Manufacturing Research and Technology 

About: Manufacturing Research and Technology is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Cellular manufacturing & Computer-integrated manufacturing. It has an ISSN identifier of 1572-4417. Over the lifetime, 104 publications have been published receiving 1122 citations.

Production Control: A Structural and Design Oriented Approach

Abstract: 1. Introduction. Recent developments. Discussion of approaches. Basic design aspects. Overview of the content of the book. 2. Production Units and Goods Flow Control. System boundary. Basic concepts. Production units, work orders. Goods flow control. Selection of GFC-items. An engineer-to-order machine manufacturer: a case study. The case: production units and production phases. PU operational constraints: general discussion. The effects of the PU operation constraints for the engineer-to-order situation. 3. Goods Flow Control Structure. Capacity aspect and item aspect within goods flow control. Coordination of sales and production. The case situation: Aggregate and detailed level within GFC. Coordination of sales and production. Remarks. Aggregate planning. 4. Decision Making and Budgeting. Decision-making in the area of goods flow control. Budget control. Towards an integration of goods flow control and budget control. 5. The Role of Models. Operational models. Performance models. Structure. Complex performance models. 6. Information Systems. MRP II standard software packages. Information systems for customer-order driven production. The information systems' consequences of the new control concepts. An information system for the case described in Chapters 2 and 3. Appendices: Systems software. Calendars. Other types of items, defined in MRP-packages planning bills-of-material. Data structure diagramming notations. The forecast consumption technique. 7. Overview of the Cases. The control situations. 8. Production Control in a Complex Component Manufacturing Firm. Description of the production system. Goods flow control analysis and redesign. The initial structure of the assembly department. Problem analysis and definition of basic solution. 9. Structuring Production Control in a Steel Tube Manufacturing Firm. The steel tube manufacturing process. The initial production control system. Problem analysis. The new production control structure. 10. Production Control in a Consumer Electronics Factory. Existing production control system. Internal flexibility. Release stretches/production units. Aggregate production planning. Product structure and marketing structure. Operational coordination of sales and production. Information systems' consequences. Appendices. 11. Structuring the Production Control System in a Maintenance and Repair Shop. The repair shop. Analysis of the control problem. Aggregate production planning. Material coordination and production unit control. References. Subject Index. An Introduction and Conclusion are included in each chapter.

Determination Of Machining Volumes From Extensible Sets Of Design Features

Abstract: In a design by feature system, the database may contain features that are not known to a process planning system. Also, additional features arise from the shape and size of the workpiece from which the part is to be machined. Production rules are inadequate for dealing with these undocumented features. In order to get machining features, one must enhance and transform the design database. A volume decomposition method called minimum convex decomposition by halfspace partitioning has been developed to recognize machining features. First, the total volume to be removed by machining is obtained by subtracting the part from the stock. This volume is decomposed into minimum convex cells by halfspace partitioning at every concave edge. A method called maximum convex cell composition is developed to generate all alternative volume decompositions. The composing subvolumes are classified based on degree of freedom analysis. Manufacturing knowledge is characterized in fundamental terms, based on tool and workpiece motion (deep knowledge), by means of algebraic expressions. Inverse mapping of decomposed volumes into these expressions determines feasibility of various machining operations. The method deals effectively with feature interactions and results in alternative machining sequences.

Definition and Recognition of Volume Features for Process Planning

Abstract: A generic form feature recognition method called “spatial decomposition and composition” has been developed. The method can recognize all the features that are interpretable from the B-rep of a solid model regardless whether they intersect or not. Recognized features can be presented as both volume features and surface features. To specify and aid in understanding the type of volume features involved, this work first defines a concept of cavity volume to conform with our notion of cavity and then, a generic volume feature is defined as a cavity volume that has a pre-defined set of topological and geometric characteristics. A user can define a set of topological and geometric characteristics for each specific type of feature interactively with computer graphics. The spatial decomposition and composition method of feature recognition decomposes the space surrounding a solid model into minimal convex cells with the geometric surfaces of the solid model. Combinations of the cells are then composed into volumes and checked to determine if they are volume features. The exhaustive nature of the method enables the recognition of all the features, but also poses the problem of computational explosion. Some initial approaches to cope with computational explosion are introduced in this work. In addition, the on-going research on applying this feature recognition method to process planning is briefly discussed.

A Methodology For Systematic Generation And Evaluation Of Alternative Operation Plans

Abstract: This chapter describes a methodology for analyzing some of the manufacturability aspects of machined parts during the design stage of the product development cycle, so that problems related to machining can be recognized and corrected while the product is being designed. Starting with the CAD design for a proposed part, our basic approach is to systematically generate alternative operation plans for machining the part, evaluating the capabilities of each operation plan to see which one best balances the need for efficient manufacturing against the need for a quality product. We anticipate that the information provided by this analysis will be useful both to provide information to the manufacturing engineer about alternative ways in which the part might be machined, and also to give feedback to the designer about problems that might arise with the machining.

Volumetric Feature Recognition Using Convex Decomposition

Abstract: A convex decomposition called Alternating Sum of Volumes with Partitioning (ASVP) is a hierarchical volumetric representation which is obtained from the boundary information of the given solid by exploiting convexity. We describe a novel method to recognize volumetric form features intrinsic to the shape of a given solid using ASVP decomposition. We also describe how the form feature decomposition is converted into corresponding negative components to represent the removal volume for machining applications.