tämä toisi. Yritykselle esitetään tutkimuksen tulosten mukaisesti rakennetut kehitysehdotukset. Tutkimuksen kirjallisuuskatsaus -osiossa tarkasteltiin tuote- ja komponenttihallinnan tieteellistä kirjallisuutta, keskittyen yhteisten komponenttien käyttöä koskevaan kirjallisuuteen. Kirjallisuuskatsauksessa opitun pohjalta tehtiin tapaustutkimus, jossa case-yrityksen nykytila arvioitiin yhteisten komponenttien osalta. Analyyseissä käytettiin kirjallisuudessa löydettyä indeksiä, jonka käyttäminen vaati tuoterakennetiedon (BOM). Analyysien tulokset viittasivat siihen, että case-yrityksessä oli parantamisen varaa yhteisten komponenttien käytössä. Parempaa yhteisten komponenttien käyttöä havaittiin niiden tuotteiden välillä, jotka oli suunniteltu samassa tuotekehitysyksikössä. Yhteisten komponenttien käyttöä voitaisiin siis kehittää parantamalla tuotekehitysyksiköiden välistä yhteistyötä. Teknologisesti toteuttamiskelpoinen kehitysalue löydettiin liitinkomponenteissa. Liitinkomponenttien yhteiskäytön parantamisen tuomat kustannushyödyt arvioitiin heuristisella menetelmällä. Yhteisten liitinkomponenttien käytön lisäämisen todettiin tuovan mahdollisuuksia selviin kustannussäästöihin. Yrityksen sisällä löydettiin yksikkö, joka pystyy käytännössä toteuttamaan tässä työssä esiin tuodut kehitysehdotukset. Tutkimuksen tulokset käytiin läpi tämän yksikön kanssa