An extensible manufacturing resource model for process integration

Driven by industrial needs and enabled by process technology and information technology, enterprise integration is rapidly shifting from information integration to process integration to improve overall performance of enterprises. Traditional resource models are established based on the needs of individual applications. They cannot effectively serve process integration which needs resources to be represented in a unified, comprehensive and flexible way to meet the needs of various applications for different business processes. This paper looks into this issue and presents a configurable and extensible resource model which can be rapidly reconfigured and extended to serve for different applications. To achieve generality, the presented resource model is established from macro level and micro level. A semantic representation method is developed to improve the flexibility and extensibility of the model

Principles for aerospace manufacturing engineering in integrated new product introduction

This article investigates the value-adding practices of Manufacturing Engineering for integrated New Product Introduction. A model representing how current practices align to support lean integration in Manufacturing Engineering has been defined. The results are used to identify a novel set of guiding principles for integrated Manufacturing Engineering. These are as follows: (1) use a data-driven process, (2) build from core capabilities, (3) develop the standard, (4) deliver through responsive processes and (5) align cross-functional and customer requirements. The investigation used a mixed-method approach. This comprises case studies to identify current practice and a survey to understand implementation in a sample of component development projects within a major aerospace manufacturer. The research contribution is an illustration of aerospace Manufacturing Engineering practices for New Product Introduction. The conclusions will be used to indicate new priorities for New Product Introduction and the cross-functional interactions to support flawless and innovative New Product Introduction. The final principles have been validated through a series of consultations with experts in the sponsoring company to ensure that correct and relevant content has been defined

Made to serve: a model of the operations practices and technologies that deliver servitization

This paper explores how successfully servitised manufacturers deliver advanced services and proposes a model that describes how they configure their operations. A case study methodology is applied across four manufacturing organisations successful in delivering advanced services. A descriptive model is then formed based around six popular technologies and practices

Operations capability, productivity and business performance: the moderating effect of environmental dynamism

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between operations capability, productivity and business performance in the context of environmental dynamism. Design/methodology/approach – A proposed conceptual framework grounded in the resourcebased view (RBV) and dynamic capability view (DCV) is analysed using archival data from 193 automakers in the UK. Findings – The results show that operations capability, as an important dynamic capability, has a significant positive effect on productivity, which in turn leads to improved business performance. The results also suggest that productivity fully mediates the relationship between operations capability and business performance, and that environmental dynamism significantly moderates the relationship between operations capability and productivity. Practical implications – The research findings provide practical insights that will help managers develop operations capability to gain greater productivity and business performance in a dynamic environment

Integrating IVHM and Asset Design

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) describes a set of capabilities that enable effective and efficient maintenance and operation of the target vehicle. It accounts for the collection of data, conducting analysis, and supporting the decision-making process for sustainment and operation. The design of IVHM systems endeavours to account for all causes of failure in a disciplined, systems engineering, manner. With industry striving to reduce through-life cost, IVHM is a powerful tool to give forewarning of impending failure and hence control over the outcome. Benefits have been realised from this approach across a number of different sectors but, hindering our ability to realise further benefit from this maturing technology, is the fact that IVHM is still treated as added on to the design of the asset, rather than being a sub-system in its own right, fully integrated with the asset design. The elevation and integration of IVHM in this way will enable architectures to be chosen that accommodate health ready sub-systems from the supply chain and design trade-offs to be made, to name but two major benefits. Barriers to IVHM being integrated with the asset design are examined in this paper. The paper presents progress in overcoming them, and suggests potential solutions for those that remain. It addresses the IVHM system design from a systems engineering perspective and the integration with the asset design will be described within an industrial design process

Agent and cyber-physical system based self-organizing and self-adaptive intelligent shopfloor

The increasing demand of customized production results in huge challenges to the traditional manufacturing systems. In order to allocate resources timely according to the production requirements and to reduce disturbances, a framework for the future intelligent shopfloor is proposed in this paper. The framework consists of three primary models, namely the model of smart machine agent, the self-organizing model, and the self-adaptive model. A cyber-physical system for manufacturing shopfloor based on the multiagent technology is developed to realize the above-mentioned function models. Gray relational analysis and the hierarchy conflict resolution methods were applied to achieve the self-organizing and self-adaptive capabilities, thereby improving the reconfigurability and responsiveness of the shopfloor. A prototype system is developed, which has the adequate flexibility and robustness to configure resources and to deal with disturbances effectively. This research provides a feasible method for designing an autonomous factory with exception-handling capabilities

Security aspects in cloud based condition monitoring of machine tools

In the modern competitive environments companies must have rapid production systems that are able to deliver parts that satisfy highest quality standards. Companies have also an increased need for advanced machines equipped with the latest technologies in maintenance to avoid any reduction or interruption of production. Eminent therefore is the need to monitor the health status of the manufacturing equipment in real time and thus try to develop diagnostic technologies for machine tools. This paper lays the foundation for the creation of a safe remote monitoring system for machine tools using a Cloud environment for communication between the customer and the maintenance service company. Cloud technology provides a convenient means for accessing maintenance data anywhere in the world accessible through simple devices such as PC, tablets or smartphones. In this context the safety aspects of a Cloud system for remote monitoring of machine tools becomes crucial and is, thus the focus of this pape

Survey on Additive Manufacturing, Cloud 3D Printing and Services

Cloud Manufacturing (CM) is the concept of using manufacturing resources in a service oriented way over the Internet. Recent developments in Additive Manufacturing (AM) are making it possible to utilise resources ad-hoc as replacement for traditional manufacturing resources in case of spontaneous problems in the established manufacturing processes. In order to be of use in these scenarios the AM resources must adhere to a strict principle of transparency and service composition in adherence to the Cloud Computing (CC) paradigm. With this review we provide an overview over CM, AM and relevant domains as well as present the historical development of scientific research in these fields, starting from 2002. Part of this work is also a meta-review on the domain to further detail its development and structure

Integrating IVHM and asset design

Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) describes a set of capabilities that enable effective and efficient maintenance and operation of the target vehicle. It accounts for the collecting of data, conducting analysis, and supporting the decision-making process for sustainment and operation. The design of IVHM systems endeavours to account for all causes of failure in a disciplined, systems engineering, manner. With industry striving to reduce through-life cost, IVHM is a powerful tool to give forewarning of impending failure and hence control over the outcome. Benefits have been realised from this approach across a number of different sectors but, hindering our ability to realise further benefit from this maturing technology, is the fact that IVHM is still treated as added on to the design of the asset, rather than being a sub-system in its own right, fully integrated with the asset design. The elevation and integration of IVHM in this way will enable architectures to be chosen that accommodate health ready sub-systems from the supply chain and design trade-offs to be made, to name but two major benefits. Barriers to IVHM being integrated with the asset design are examined in this paper. The paper presents progress in overcoming them, and suggests potential solutions for those that remain. It addresses the IVHM system design from a systems engineering perspective and the integration with the asset design will be described within an industrial design process