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Article in ARCHIVE Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part C Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science 1989-1996 (vols 203-210) · September 2017
DOI: 10.1177/0954406217728531
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Abstract
Under industry 4.0, the production control system of smart job shop should be able to real-time respond to various
production events and effectively coordinate different kinds of manufacturing resources in good order according to their
material flows. Production events enabled real-time production control system is good at responsibility and flexibility.
Internet of things (IoT) can provide enormous real-time production events, which represent the change of material
flows. However, some of production events seriously interfere with production control procedures. They sharply
restrict the real-time capability of production control system. Thus, it is imperative that an efficient realization
method of production control system, which is enabled by useful production events. Additionally, the control system
should satisfy production control procedures visibility. For solving the problems, a production events graphical deduction
model enabled real-time production control system for smart job shop is proposed in this article. Firstly, the manu-
facturing resources are divided into work in process related, operator-related, cutting tool-related, fixture tool-related,
and measuring tool-related. And the material flows of different manufacturing resources in IoT-enabled smart job shop
are described in detail. Secondly, the graphical deduction model of production event is put forward. Based on the model,
the material flows of manufacturing resources in a process are segmented into several stages according to different
production events. And then, the cooperation model of manufacturing resources is established by using the time and
logical relationships between production events. Thirdly, the control model in a process is drawn from the cooperation
model. Next, the entire control procedure of work in process production in IoT-enabled smart job shop is proposed.
Finally, a small-scale IoT-enabled manufacturing system is used to verify the feasibility of the proposed model and
methods.
Keywords
Production events, graphical deduction model, real-time production control system, smart job shop, IoT/RFID
PE is an indispensable part of PCS for smart job real-time rescheduled the original production schedule
shop. To realize operational level control, the PCS according to the impact of recessive disturbances.4
needs more PEs which can represent the changes Liu and Miao18 applied RFID in PCS in a discrete
of material flows of manufacturing resources in a manufacturing system. They built a RFID activity
process. But it is impossible in traditional job shops monitor system to satisfy real-time production pro-
because the PCS cannot get the real-time production cess control requirement. From the existing literature,
information.4 it can be found that the IoT/RFID-based PCS is at
With the advent of Internet of things (IoT), espe- process level. And they can real-time control job shop
cially RFID, the material flows of manufacturing production to reduce the differences between produc-
resources can be captured by RFID devices that are tion planning and actual production procedures.19
deployed in job shop. The IoT-enabled job shop, also But the PCS in industry 4.0 needs lower level.
called smart job shop in industry 4.0, is beneficial to It should real-time coordinate all manufacturing
production tracking and control. RFID applied in resources in the process.
material flow tracking has been studied in greater Some researchers have started using IoT/RFID to
detail.5 Wang et al.6 used RFID to develop a tracking realize lower real-time control system in manufactur-
system for tracking the object movement and further ing domain. By virtue of RFID, Qiu20 achieved
predict object positions in the assembly lines. Huang process automation of semiconductor equipment to
et al.7 used RFID and wireless information networks ensure the completion of each machining process.
for the collection and synchronization of the real-time Liu et al.2 proposed a distributed control system for
data about material and manpower flows from man- mass customization production, in which RFID made
ufacturing workshops. Vogel et al.8 used RFID-based the control system more dynamic and flexible in tack-
asset tracking and more precisely tool tracking to ling instant changes in the manufacturing systems.
monitor tool real-time location and condition. The authors introduced IoT and RFID into machin-
Qu et al.9 discussed a real-life case of applying ing process to realize a decentralized control system in
RFID for managing material distribution in a com- which the WIP can communicate with other manufac-
plex assembly shop floor, where the entrance/exit turing resources. From the discussion above, it can be
of RFID-tagged objects were monitored by RFID- seen that IoT/RFID is conducive to the improvement
Gateways. In the authors’ early research, an RFID- of process automation as well as collaboration among
driven graphical formalized deduction model was manufacturing resources. But the existing literature does
proposed for monitoring the time-sensitive state not combine the PCS with the production planning.
