International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)

Importance of Information Technology in Manufacturing

Sector: A Review
Pulkit Rana1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, YMCA University of Science & Technology, Faridabad
This combination of information technology and factory
automation is often called computer- integrated
manufacturing.
Numerical control (NC) refers to the automation of
machine tools that are operated by abstractly programmed
command encoded on a storage medium, as opposed to
manually controlled via hand wheels or levers, or
mechanically automated via cams alone. The first NC
machines were built in the 1940s and 1950s, based on
existing tools that were modified with motors that moved
the controls to follow points fed into the system on
punched tape. These early servomechanisms were rapidly
augmented with analog and digital computers, creating the
modern computer numerical control (CNC) machine tools
that have revolutionized the machining processes

AbstractNowadays, in Manufacturing Sector an industry

has to look to the various demands made by its consumers,
whether it produces consumer goods or the machine tools.
Smaller lot sizes, increased product flexibility, higher product
quality, decreased delivery time, and smaller profit margins
are typical of the ambitious goals in many such organizations.
Through it all, the enterprise must consistently aim for the
five R's-- produce the right product, with the right quality, in
the right quantity, at the right price, and at the right time-and it must do more than satisfy its customers; it must delight
them. For this the organizations uses Kaizen, which consists
different elements like Teamwork, Quality circles, Personal
discipline, Improved Morale and Suggestions for
Improvement. Industries also make use of several other
concepts like 5S, 3M, 3K etc. for improving their
productivities. But, can these alone full fill our demand of
increased productivity? Certainly, answer to this question will
be NO. Thus, we need a system which can increase the level
and quality of productivity to the desired level and for this
correct and timely information is key to meeting these goals,
and information technology-- database management systems,
enterprise resource planning systems, and simulation and
computer-aided design tools-- has become indispensable to
most manufacturing enterprises. Although its role in
manufacturing has been more to support processes, IT is
evolving to become a catalyst for process and product change.
Keywords Computer Aided Design, Computer Integrated
Manufacturing, Computer Numerical Control, Direct
Numerical Control, Genetic Algorithm, Information
Technology, Supply Chain Management.

Fig: Basic components of NC system

Direct numerical control (DNC), also known

as distributed numerical control (also DNC), is a
common manufacturing term for networking CNC machine
tools. On some CNC machine controllers, the available
memory is too small to contain the machining program (for
example machining complex surfaces), so in this case the
program is stored in a separate computer that has a bulk
memory and sent directly to the machine, one block at a
time. If the computer is connected to a number of machines
it can distribute programs to different machines as required.
Usually, the manufacturer of the control provides suitable
DNC software.

I. INTRODUCTION
Computer based control systems can be combined with
manufacturing technology, such as robots, machine tools,
automated guided vehicles, to improve manufacturing
operations. In this role, the computer can assist integrating
these technologies into a lean and efficient factory capable
of competing in world markets. Organizations such as
Allen-Bradley, black and Decker, and Boeing have used
information technology and factory automation to improve
manufacturing operations.

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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
Functional Role
of IT in SCM

Transaction
Execution

Collaboration
and
Coordination

Decision
Support

The Objectives of IT in SCM are (Simchi-Levi, 2003):

Providing information availability and visibility;
Enabling a single point of contact for data;
Allowing decisions based on total supply chain
information; and
Enabling collaboration with partners.

DNC Machine

However, if this provision is not possible, some software

companies provide DNC applications that fulfill the
purpose. DNC networking or DNC communication is
always required when CAM programs are to run on some
CNC machine control.
II. EFFECT ON SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
A supply chain is essentially a set of three or more
companies directly linked by one or more of the upstream
or downstream flows of products, services, finances and
information form a source to customer. Supply chain
management may be defined as the management of the
different flows in a supply chain with a view to improving
the long term performance of the individual firms and the
supply chain as a whole. As is evident from the definition
itself, the flow of information is vital to the functioning of a
supply chain. Without information relayed at the right time
to the right place, the whole supply chain would come to a
standstill. Hence information technology, which enables
information flow within a firm, between firms, and across
the supply chain, goes a long way towards ensuring
effective and efficient supply chain management.
Information technology, in short, forms the backbone of
most corporate supply chains.
The functional roles of Information Technology in
Supply Chain Management have been outlined as follows
(Auramo et al 2005):

