Bridging the Gap between Automated Manufacturing of Fuel Cell Components and Robotic Assembly of Fuel Cell Stacks

Recently demonstrated robotic assembling technologies for fuel cell stacks used fuel cell components manually pre-arranged in stacks (presenters). Identifying the original orientation of fuel cell components and loading them in presenters for a subsequent automated assembly process is a difficult, repetitive work cycle which if done manually, deceives the advantages offered by either the automated fabrication technologies for fuel cell components or by the robotic assembly processes. We present for the first time a robotic technology which enables the integration of automated fabrication processes for fuel cell components with a robotic assembly process of fuel cell stacks into a fully automated fuel cell manufacturing line. This task uses a Yaskawa Motoman SDA5F dual arm robot with integrated machine vision system. The process is used to identify and grasp randomly placed, slightly asymmetric fuel cell components, to reorient them all in the same position and stack them in presenters in preparation for a subsequent robotic assembly process. The process was demonstrated as part of a larger endeavor of bringing to readiness advanced manufacturing technologies for alternative energy systems, and responds the high priority needs identified by the U.S. Department of Energy for fuel cells manufacturing research and development

Issues and design approach for product oriented manufacturing systems

The Product Oriented Manufacturing (POM) concept here presented addresses competition in today’s changing global market of manufacturing companies. It is a challenge to the Function Oriented Manufacturing (FOM) concept supposedly adequate for dealing with demand changes and large product variety without needing reconfiguration. The POM concept evolves from the traditional cellular manufacturing, ultimately aiming at full system integration and coordination for completely processing a product, not parts of it, or a family of similar products, for efficient manufacturing and good customer service. In this respect it is customer order centred. For answering changing demand it draws upon system adaptation exploring several reconfiguration strategies. Due to POM complexity and design focus, a design methodology called GCD was developed and is here briefly described. The first phase, the Generic Design, is emphasized in relation to the others. It is mainly directed to analysing manufacturing companies’ demand market position and current manufacturing system in order to evaluate, at a generic level, the suitability of the POM concept for manufacturing. Further design phases explore alternatives of POM systems to reach a POMS suitable solution

Methodology and tools for improving competence of a chemical plant characterized by a complex Supply Chain network

Supply chain performance is strongly influenced by its design, chosen architecture, logistic network and types of finished product that made their marketplace. Sometimes environmental reasons like site location due to deals between government administration and companies may cause changes in logical design and hence increase logistic network complexity and become in a strategic Supply Chain constraint. Our case study addresses a geographic place of a chemical manufacturing plant inside its supply chain which the 86% of the domestic raw material suppliers, its unique distribution center and 100% of the plastic and metallic packaging suppliers are placed over 800 kilometers of distance. Starting from this restriction the research work consists in how redesign and rethink the architecture of the existing supply chain and optimize the processes inside the chemical plant trying to minimize the cost disadvantages related directly to the physical location of the factory. This research treats the selection of coordination and collaborative mechanisms between supply chain members, other company departments and outsourcing partners in order to create a collaborative coordinated model for optimization of this complex supply chain network. Besides this environment limitation, the most salient threats were internal at the company and consisted successfully implement coordinated actions to improve the management of processes and to take practical level. Fighting against the cultural change of the sectors involved and achieves the proposed expected results. The thesis consists of five practical cases studies of coordinated process for performance improvement. Each one being part of an integrated system that converges in a Plant performance common goal, which is increase supply chain competence. RQ1 tries to identify the processes which will be possible to apply the SC new model and management system emerged from the theoretical study and practical benchmarking cases. The research design is then presented by the implementation at Plant’s field level of the proposed develop scheme using the coordinated collaborative improvement model. RQ2 asks whether the chosen cases are adequate. Selecting the best alternative proposed for each thread. After that, the obtained results are presented and discussed for each field case. The focus of the research study is on supply chain practice and supply chain theoretical framework also. To conclude with the author experience that remarks supply chain practice has been heavily influenced by supply chain research and vice versa

Design and Demonstration of Automated Technologies for the Fabrication and Testing of PEM Fuel Cell Systems

This paper describes the research efforts at Georgia Southern University to develop robotic technologies for the fabrication of fuel cell components and stacks, as well as the design and fabrication of a High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (HT-PEMFC) power system to be used as motive power and auxiliary power unit (APU) for a long range, unmanned, fully autonomous forest rover. The paper describes a manufacturing workcell consisting of a Yaskawa Motoman SDA5F dual arm robot with machine vision used for sorting, reorientation and stacking fuel cell components in presenters in preparation for their subsequent robotic assembly in fuel cell stacks. It also describes a manufacturing workcell consisting of a Fanuc LR Mate 200iD robot, an in-house made computer numerically controlled (CNC) router and programmable logic controller (PLC) used for automated fabrication of graphite bipolar plates for fuel cells. It presents the design and integration of a fully automated test stand used for testing fuel cells up to 4 kWe power and the design and fabrication of a 250 W, 166 cm2 active area fuel cell stack prototype. The operation characteristics of this short stack prototype are studied before a larger 3 kW fuel cell system will be built

Transforming traditional mechanical and electrical construction to a modern process of assembly