changes of material flow in a job shop.10–12 In addition, real-time PCS should satisfy produc-
IoT provides enormous real-time PEs. But most of tion control procedures visibility. Visibility system is
them are useless for PCS. They should be quickly utilized in the manufacturing processes to detect the
distinguished by the PCS in order to reduce their status of the production activity, analyze its perform-
adverse effects.3 Brusey and McFarlane13 separated ance, and help making intelligent decisions. It is an
valid events from other events by some time period essential element of real-time PCS and can improve
for correctly identifying, tracking, and dealing with production control efficiency by giving operator
aggregated objects in customized production with prompting message.21,22 Additionally, network man-
the use of RFID. Wang et al.14 proposed the declara- ufacturing forces companies to improve production
tive RFID rules language to detect RFID event. visibility by implementing effective production moni-
Moon et al.15 presented an XML-based language for toring.23 It has been illustrated by numerous indus-
describing RFID event and then processed the RFID trial applications that RFID can enhance production
event as contextual event. In fact, many more meth- visibility and transparency. But there are few studies
ods to detect valid PEs can be found from the litera- focused on the visibility of production control proced-
ture, but most of them are mainly suitable for RFID ures using IoT and RFID in a process.
events. And they are not appropriate for other IoT For solving above problems of IoT/RFID applica-
events (e.g. sensor event).15 tion, this article proposes a production events enabled
Although IoT and RFID have long been used to real-time production control system. Firstly, this
track the material flows of manufacturing resources, article defines the manufacturing resources which
they as integral part of the PCS are not to be fully should be controlled in production procedures, such
exploited.13,16 Huang et al.17 proposed a wireless as WIP-related, operator-related, cutting tool-related,
manufacturing framework where RFID devices are fixture tool-related, and measuring tool-related. Then,
deployed to workstations, critical tools, key compo- it describes the material flows of different manufactur-
nents, and containers of WIP. RFID tracked the ing resources in IoT-enabled smart job shop in detail.
manufacturing resources and fed back shop floor Next, it segments each material flow in a process into
disturbance to decision makers on a real-time basis. several stages with the help of PEs, which are
The authors proposed a rescheduling decision obtained by IoT/RFID. According to the time and
mechanism, which used RFID to detect the recessive logical relationships between PEs, the cooperation
disturbances in actual manufacturing processes, and model of manufacturing resources for a process is
Wang et al. 3
established, which can identify the valid PEs in time. The logistics operator uses delivering vehicle to trans-
Based on the authors’ previous work, this article port the WIP. (2) In-buffer hoisting. When the WIP
presents a production events graphical deduction arrives at the entrance of the workstation, the porter
model (PEGDM). And relying on PEGDM, the visu- hoists it from the delivering vehicle by using crane. (3)
alization of production control procedures would be In-buffer. The porter puts the WIP into the in-buffer
easy to realize not only at operational level but also at of the workstation waiting for machining. (4)
process level. Loading. If the WIP would be machined, the porter
This article combines the efforts of the following hoists it from the in-buffer onto the machine tool. (5)
three aspects: (1) the real-time PCS can achieve the Fastening. The WIP is fastened onto the machine tool
refined control not only at process level but also at by fixtures. (6) Machining. The WIP is in machining
operational level, it can ensure that different kinds of until all requiring machining tasks of the process are
manufacturing resources work in the desired order; completed. (7) Unloading. If the machining tasks
(2) the identification of PE is valid for RFID events finish, the porter unloads the WIP from the machine
as well as other IoT events, and the real-time PCS can tool. (8) Out-buffer. The WIP is put into out-buffer
reduce the occurrence of improper response and waiting for machining quality inspection. (9)
improve the responsibility; (3) the real-time produc- Inspection hoisting. If the measurer and measuring
tion control procedures are visible for job shop tools are ready, the porter hoists the WIP from the
managers. out-buffer onto the measuring table. (10) Quality
The remainder of this article is organized as fol- inspection. The measurer inspects the machining
lows: the upcoming section describes the material results according to the quality requirements of the
flow of manufacturing resources in IoT-enabled process. (11) Transportation hoisting. The porter hoists
smart job shop. Next, the material flow model of man- the WIP from the measuring table onto the delivering
ufacturing resources based on production events vehicle for transportation to next workstation.
graphical deduction model is depicted. Production
events based real-time PCS is discussed later.
