MANUFACTURING AUTOMATION

UNIT I MANUFACTURING OPERATIONS

Automation in production systems, principles and
strategies, Product/production relationships,
Production concepts and mathematical models,
manufacturing economics.
Production Systems:
• A production system is a collection of people, equipment, and procedures
organized to perform the manufacturing operations of a company. It consists of
two major components.
1. Facilities: The physical facilities of the production system include the
equipment, the way the equipment is laid out, and the factory in which the
equipment is located.
2. Manufacturing support systems: These are the procedures used by the
company to manage production and to solve the technical and logistics
problems encountered in ordering materials, moving the work through the
factory, and ensuring that products meet quality standards. Product design and
certain business functions are included in the manufacturing support systems.
Automation in Production Systems:
• The automated elements of the production system can be separated into two
categories:
1. Automation of the manufacturing systems in the factory and
2. Computerization of the manufacturing support systems.
• In modern production systems, the two categories are closely related, because
the automated manufacturing systems on the factory floor are themselves
usually implemented by computer systems that are integrated with the
manufacturing support systems and management information system operating
at the plant and enterprise levels.
Automated Manufacturing Systems:
• Automated manufacturing systems operate in the factory on the physical
product. They perform operations such as processing, assembly, inspection, and
material handling. They are called automated because they perform their
operations with a reduced level of human participation compared with the
corresponding manual process. In some highly automated systems, there is
virtually no human participation. Examples of automated manufacturing systems
include:
• Automated machine tools that process parts
• Transfer lines that perform a series of machining operations
• Automated assembly systems
• Manufacturing systems that use industrial robots to perform processing or assembly
operations
• Automatic material handling and storage systems to integrate manufacturing
operations
• Automatic inspection systems for quality control.
• Automated manufacturing systems can be classified into three basic types:
• Fixed automation,
• Programmable automation, and
• Flexible automation.
Fixed automation:
• Fixed automation is a system in which the sequence of processing (or assembly)
operations is fixed by the equipment configuration.
• Each operation in the sequence is usually simple, involving perhaps a plain linear
or rotational motion or an uncomplicated combination of the two, such as
feeding a rotating spindle.
• It is the integration and coordination of many such operations in one piece of
equipment that makes the system complex.
• Typical features of fixed automation are (1) high initial investment for custom-
engineered equipment, (2) high production rates, and (3) inflexibility of the
equipment to accommodate product variety.
• The economic justification for fixed automation is found in products that are made in
very large quantities and at high production rates. The high initial cost of the equipment
can be spread over a very large number of units, thus minimizing the unit cost relative to
alternative methods of production.
• Examples of fixed automation include machining transfer lines and automated assembly
machines.
Programmable Automation:
• In programmable automation, the production equipment is designed with the capability
to change the sequence of operations to accommodate different product configurations.
• The operation sequence is controlled by a program, which is a set of instructions coded
so that they can be read and interpreted by the system.
• New programs can be prepared and entered into the equipment to produce new
products.
• Some of the features that characterize programmable automation include
• High investment in general-purpose equipment,
• Lower production rates than fixed automation,
• Flexibility to deal with variations and changes in product configuration, and
• High suitability for batch production.
• Programmable automated systems are used in low and medium-volume
production.
• The parts or products are typically made in batches. To produce each new batch
of a different item, the system must be reprogrammed with the set of machine
instructions that correspond to the new item.
• The physical setup of the machine must also be changed:
• Tools must be loaded, fixtures must be attached to the machine table, and any
required machine settings must be entered. This changeover takes time.
• Consequently, the typical cycle for a given batch includes a period during which
the setup and reprogramming take place, followed by a period in which the parts
are produced.
• Examples of programmable automation include numerically controlled (NC)
machine tools, industrial robots, and programmable logic controllers.
Flexible Automation:
• Flexible automation is an extension of programmable automation.
• A flexible automated system is capable of producing a variety of parts or products
with virtually no time lost for changeovers from one design to the next.
