Computer control system

• A computer is required to control the automated and semi-automated equipment and to

participate in the overall coordination and management of the manufacturing system.
• Even in manually driven manufacturing system, such as a completely manual assembly line, a
computer system is useful to support production.
• Typical computer system functions include:
• Communicate instructions to workers
In manually operated workstations, that perform different tasks on different work units,
processing or assembly instructions for the specific work unit must be communicated to the
worker.
• Download part programs to the computer-controlled machines (e.g. CNC machine tools)
• Material handling system control
This function is concerned with controlling the material handling system and coordinating its
activities with those of the workstations
• Schedule production
Certain production scheduling functions are accomplished at the site of the manufacturing
system.
• Failure diagnostics
This involves diagnosing equipment malfunctions, preparing preventive maintenance
schedules, and maintaining spare parts inventory.
Computer control system (continued)
• Safety monitoring
This function ensures that the system does not operate in an unsafe condition. The goal of
the system monitoring is to protect both human workers manning the system and the
equipment comprising the system.
• Quality control
The purpose of this control function is to detect and possibly reject defective work units
produced by the system.
• Operations management
Managing the overall operations of the manufacturing system, either directly by supervisory
control) or indirectly (by preparing the necessary reports for management personnel)
Human resources
• In many manufacturing systems, humans perform some or all of the value added work that is
accomplished on the parts or products. In these cases, the human workers are referred to as
direct labour.
• Through their physical labour, they directly add to the value of the work unit by performing
manual work on it or by controlling the machines that perform the work.
• In manufacturing systems that are fully automated, direct labour is still needed to perform such
activities as loading and unloading parts to and from the system, changing tools, resharpening
tools, and similar functions.
• Human workers are also needed for automated manufacturing systems to manage or support
the system as computer programmers, computer operators, part programmers for CNC
machine tools, maintenance and repair personnel, and similar indirect labour tasks.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems
• Manufacturing systems are classified based on different factors
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Type of operations performed
• First of all, manufacturing systems are distinguished by the types of operations they perform.
• At the highest level, the distinction is between
(1) processing operations on individual workunits, and

(2) assembly operations to combine individual parts into assembled entities.

 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Type of operations performed (continued)
• Additional parameters of the product that play a role in determining the design of the
manufacturing system include: type of material processed, size and weight of the part or
product, and part geometry
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Type of operations performed (continued)
• For example, machined parts can be classified according to part geometry as rotational and
nonrotational.
• Rotational parts are cylindrical or disk shaped and require turning and related rotational
operations.

• Nonrotational (also called prismatic) parts are rectangular or cube like and require
milling and related machining operations to shape them.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Type of operations performed (continued)
• Manufacturing systems that perform machining operations must be distinguished according to
whether they make rotational or nonrotational parts.
• The distinction is important not only because of differences in the machining processes and
machine tools required, but also because the material handling system must be engineered
differently for the two cases.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Number of workstations and system layout
• The number of workstations is a key factor in our classification scheme.
• It exerts a strong influence on the performance of the manufacturing system in terms of
production capacity, productivity, cost per unit, etc.
• Let us denote the number of workstations in the system by the symbol n.
• As the number of stations is increased, the amount of work that can be accomplished by the
system increases.
• This translates into a higher production rate, certainly as compared with a single workstation’s
output, but also compared with the same number of single stations working independently.
• The synergistic benefit might be derived from the fact that the totality of work performed on the
part or product is too complex to engineer at a single workstation.
• There are too many individual tasks to perform at one workstation.
• By assigning separate tasks to individual stations, the task performed at each station is
simplified.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Number of workstations and system layout (continued)
• More stations also mean that the system is more complex and therefore more difficult to
manage and maintain.
• The system consists of more workers, more machines, and more parts being handled.
• The logistics and coordination of the system become more involved.
• Maintenance problems occur more frequently.
• Closely related to number of workstations is the arrangement of workstations, that is, the way
the stations are laid out.
• This, of course, applies mainly to the systems with multiple stations.
• Are the stations arranged for variable routing or fixed routing?
• Workstations layouts organized for variable routing can have a variety of possible
configurations.
• Layouts organized for fixed routing are usually arranged linearly, as in production line.
• The layout of stations is an important factor in determining the most appropriate material
handling system.
• Our classification scheme is applicable to manufacturing systems that perform either
processing or assembly operations.
• Although these operations are different, the manufacturing systems to perform them possess
similar configurations.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Number of workstations and system layout (continued)
• According to the number of stations and the layout of the stations, our classification scheme
has three levels:
Type I
Single station: This is the simplest case,
consisting of one workstation (n =1), usually
including a production machine that can be
manually operated, semi-automated, or fully
automated.
Type II
Multiple stations with variable routing: This
manufacturing system consists of two or more
stations (n > 1) that are designed and
arranged to accommodate the processing or
assembly of different part or product styles.
Type III
Multiple stations with fixed routing: This system
has two or more workstations (n > 1), which
are laid out as a production line.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Level of automation
• The level of automation is another important factor that characterizes the manufacturing
system.
• As we have seen, the workstations (machines) in a manufacturing system can be manually
operated, semi-automated, or automated.
Manning level
• Closely related to the level of automation is the proportion of time that direct labour must be in
attendance at each station.
• The manning level of a workstation, symbolized Mi is the proportion of time that a worker is in
attendance at the station.
• If Mi = 1 for station i, it means that one worker must be at the station continuously.
• If one worker tends four automatic machines, then Mi = 0.25 for each of the four machines,
assuming each machine requires the same amount of attention.
• On portions of an automobile final assembly line, there are stations where multiple workers
perform assembly tasks on the car, in which case Mi = 2 or 3 or more.
• In general, high values of Mi (Mi >= 1) indicate manual operations at the workstation, while low
values of (Mi <1) denote some form of automation.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Level of automation (continued)
• The average manning level of a multi-station manufacturing system is a useful indicator of the
direct labour content of the system.
• Let us define it as follows.