Subsequently, a small-scale IoT-enabled manufactur-
The material flow of fixture tools
ing system is taken as an example to illustrate the The use of fixture tools is closely related to the
utility of the proposed models and methods. Finally, machining tasks of the process. The material flow of
discussion and conclusion are presented. fixture tools in a process can be depicted as the green
arrow lines shown in Figure 1. It can be divided to
The material flow of manufacturing several stages according to the machining procedure.
(1) Transportation. When the WIP is in in-buffer, the
resources in IoT-enabled smart job shop machine operator applies for the fixture tools used
The PCS of job shop controls the material flow of in current process. And then, the fixture tools are
manufacturing resources according to production transported from the fixture tools warehouse to the
schedule. The manufacturing resources involved in workstation. (2) In-buffer. The fixture tools arrive at
WIP manufacturing procedures mainly include the workstation, and are put into the in-buffer waiting
WIP, operators, cutting tools, fixture tools, and for mounting on the machine tool. (3) Mounting.
measuring tools. Correspondingly, the material flow If the WIP would be machined, the fixture tools are
of manufacturing resources can be divided into WIP- mounted onto the machine tool waiting for the WIP
related, operator-related, cutting tool-related, fixture loading. (4) Dismounting. If the machining tasks com-
tool-related, and measuring tool-related, as described pleted and the WIP is unloaded, the fixture tools are
in Figure 1. dismounted from the machine tool. (5) Out-buffer.
The fixture tools are put into the out-buffer waiting
for returning the fixture tools warehouse. (6) Returning.
The material flow of WIP
The fixture tools are returned into the fixture tools
The material flow of WIP can be depicted by the red warehouse.
arrow lines as shown in Figure 1. Firstly, the raw
material of WIP is from the raw material warehouse.
Secondly, it is delivered sequentially to the worksta-
The material flow of cutting tools
tions according to its processing routine in the smart The material flow of cutting tools is similar to the
job shop by logistics operator. Finally, the WIP is fixture tools depicted by purple arrow lines in
transported to the finished products warehouse. Figure 1. (1) Transportation. When the WIP is
Obviously, the WIP may be directly transported loaded on the machine tools from the in-buffer, the
to the scraped products warehouse at each process machine operator applies for the cutting tools used in
endpoint if the machining result is not qualified. current process. And the cutting tools are transported
The material flow of WIP in a workstation can be from the cutting tools warehouse to the workstation.
further subdivided to lower-level stages, as the work- (2) In-buffer. The cutting tools arrive at the worksta-
station n shown in Figure 1. (1) Transportation. tion, and are put into the in-buffer waiting for
4 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
Figure 1. The material flow of manufacturing resources in IoT-enabled smart job shop.
mounting on the machine tool. (3) Mounting. If the and the machining results are qualified, the cutting
WIP has been loaded on the machine tool, the cutting tools are dismounted from the machine tool. (5)
tools are mounted onto the machine tool. (4) Out-buffer. The cutting tools are put into the out-
Dismounting. If the machining tasks are completed buffer waiting for returning the cutting tools
Wang et al. 5
warehouse. (6) Returning. The cutting tools are monitors the WIPs and manufacturing resources in
returned into the cutting tools warehouse. out-stock. The RFID antenna 5 is deployed at the
quality inspection table. And the RFID antenna 6 is
deployed at the exit of the workstation.
The material flow of measuring tools
Through configuring RFID devices, the PCS can
The material flow of measuring tools can also be detect the time-sensitive state and position changes of
divided to six stages according to its using procedure, WIPs and manufacturing resources in a workstation.
as shown by the blue arrow lines in Figure 1. (1) Additionally, IoT in smart job shop also includes
Transportation. When the WIP is loaded on the intelligent sensors, which can send the running
machine tools from the in-buffer, the machine status of machine tool to the PCS. For example, the
operator applies for the measuring tools used in energy sensor can capture the start time and end time
the current process. And the measuring tools are of the machining tasks.
transported from the measuring tools warehouse to The real-time production data captured by IoT can
the workstation. (2) In-buffer. The measuring be viewed as the representation of production events
tools arrive at the workstation, and are put into the which reflect the changes about time, space, and status
in-buffer. (3) Inspection. If the machining tasks are of the WIPs and manufacturing resources.
completed, the machine operator could use the
measuring tools to confirm the machining results.