• There is no lost production time while reprogramming the system and altering
the physical setup (tooling, fixtures, machine settings).
• Accordingly, the system can produce various mixes and schedules of parts or
products instead of requiring that they be made in batches.
• What makes flexible automation possible is that the differences between parts
processed by the system are not significant, so the amount of changeover
between designs is minimal.
• Features of flexible automation include
• High investment for a custom-engineered system,
• Continuous production of variable mixtures of parts or products,
• Medium production rates, and
• Flexibility to deal with product design variations. Examples of flexible
automation are flexible manufacturing systems that perform machining
processes.
Computerized Manufacturing Support Systems:
• Automation of the manufacturing support systems is aimed at reducing the amount
of manual and clerical effort in product design, manufacturing planning and control,
and the business functions of the firm.
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) denotes the pervasive use of computer
systems to design the products, plan the production, control the operations, and
perform the various information-processing functions needed in a manufacturing
firm.
• True CIM involves integrating all of these functions in one system that operates
throughout the enterprise.
• Other terms are used to identify specific elements of the CIM system; for example,
computer-aided design (CAD) supports the product design function.
• Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) is used for functions related to
manufacturing engineering, such as process planning and numerical control part
programming.
• Some computer systems perform both CAD and CAM, and so the term CAD/CAM is
used to indicate the integration of the two into one system.
• Computer-integrated manufacturing involves the information-processing
activities that provide the data and knowledge required to successfully produce
the product.
• These activities are accomplished to implement the four basic manufacturing
support functions identified earlier:
• Business functions,
• Product design,
• Manufacturing planning, and
• Manufacturing control.
Reasons for Automating:
• Increase labor productivity
• Reduce labor cost
• Mitigate the effects of labor shortages
• Reduce or eliminate routine manual and clerical tasks
• Improve worker safety
• Improve product quality
• Reduce manufacturing lead time
• Accomplish processes that cannot be done manually
• Avoid the high cost of not automating
Automation principles and strategies:
• The USA Principle,
• Ten Strategies for Automation and Process Improvement, and
• An Automation Migration Strategy
The USA Principle:
• The USA Principle is a commonsense approach to automation and process
improvement projects.
• USA stands for (1) Understand the existing process, (2) Simplify the process, and
(3) Automate the process.
• Understand the Existing Process. The first step in the USA approach is to
comprehend the current process in all of its details. What are the inputs? What
are the outputs? What exactly happens to the work unit between input and
output? What is the function of the process? How does it add value to the
product? What are the upstream and downstream operations in the production
sequence, and can they be combined with the process under consideration?
• Some of the traditional industrial engineering charting tools used in methods
analysis are useful in this regard, such as the operation chart and the flow process
chart.
• Application of these tools to the existing process provides a model of the process
that can be analyzed and searched for weaknesses (and strengths). The number
of steps in the process, the number and placement of inspections, the number of
moves and delays experienced by the work unit, and the time spent in storage
can be ascertained by these charting techniques.
• Mathematical models of the process may also be useful to indicate relationships
between input parameters and output variables. What are the important output
variables? How are these output variables affected by inputs to the process, such
as raw material properties, process settings, operating parameters, and
environmental conditions? This information may be valuable in identifying what
output variables need to be measured for feedback purposes and in formulating
algorithms for automatic process control.
Simplify the process:
• Once the existing process is understood, then the search begins for ways to
simplify. This often involves a checklist of questions about the existing process.
What is the purpose of this step or this transport? Is the step necessary? Can it be
eliminated? Does it use the most appropriate technology? How can it be
simplified? Are there unnecessary steps in the process that might be eliminated
without detracting from function?
• Can steps be combined? Can steps be performed simultaneously? Can steps be
integrated into a manually operated production line?
Automate the Process.
• Once the process has been reduced to its simplest form, then automation can be
considered. The possible forms of automation include those listed in the ten
strategies discussed in the following section. An automation migration strategy
might be implemented for a new product that has not yet proven itself.