where M = average manning level for the system; wu = number of utility workers assigned to the
system; wi = number of workers assigned specifically to station i, for i = 1, 2, …, n; and w =
total number of workers assigned to the system.
• Utility workers are workers who are not specifically assigned to individual processing or
assembly stations; instead they perform functions such as (1) relieving workers at stations for
personal breaks (2) maintenance and repair of the system (3) tool changing, and (4) loading
and/or unloading work units to and from the system.
• Even a fully automated multi-station manufacturing system is likely to have one or more
workers who are responsible for keeping it running.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Automation in the classification scheme
• Including automation in our classification scheme, we have two possible automation levels for
single stations and three possible levels for multi station systems.
• The two levels for single stations (type I) are M = manned station and A = fully automated.
• The manned station is identified by the fact that one or more workers must be at the station
every cycle.
• This means that any machine at the station is manually operated or semi-automatic and that
manning is equal to or greater than one (M >= 1).
• However, in some cases, one worker may be able to attend more than one machine, if the
semi-automatic cycle is long relative to the service required each cycle of the worker (thus, M
<1).
• A fully automated system requires less than full-time attention of a worker (M < 1).
• For multiple station systems (type II and III), the levels M and A are applicable, and a third level
is possible: H = hybrid, in which some stations are manned and others are fully automated.
• Listing the alternatives, we have the following:
Type I M Single station manned cell.
• The basic case is one machine and one worker (n = 1, w = 1). The machine is manually operated or
semi-automatic, and the worker must be in continuous attendance at the machine.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Automation in the classification scheme (continued)
Type I A Single station automated cell
• This is a fully automated machine capable of unattended
operation (M < 1) for extended periods of time (longer than one
machine cycle).
• A worker must periodically load and unload the machine or
otherwise service it.
Type II M Multi-station manual system with variable
routing
• This has multiple stations that are manually
operated or semi-automated.
• The layout and work transport system allow for
various routes to be followed by the parts or
products made by the system.
• Work transport between stations is either manual or
mechanized.
Type II A Multi-station automated system with
variable routing
• This is the same as the previous system, except the
stations are fully automated ( n>1, wi = 0, M <1).
• Work transport is also fully automated.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Automation in the classification scheme (continued)
Type II H Multi-station hybrid system with variable routing
• This manufacturing system contains both manned and
automated stations.
• Work transport is manual, automated or a mixture (hybrid).

Type III M Multi-station manual system with fixed routing

• This manufacturing system consists of two or more
stations (n > 1), with one or more workers at each
station (wi >=1).
• The operations are sequential, thus necessitating a
fixed routing, usually laid out as a production line.
• Work transport between stations is either manual or
mechanized.
Type III M Multi-station automated system with fixed routing
• This system consists of two or more automated systems
( n > 1, wi = 0, M <1) arranged as a production line or
similar configuration.
• Work transport is fully automated.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Automation in the classification scheme (continued)
Type III H Multi-station hybrid system with fixed routing
• This system includes both manual and automated stations ( n > 1, wi >=1 for some
stations, wi = 0 for other stations, M >0).
• Work transport is manual, automated, or a mixture (hybrid).
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety
• A fourth factor that characterizes a manufacturing system is the degree to which it is capable of
dealing with variations in the parts or products it produces.
• Example of possible variations that a manufacturing system may have to cope with include:
•Variations in type and / or colour of plastic of moulded parts in injection moulding
•Variations in electronic components placed on a standard size printed circuit board
•Variations in the size of printed circuit boards handled by a component placement machine
•Variations in geometry of machined parts
•Variations in parts and options in an assembled product on a final assembly line.
Model variations: Three cases
• Manufacturing systems can be distinguished according to their capability to deal with variety in
the work units produced.
• Three cases of part or product variation in manufacturing systems are distinguished:
(1) single model
(2) batch model, and
(3) mixed model.
• The three cases are identified by letters S, B and X, respectively.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Model variations: Three cases (continued)
• The typical level of product variety can also be correlated with the three categories. These
features are summarized in the table below.

• Hard product variety is when the products differ substantially.

• In an assembled product, hard variety is characterized by a low proportion of the common parts
among the products; in many cases, there are no common parts.
• For example, the difference between a car and a truck manufactured by an automotive
company is hard.
• Soft product variety is when there are only small differences between products, such as the
differences between car models made on the same production line.
• There is a high proportion of common parts among assembled products whose variety is soft.
• The variety between different product categories tends to be hard; the variety between different
models within the same product category tends to be soft.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Model variations: Three cases (continued)
• In the single model case, all parts or products made by the manufacturing system are
identical.
• There are no variations.
• In this case, demand for the item must be sufficient to justify dedication of the system to
production of that item for an extended period of time, perhaps several years.
• Equipment associated with the system is specialized and designed for the highest possible
efficiency.
• Fixed automation in single model systems are common.
• In the batch model case, different parts or products are made by the system but they are
made in batches because a change over in physical set-up and / or equipment programming
is required between models.
• Changeover of the manufacturing system is required because the differences in part or
product style are significant enough that the system cannot cope, unless changes in tooling
and programming are made.
• It is a case of hard product variety.
• The time needed to accomplish the changeover requires the system to be operated in a batch
mode, in which a batch of one product style is followed by a batch of another, and so on.

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