Note that this inspection is the self-inspection, which
Production events graphical deduction model
is different from the quality inspection checked by the For explanatory purposes, some definitions should be
measurer. (4) Out-buffer. If the machining results are firstly defined as follows:
qualified, the measuring tools are put into the
out-buffer waiting for returning the measuring tools Definition 1.
warehouse. (5) Returning. The measuring tools are A production event is defined as the production
returned into the measuring tools warehouse. action that happens on a process at a specific time-
From what has been discussed above, it can be stamp, e.g. machining task start event, machining task
found that all material flows of manufacturing finish event, WIP pass-through event.
resources intersect with each other at a workstation.
Hence, the real-time PCS should achieve the coordin- Definition 2.
ation of different manufacturing resources at process A production state is defined as the temporarily
level. continuous situation of a production stage, e.g. WIP
in in-buffer, WIP in machining, WIP in out-buffer, etc.
A production event would trigger the process from
The material flow model of one production state to another production state.
manufacturing resources based This means that at the time of the production event
on production events graphical occurrence, the manufacturing resources used in
next production state should be ready to complete
deduction model
corresponding machining action. Hence, the graphical
Under industry 4.0, IoT plays an important role in deduction model of production event and production
real-time PCS. In IoT-enabled smart job shop, All state can be described as in Figure 2.
WIPs and manufacturing resources should be labeled If the production event and the subsequent
with RFID tags. And other RFID devices are machining action are taken into consideration as a
deployed everywhere in the job shop.24 Smart job whole, the production event can be formalized by
shop can use the real-time production data from the following equation
IoT to achieve real-time production control and man- n o
agement.3,4,25 The typical IoT configuration of a PEki,j ::¼ tki,j , TRki,j , Aki,j , Tki,j , Cki,j , Pki,j ð1Þ
workstation is the same as follows, as shown in
Figure 1. The workstation is configured with one
RFID reader, which has six RFID antennas. The where PEki,j is the jth production event in process i for
RFID antenna 1 is deployed at the entrance of WIP k. tki,j and TRki,j represent the triggering time and
the workstation which captures the ID information trigger source of PEki,j , respectively. Aki,j is the operator
of the passed WIPs and manufacturing resources. of subsequent machining action. Tki,j is the tools used
The RFID antenna 2 is deployed at the in-buffer of in subsequent machining action. Cki,j stands for the
the workstation, which monitors the WIPs and man- subsequent machining action. Pki,j is the position of
ufacturing resources in in-stock. The RFID antenna 3 production event occurrence.
is deployed at the machine tool of the workstation, From Figure 2, it can be found that a production
which monitors the WIPs and manufacturing event is the only reason that changes the production
resources on the machine tool. The RFID antenna 4 state. In other words, the triggering time tki,j of the
is deployed at the out-buffer of the workstation which production event is the ending time of the previous
6 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
inspection transportation
transportation in-buffer fastening unloading hoisting hoisting
in-buffer quality
hoisting loading machining out-buffer inspection
time
production state PSki,j1 , and it is also the starting time other manufacturing resources material flows in
of the subsequent production state PSki,j . detail, the ‘‘Loading’’ stage is divided into two states
as ‘‘loading’’ and ‘‘fastening’’. The definitions of those
The material flow graphical deduction PEs and corresponding detecting sensor are listed as
in Table 1.
model of WIP
Using the PEGDM, the previous material flow of The material flow graphical deduction models of
WIP in a workstation can be modeled as in Figure 3.
From Figure 3, it can be found that there are 13
fixture tools, cutting tools, and measuring tools
PEs driving this process. Note that for describing the Similarly, the material flows of fixture tools, cutting
relationship between the material flow of WIP and tools, and measuring tools can be easily depicted by
Wang et al. 7
Table 1. The production events of the work in process (WIP) material flow in a workstation.
