Optimized assembly design for resource efficient production in a multiproduct manufacturing system

Resource efficiency is one of the greatest challenges for sustainable manufacturing. Material flow in manufacturing systems directly influences resource efficiency, financial cost and environmental impact. A framework for material flow assessment in manufacturing systems (MFAM) was applied to a complex multi-product manufacturing case study. This supported the identification of options to alter material flow through changes to the product assembly design, to improve overall resource efficiency through eliminating resource intensive changeovers. Alternative assembly designs were examined using a combination of intelligent computation techniques: k-means clustering, genetic algorithm and ant colony algorithm. This provided recommendations balancing improvement potential with extent of process modification impact

Queuing Network Modelling Techniques For Response Time Enhancement In Electronics Assembly

The concept of quick response manufacturing points up that industrial manufacturing companies pressed to compete on speed by emerging competitor must change the management mind-set and reduce lead times throughout the organisation. As a factory’s work-in-process, lead times and capacity are the result of complex dynamics in the production system, to predict whether a decision will improve lead times, it is necessary to be able to forecast both process and queue times. In this paper, a novel approach based on analytical techniques for queuing network modelling, called rapid modelling technology (RMT), is implemented via the MPX© software package for complex shop floor operations modelling. The main scopes of the MPX© utilisation are to evaluate the human and economic resources of a printed circuit board (PCB) producer company and to find solutions for the optimisation of the PCB manufacturing system performances