Effect of IT on Supply Chain Management

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Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
In single-crossover process a crossing site is randomly
chosen between the first and last bits of the chromosome
and all the bits to the right side of this crossing site are
exchanged between two parent strings, thus the right of the
crossover site of 1st parent goes to 2nd offspring and the
right of crossover site of 2nd parent goes to the 1st offspring
which is as shown:

III. ALGORITHMS IN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Genetic Algorithm based optimization is a stochastic
search method that involves the random generation of
potential design solutions and then systematically evaluates
and refines the solution until a stopping criterion is met.
G.A is method of moving from one population to a new
population of chromosomes by using natural selection
together with the genetic search process of cross over and
mutation GA works on principle of survival of fittest and
the central theme of research on genetic algorithm has been
robustness, the balance between efficiency and efficacy
necessary for the survival in many different environments.
GA has certain steps in its implementation which are:
Step 1: Initializing the function (Define Parameter and
objective function).
Step 2: Generate first population at random and determine
its fitness.
Step 3: Start Reproduction Process (Selection, Cross-over,
Mutation).
Step 4: New Generation, determine its fitness.
There are three basic operators involved in the search
process of a Genetic Algorithm:-

crossover point

1st Parent Chromosome= 001001|111

2nd Parent Chromosome= 010110|100
1st Offspring= 001001|100
2nd Offspring= 010110|111
Application of GA in optimization:
Let us apply simple genetic algorithm to a particular
problem of optimization step by step. Consider the problem
of maximizing the function f(X) = X2 where X is permitted
to vary between 0 and 31. The initial population is
randomly generated in terms of binary coded strings which
are then converted into equivalent decimal value. The
reproduction operator then operates on randomly selected
population and depending upon the probability of selection
the mating pool is formed. In the mating pool so formed the
good strings are selected and bad strings are rejected. After
reproduction the other two operators i.e. mutation and
crossover are applied to the existing population to form
new population which have better offspring. This process
keeps on going till optimized result is achieved. Below is a
table showing the working procedure of genetic algorithm
to optimize the function f(X) = X2. Where X varies from 0
to 31.

a.) Selection:During each successive generation, a proportion of the

existing population is selected to breed a new generation. It
is basically a process in which strings are selected through
a fitness based process. The probability of selection of
particular string is proportional to its own fitness and the
selection probability is defined by:Pj =F(xi)/iF(xi)
Where, Pj is selection probability and F(xi) is objective
function.

Tabular representation of fitness of given function:

b.) Mutation:Mutation is basically a common genetic manipulator

operator, aimed to maintain diversity in population and it
creates a new solution in neighborhood of current solution
by introducing small change in some aspect of current
solution, for example in a binary coded digit one bit may be
altered from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0 and thus creating new
solution. It may be illustrated as follows:
Bit Mutated
New Bit
110110 110010
c.) Crossover:It is the most powerful Genetic Operator among the all.
One of the commonly used method for Crossover is singlepoint crossover.
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International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 3, Issue 9, September 2013)
[4]

IV. CONCLUSION
IT provides features such as bar codes, which can
improve quality control. Digital displays and electronic
controls increase precision and speed during the
manufacturing process. IT is extensively used in the
manufacturing industry to reduce the cost of product
design, supply chain management and the manufacturing
process itself. IT can reduce the amount of labor required to
produce a product, improve its quality and allow
manufacturers to respond faster and more effectively to
their customers. Further with the advent of IT in field of
manufacturing design optimization algorithms are
developed to manufacture various components of the
assembly on the basis of the dimensions that are obtained
from the optimization algorithms like GA. The components
that are manufactured as per optimization algorithms have
more life, less cost and better performance. In brief we can
tabulate the advantages of IT in manufacturing sector as:1) Improved Engineering Productivity
2) Shorter Lead times
3) Improved accuracy of design
4) Saves materials and machining times by optimization
algorithms
5) Provides better functional analysis to reduce prototype
testing
6) FMS enables manufacturers to machine a wide variety
of work pieces on few machines with low staffing
levels and high degree of reliability.
7) Lowers work in process inventories.
8) Reduce scrap rate

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