using the PEGDM (see Figure 4(a), (b), and (c)). Additionally, from the material flow graphical deduc-
From Figure 4, it can be found that the material tion models of manufacturing resources, it can be seen
flows of three types of tools do not have hoisting that most PEs occur in a sequence for a manufacturing
states, which are different from the material flows of resource. Hence, another time relationship between the
WIP. It is because that the common fixture tools, production events is sequence, it can be described as
cutting tools, and measuring tools are not heavy,
Y Y Y
e.g. combination fixture and combination cutter, PEk
5 PE k
5 PEk
ð3Þ
tk i,l tk i,m tk i,n
and they can be directly taken by the machine tool i,l i,m i,n
The graphical deduction model of the synchronized The NOT relationship means that PEki,n occur only
time relationship is as depicted in Figure 5(a). when PEki,m does not occur. For example, the
8 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
(a)
transportation mounting out-buffer
time
(b)
transportation mounting out-buffer
time
(c)
transportation inspection returning
in-buffer out-buffer
time
Figure 4. The material flow graphical deduction model of other tools in a workstation: (a) the material flow graphical deduction
model of fixture tools in a workstation; (b) the material flow graphical deduction model of cutting tools in a workstation; (c) the
material flow graphical deduction model of measuring tools in a workstation.
Table 2. The production events of the fixture tools material flow in a workstation.
machining results of current process are qualified only Material flow graphical deduction model based
when any failed machining result does not occur.
cooperation model of manufacturing resources
The NOT relationship is as depicted in Figure 6(c),
and its formulation can be described as In a machining process, the manufacturing resources
must cooperate with each other to complete the
PEki,n ¼ : PEki,m ð6Þ machining tasks of the WIP smoothly. Based on
Wang et al. 9
Table 3. The production events of the cutting tools material flow in a workstation.
Table 4. The production events of the measuring tools material flow in a workstation.
(a) (b)
time time
Figure 5. The time relationships between production events: (a) synchronization; (b) sequence.
Figure 6. The logical relationships between production events: (a) AND; (b) OR; (c) NOT.
the previous material flow graphical deduction model, concurrently, i.e. applying for the fixture tools
the cooperation model of WIP, cutting tools, fixture (PEki,14 ), and keeping the WIP in in-buffer until
tools, and measuring tools is as described in Figure 7. the fixture tools have been mounted onto the
According to the definitions of PEs in Tables 1, 2, machine tool (PEki,2 ), as the red line 1 in Figure 7.
3, and 4, it can be found that there are four sets of 2. When the WIP is moved on the machine tool, there
synchronized production events. Their implications are three production activities that could be per-
are explained as follows. formed concurrently, i.e. applying for the cutting
tools (PEki,21 ), applying for the measuring tools
1. When the WIP is moved in in-buffer, there should (PEki,28 ), and keeping the WIP on the machine
be two production activities that must be performed tool (PEki,4 ), as the red line 2 in Figure 7.
10 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
time
time
6 7 8 time
2 4
1
5
time
3. When the machine operator completes the self- Production events based production
inspection by using digital measuring tools, there
control in a process
are three production activities that could be
performed concurrently, i.e. putting the measuring According to Figure 7, the control procedures of
tools into out-buffer (PEki,8 ), dismounting the manufacturing resources in a process can be described
cutting tools from the machine tool (PEki,25 ), and as in Figure 8. Based on Figure 8, the real-time PCS in
unloading the WIP from the machine tool (PEki,31 ), a process can be designed as follows.
as the red line 3 in Figure 7.
4. When the WIP is unloaded from the machine tool, 1. The generation of real-time control instruction.
there are two production activities that could When a PE occurs, the real-time control system
be performed concurrently, i.e. dismounting the would judge its validity. From Figure 8, it can
fixture tools from the machine tool (PEki,9 ) and be easily found that the validity of the PE can be
keeping the WIP in the out-buffer (PEki,18 ), as the judged according to the time and logical relation-
red line 4 in Figure 7. ships between related PEs. According to the
graphical deduction model of the relationships
Additionally, there are four sets PEs that trigger (see Figures 5 and 6), a valid PE indicates that
the state change of another manufacturing resource. all the former PEs, which are connected to the
Their implications are explained as follows. PE using directed line, have occurred in sequence.
For example, the validity of PEki,3 can be described
1. The WIP can be moved on the machine tool only as follows
when the fixture tools have been mounted onto the
machine tool, as the red line 5 in Figure 7.