This thesis presents the findings of a research project to develop and implement a Lean and agile Construction System on a case study project. The aim of the research project, for the sponsor company, was to improve its projects site operations, making them safer for the worker and improving effectiveness and productivity. The findings have shown that the Construction System has proved to be a successful set of countermeasures that act as an antidote to the health, safety and productivity problems that exist in UK construction and that face the sponsor company. The System has been implemented on a large and complex mechanical and electrical case study project in the healthcare sector of UK construction. The outcome of this case study project shows that 37% less onsite labour was needed, meaning fewer workers were exposed to health and safety risks from site operations, leading to zero reportable accidents. Good ergonomics was achieved by focussing on workplace design, thus improving workers wellbeing, together with an improved quality of work for those required on site carrying out simpler assembly tasks. Productivity gains resulted by eliminating process waste, therefore reducing the risk of labour cost escalation that could otherwise have occurred. A 7% direct labour cost reduction was made meaning the labour budget allocation was maintained. Significantly, an overall productivity of 116% was achieved using the Construction System, which compares favourably to BSRIA’s findings of an average overall productivity of only 37% when compared to observed best practice for the projects in that case study research. The results include the benefits found from the use of an innovative method to assemble, transport, and install frameless, preassembled mechanical and electrical services modules, where a 93% reduction in onsite labour was achieved together with an 8.62% cost benefit. No time slippage was experienced during onsite assembly to delay or disrupt other trades and the commissioning programme was not compressed that could otherwise have caused problems in handing over the facility to the customer. From a customer’s perspective, the built facilities were handed over on-time, to their satisfaction and to budget. The research has achieved two levels of innovation, one at a process level and one at a product level. The process innovation is the development and successful implementation of the Construction System, which is a combination of methods acting together as an antidote to the research problem. The product innovation is the development of the innovative method for assembling, transporting and installing frameless mechanical and electrical corridor modules, whereby modularisation can be achieved with or without an offsite manufacturing capability. The System is built on Lean principles and has been shown to standardise the work, process and products to create flow, pull and value delivery. It is transferable across the sponsor company’s business as well as the wider industry itself. The transformation that has occurred is the creation of a step-change in undertaking mechanical and electrical construction work, which has realised a significant improvement in performance for CHt that has “Transformed Traditional Mechanical and Electrical Construction into a Modern Process of Assembly”

Operator interfaces for the lifecycle support of component based automation systems

Current manufacturing automation systems (specifically the powertrain sector) have been facing challenges with constant pressures of globalisation, environmental concerns and ICT (Information and Communication Technology) innovations. These challenges instigate new demands for shorter product lifecycles and require customised products to be manufactured as efficiently as possible. Manufacturing systems must therefore be agile to remain competitive by supporting frequent reconfigurations involving distributed engineering activities. [Continues.

The relationships of manufacturing practices, knowledge transfer, organizational capabilities, towards manufacturing capabilities : Moderating effect of training across industries in Northern region of Malaysia

Malaysia is one of the countries which focus on the manufacturing sector to get income. That is why manufacturing capabilities are an important factor in running and developing a business. Therefore, this study aimed to identify the relationship between the factors that ensure that the manufacturing companies in Malaysia can survive among similar companies in the industry. The factors identified in this study are manufacturing practices, knowledge transfer, organization capability and manufacturing capabilities. Training is a moderating variable in this study. Through a mail survey, a total of 119 companies representing a variety of industries provided feedback. The hypothesis was tested using correlations and regression techniques. These findings support the hypothesis. The multiple regression analysis showed that there were significant correlations between the factors in each of the criteria for manufacturing capabilities. The hierarchical multiple regression analysis was conducted to test the role of the moderating variable in the relationship between the independent variables and the dependent variable. The hierarchical multiple regression results showed that training moderated and enhanced the companies to compete with others. To examine the relationship between manufacturing capabilities, manufacturing practices, knowledge transfer in manufacturing, organization capabilities and training, this research used a technology adoption theory - the Resource- based Theory. The research framework consisted of the following: four manufacturing practices, three knowledge transfer in manufacturing, two organization capabilities, three training as a moderating variables, and four manufacturing capabilities. This research used an adopted survey with a 5-3 point- Likert-scale. To analyze data, SPSS version 19.0 was used to examine the path of relationships between the variables. This study will be beneficial to the shareholders and the directors of the companies to enhance their manufacturing capabilities to keep them relevant to the manufacturing industrie

Modeling of RFID-Enabled Real-Time Manufacturing Execution System in Mixed-Model Assembly Lines

To quickly respond to the diverse product demands, mixed-model assembly lines are well adopted in discrete manufacturing industries. Besides the complexity in material distribution, mixed-model assembly involves a variety of components, different process plans and fast production changes, which greatly increase the difficulty for agile production management. Aiming at breaking through the bottlenecks in existing production management, a novel RFID-enabled manufacturing execution system (MES), which is featured with real-time and wireless information interaction capability, is proposed to identify various manufacturing objects including WIPs, tools, and operators, etc., and to trace their movements throughout the production processes. However, being subject to the constraints in terms of safety stock, machine assignment, setup, and scheduling requirements, the optimization of RFID-enabled MES model for production planning and scheduling issues is a NP-hard problem. A new heuristical generalized Lagrangian decomposition approach has been proposed for model optimization, which decomposes the model into three subproblems: computation of optimal configuration of RFID senor networks, optimization of production planning subjected to machine setup cost and safety stock constraints, and optimization of scheduling for minimized overtime. RFID signal processing methods that could solve unreliable, redundant, and missing tag events are also described in detail. The model validity is discussed through algorithm analysis and verified through numerical simulation. The proposed design scheme has important reference value for the applications of RFID in multiple manufacturing fields, and also lays a vital research foundation to leverage digital and networked manufacturing system towards intelligence