Ten Strategies for Automation and Process Improvement:
• Specialization of operations: The first strategy involves the use of special-
purpose equipment designed to perform one operation with the greatest
possible efficiency. This is analogous to the specialization of labor, which is
employed to improve labor productivity.
• Combined operations: Production occurs as a sequence of operations. Complex
parts may require dozens or even hundreds of processing steps. The strategy of
combined operations involves reducing the number of distinct production
machines or workstations through which the part must be routed. This is
accomplished by performing more than one operation at a given machine,
thereby reducing the number of separate machines needed. Since each machine
typically involves a setup, setup time can usually be saved by this strategy.
Material handling effort, nonoperation time, waiting time, and manufacturing
lead time are all reduced.
• Simultaneous Operation: A logical extension of the combined operations strategy
is to simultaneously perform the operations that are combined at one
workstation. In effect, two or more processing (or assembly) operations are being
performed simultaneously on the same work part, thus reducing total processing
time.
• Integration of operations: This strategy involves linking several workstations
together into a single integrated mechanism, using automated work handling
devices to transfer parts between stations. In effect, this reduces the number of
separate work centers through which the product must be scheduled. With more
than one workstation, several parts can be processed simultaneously, thereby
increasing the overall output of the system.
• Increased flexibility: This strategy attempts to achieve maximum utilization of
equipment for job shop and medium-volume situations by using the same
equipment for a variety of parts or products. It involves the use of programmable
or flexible automation. Prime objectives are to reduce setup time and
programming time for the production machine. This normally translates into
lower manufacturing lead time and less work-in-process.
• Improved material handling and storage: A great opportunity for reducing
nonproductive time exists in the use of automated material handling and storage
systems. Typical benefits include reduced work-in-process, shorter manufacturing
lead times, and lower labor costs.
• On-line inspection: Inspection for quality of work is traditionally performed after
the process is completed. This means that any poor-quality product has already
been produced by the time it is inspected. Incorporating inspection into the
manufacturing process permits corrections to the process as the product is being
made. This reduces scrap and brings the overall quality of the product closer to
the nominal specifications intended by the designer.
• Process control and optimization: This includes a wide range of control schemes
intended to operate the individual processes and associated equipment more
efficiently. By this strategy, the individual process times can be reduced and
product quality can be improved.
• Plant operations control: Whereas the previous strategy is concerned with the
control of individual manufacturing processes, this strategy is concerned with
control at the plant level. It attempts to manage and coordinate the aggregate
operations in the plant more efficiently. Its implementation involves a high level
of computer networking within the factory.
• Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM): Taking the previous strategy one
level higher, CIM involves extensive use of computer systems, databases, and
networks throughout the enterprise to integrate the factory operations and
business functions.
Automation Migration Strategy:
• A typical automation migration strategy is the following:
• Phase 1: Manual production using single-station manned cells operating
independently. This is used for introduction of the new product for reasons
already mentioned: quick and low-cost tooling to get started.
• Phase 2: Automated production using single-station automated cells operating
independently. As demand for the product grows, and it becomes clear that
automation can be justified, then the single stations are automated to reduce
labor and increase production rate. Work units are still moved between
workstations manually.
• Phase 3: Automated integrated production using a multi-station automated
system with serial operations and automated transfer of work units between
stations. When the company is certain that the product will be produced in mass
quantities and for several years, then integration of the single station automated
cells is warranted to further reduce labor and increase production rate.
• Details of the automation migration strategy vary from company to company,
depending on the types of products they make and the manufacturing processes
they perform. But well-managed manufacturing companies have policies like the
automation migration strategy. There are several advantages of such a strategy:
• It allows introduction of the new product in the shortest possible time, since
production cells based on manual workstations are the easiest to design and
implement.
• It allows automation to be introduced gradually (in planned phases), as
demand for the product grows, engineering changes in the product are made,
and time is provided to do a thorough design job on the automated
manufacturing system.
• It avoids the commitment to a high level of automation from the start,
because there is always a risk that demand for the product will not justify it.