2. The cutting tools can be mounted onto the 8
machine tool only when the WIP has been fas- > PEki,3 ¼ PEki,2 ^ PEki,16
>
> Q Q Q k
>
>
tened on the machine tool using fixture tools, as < tki,14 PEki,14 5 tki,15 PEki,15 5 tki,16 PEi,16
the red line 6 in Figure 7. Q k Q k
>
> tki,1 PEi,1 5 tk PEi,2
3. The machine operator starts the machining >
> i,2 Q
>
:Q k
tasks only when the cutting tools have been k
t , TRk PEi,2 ¼ tk , TRk PEki,14
i,2 i,2 i,14 i,14
mounted onto the machine tool, as the red line 7
in Figure 7. ð7Þ
4. The machine operator starts to inspect the
machining results only when the machining tasks If the PE is valid, the real-time PCS would generate
finished, as the red line 8 in Figure 7. the real-time control instruction according to the
Wang et al. 11
measuring
tools
cutting
tools
fixture tools
WIP
t time
graphical deduction model of the PE. The real-time the process, and PTki stands for the planned process-
control instruction can be formalized as follows ing time of the process.
Y
CIki,j ¼ Aki,j , Tki,j , Cki,j , Pk
PEk
i,m ð8Þ Production control in IoT-enabled smart job shop
i,j
Raw Finished
material ... ... ... products
warehouse warehouse
Scrapped
products
warehouse
time
Figure 9. The WIP production control procedures in IoT-enabled smart job shop.
Workstation 1
Workstation 3 Workstation 2
Figure 11. The control procedures of the manufacturing resources for a WIP in workstation 3.
the WIP includes three parts that correspond to and corresponding control instructions are listed
workstation 1, workstation 2, and workstation 3, as in Table 5.
respectively. And the hole and keyway are machined From Table 5, it can be seen that the control pro-
on workstation 3. The detailed information of PEs cedures involve operator-related manufacturing
14
Table 5. The detailed information of control procedures for a work in process (WIP) in workstation 3.
Production events Control instructions
1 the WIP reaches the entrance KUKA no take the WIP from conveyer belts
2 the WIP reaches the in-buffer operator 3 no put the WIP into in-buffer
3 the vise has been mounted onto the milling center operator 3 no move the WIP onto the table of milling center
4 the WIP reaches the table of the milling center operator 3 the vise fasten the WIP into the vise
5 the WIP is fastened on the milling center no no no
6 drills and milling cutter are installed operator 3 the milling center carry out the machining tasks
in the tool magazine of the milling center
7 the machining tasks finish no no no
8 operator 3 completes the self-inspection operator 3 no unload the WIP from the milling center
9 the WIP is unloaded from the milling center operator 3 no put the WIP into out-buffer
10 the WIP reaches the out-buffer operator 3 no put the WIP onto the quality inspection table
11 the WIP is put on quality inspection table measurer digital caliper inspect the results of machining tasks
12 the quality inspection finish operator 3 no put the WIP onto conveyer belts
13 the WIP reaches the exit PLC conveyer belts transport the WIP to products warehouse
14 the WIP reaches the in-buffer fixture tools warehouse keeper no send the vise to workstation 3
15 the vise reaches the entrance operator 3 no put the vise into in-buffer
16 the vise reaches the in-buffer operator 3 no mount the vise onto the milling center
17 the vise has been mounted onto the milling center no no no
18 the WIP is unloaded from the milling center operator 3 no dismount the vise from the milling center
19 the vise has been dismounted from the milling center operator 3 no put the vise into out-buffer
20 the vise reaches the out-buffer fixture tools warehouse keeper no take back the vise
21 the WIP reaches the table of the milling center cutting tools warehouse keeper no send the drills and milling cutter to workstation 3
22 the drills and milling cutter reach the entrance operator 3 no put the drills and milling cutter into in-buffer
23 the WIP is fastened on the milling center operator 3 no install the drills and milling cutter in the tool
magazine of the milling center
24 the drills and milling cutter are installed in no no no
the tool magazine of the milling center
25 operator 3 completes the self-inspection operator 3 no uninstall the drills and milling cutter from
the tool magazine of the milling center
26 the drills and milling cutter are uninstalled operator 3 no put the drills and milling cutter into out-buffer
from the tool magazine of the milling center
27 the drills and milling cutter reach the out-buffer cutting tools warehouse keeper no take back the drills and milling cutter
28 the WIP reaches the table of the milling center measuring tools warehouse keeper no send the digital caliper to workstation 3
29 the digital caliper reaches the entrance operator 3 no put the digital caliper into in-buffer
30 the machining tasks finish operator 3 digital caliper inspect the results of machining tasks
31 operator 3 completes the self-inspection operator 3 no put the digital caliper into out-buffer
Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
32 the digital caliper reach the out-buffer measuring tools warehouse keeper no take back the digital caliper
Wang et al. 15
resources (i.e. KUKA, the operator of milling center, resources (i.e. the drills and milling cutter), fixture
measurer, PLC, fixture tools warehouse keeper, cutting tool-related manufacturing resources (i.e. the vise),
tools warehouse keeper, and measuring tools ware- and measuring tool-related manufacturing resources
house keeper), cutting tool-related manufacturing (i.e. the digital caliper). It is important to note that
(a)
WIP information
ID
Name bogan
Type others
Routine completed
Designer Xi’an
completed
Jiaotong University
Drawing download
3D model download
Date
production procedures
raw checkout enter qualified? enter qualified? enter qualified? checkin finished
material ... ... ... products
warehouse warehouse
checkin scrapped
products
warehouse
Return
(b)
WIP information
ID 16
Name bogan
Type others
Routine completed
Designer Xi’an
completed
Jiaotong University
Drawing download
3D model download
Date
production procedures
raw checkout enter qualified? enter qualified? enter qualified? checkin finished
material ... ... ... products
warehouse warehouse
checkin scrapped
products
warehouse
Return
Figure 12. The control procedures of the manufacturing resources for a WIP in workstation 3: (a) the control procedures of
qualified product; (b) the control procedures of unqualified product.
16 Proc IMechE Part C: J Mechanical Engineering Science 0(0)
industrial robot (KUKA) and computer (PLC) are selected WIPs includes three processes, and the cor-
viewed as an especial operator which can instead responding planned processing times are 80 min, 70
people to complete some machining action. min, and 45 min, respectively. The test results of
the actual processing time of 20 WIPs are shown
The production control procedures in the in Table 6.
The statistical analysis of the test results is shown
manufacturing system
in Table 7. A few conclusions can be seen from the
The production control procedures of two WIPs in the statistical analysis:
manufacturing system are shown in Figure 12. From
Figure 12(a), it can be found that the raw material of 1. The average processing time of PEGDM-enabled
WIP ‘‘a’’ leaves the raw material warehouse, and suc- PCS in every process is much less than the con-
cessfully passes through three workstations. And at the ventional production mode. This is because that
end of the production, it becomes a qualified product to PEGDM-enabled PCS can trigger fixture tools,
be put into the finished products warehouse. Compared cutting tools, and measuring tools transportation
with WIP ‘‘a’’, WIP ‘‘b’’ becomes an unqualified prod- in time.
uct at workstation 2 (see Figure 12(b)). When WIP ‘‘b’’ 2. Compared with the conventional production
leaves workstation 2, it is directly transported to the mode, the fluctuation of processing time in
sorting station. And the cylinder puts WIP ‘‘b’’ into PEGDM-enabled PCS for a process is relatively
the scrapped products warehouse. small (see the standard deviation in Table 7).
This is because that PEGDM-enabled PCS can
reduce human influence by using different produc-
The measurement of the PCS performance
tion events.
Here, the production procedures of 20 WIPs of the 3. PEGDM-enabled PCS dramatically shortens the
same type are used to illustrate the performance in the actual processing time, as the average responsibil-
experiment manufacturing system, which selects from ity coefficient shown in Table 7. This means that
the PEGDM-enabled PCS and conventional produc- the planned processing time can be reduced, and
tion mode, respectively. The processing routine of the job shop manager can arrange more WIPs.
Average processing time (min) 45.38 41.52 30.32 77.33 69.32 44.77
Standard deviation 2.30 1.57 1.53 3.18 2.11 3.17
Average responsibility coefficient (%) 56.73 59.31 67.38 96.66 99.03 99.49
PEGDM: production events graphical deduction model; PCS: production control system.
Wang et al. 17
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