Agni College of Technology

Thalambur, Chennai 600 130

Office of Examcell
Question Bank For Unit 1
Sub Name : Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems Department : Mechanical
Sub Code : ME 6703 Year & Sec : IV A & B

PART – A
1. What is the difference between CAD/CAM and CIM?

CAD – any design activity which uses computers effectively to create, modify, analyze and document
engineering drawings is called computer aided design

CAM- manufacturing activity with computers

CIM – integration of both CAD and CAM

2. What is concurrent Engineering?

Concurrent engineering refers to an approach used in product development in which the functions
of design engineering, manufacturing engineering, and other functions are integrated to reduce the
elapsed time required to bring a new product to market. Also called simultaneous engineering, it
might be thought of as the organizational counterpart to CAD/CAM technology.

3. What is the role of CIM in manufacturing?

CIM is most closely associated with functions in manufacturing engineering such a process planning
and numerical control (NC) part programming.

4. Three basic elements of Automated System

Basic elements of an automated system:

 Power to accomplish the process and operate the system.

 A program of instructions to direct the process.

 A control system to actuate the instructions.

5. What are the components of a CIM Wheel

CAD (computer-aided design)

CAE (computer-aided engineering)

CAM (computer-aided manufacturing)

CAPP (computer-aided process planning)

CAQ (computer-aided quality assurance)

PPC (production planning and control)

ERP (enterprise resource planning)

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6. Illustrate the components of automated system with simple sketch
 Push-button panels, with or without visual displays.

 Touch-panel displays, with fixed or programmable screen layouts.

 Computer keyboards and monitors.

 Hand-held remote controls.

 Telephone interfaces to allow long-distance remote control.

 Television controllers with on-screen menus.

7. What is fixed Automation?

Mass Production with less variety

8. What are the types of production and differentiate the three types?
Job
Batch
Mass
9. What are the two types of production systems in lean production?

Push type

Pull type

10. What is lean production?

Minimum resource utilization to maximize production

11. What is JIT Philosophy?

JIT philosophy is used to reduce inventory, WIP, space, time and to improve the production
operation to reduce the cost

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
12. What are quality circles?

Quality circles are team formed to make small continuous improvements in an organization. such
improvements are called as kaizen

13. What is POKA YOKE?

Mistake proofing or Error proofing. developed by shingeo shingo

Alerts the employee and emergency stops

14. What is predictive and preventive maintenance

Periodical regular maintenance –

Attentive to the machine to observe abnormal operations- uses historical data to identify the problem
and solution

15. What are six sigma concepts?

Reduce the number of defective components

16. What are andon’s and signal cards?

Andon – large digital display boards – production details, process details, equipment details.
Signal cards are kanban cards
17. What is House of quality?
It is related to new product design. emphasizes on voice of customer and technical descriptors
matrix to develop a good quality product according to the customer satisfaction
18. What are the steps involved in product design?
Need – product definition- stimulate-analyze-evaluate-document
19. What is DMAIC?
Define-measure-analyze-improve-control.
Data driven improvement cycle used in 6 sigma concept
20. What is 5s?
Sort-set in order-shine-standardize and sustain

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 PART – B

1. (i) Explain the benefits of CIM system and computerized elements of a CIM system? [13]

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Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
Business Functions:

The business functions are the principal means of communicating with the
customer. They are therefore, the beginning and the end of the information
processing cycle. Included in this category are sales and marketing, sales
forecasting, order entry, cost accounting, and customer billing.

Product Design:

If the product is to be manufactured to customer design, the design will have

been provided by the customer. The manufacturer's product design department will
not be involved. If the product is to be produced to customer specifications, the
manufacturer's product design department maybe contracted to do the design work
for the product as well as to manufacture it. If the product is proprietary the
manufacturing firm is responsible for its development and design. The cycle of
events that initiates a new product design often originates in the sales and
marketing department. The departments of the firm that are organized to accomplish
product design might include research and development, design engineering,
drafting, and perhaps a prototype shop.

Manufacturing Planning: The information and documentation that constitute

the product design flows into the manufacturing planning function. The information
processing activities in manufacturing planning include process planning, master
scheduling, requirements planning, and capacity planning. Process planning
consists of determining the sequence of individual processing and assembly
operations needed to produce the part. The manufacturing engineering and
industrial engineering departments are responsible for planning the processes and
related technical derails, manufacturing planning includes logistics issues.

Manufacturing control:

Manufacturing control is concerned with managing and controlling the

physical operations in the factory to implement the manufacturing plans.
Manufacturing control functions are shop floor control, inventory control, and
quality control.

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
2. (i) Explain about lean manufacturing? [13]
Lean production can he defined as an adaptation of mass production in
which workers and work cells are made more flexible and efficient by adopting
methods that reduce waste in all forms. According to another author of The
Machine that Changed the World, lean production is based on four principles

1. Minimize waste

2. Perfect first-time quality

3. Flexible production lines

4. Continuous improvement

Minimize Waste: All four principles of lean production are derived from the
first principle: minimize waste.

(1)Production of defective parts,

(2) Production of more than till number of items needed,

(3) Unnecessary inventories,

(4) Unnecessary processing steps,

(5) Unnecessary movement of people,

(6) Unnecessary transport of materials, and

(7) Workers waiting.

Perfect First-Time Quality:

In the area of quality, the comparison between mass production and lean
production provides a sharp contrast. In mass production, quality control is defined
in terms of an acceptable quality level. This means that a certain level of fraction
defects is sufficient, even satisfactory. In lean production, by contrast, perfect
quality is required. The just-in-time delivery discipline used in lean production
necessitates a zero defects level in parts quality, because if the part delivered to the
downstream workstation is defective, production stops. There is minimum inventory
in a lean system to act as a buffer. In mass production, inventory buffers are used
just in case these quality problems occur. The defective work units are simply taken
off the line and replaced with acceptable units; However, the problem is that such a
policy tends to perpetuate the cause of the poor quality. Therefore, defective parts
continue to be produced. In lean production a single defect draws attention to the
quality problem, forcing corrective action and a permanent solution. Workers
inspect their own production, minimizing the delivery of defects to the downstream

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production station.

Flexible Production Systems:

In mass production, the goal is to maximize efficiency. This is achieved using

long production runs of identical parts. Long production runs tolerate long setup
changeovers, In lean production procedures are designed to speed the changeover.
Reduced setup times allow for smaller batch sizes. Thus providing the production
system with greater flexibility. Flexible production systems were needed in Toyota's
comeback. period because of the much smaller car market in Japan and the need to
be as efficient as possible.

Continuous Improvement:

In mass production, there is a tendency to set up the operation, and if it is

working, leave it alone. Mass production lives by the motto ―if it ain't broke, don’t
fix it." By contrast lean production supports the policy of continuous improvement.
Continuous improvement means constantly searching for and implementing ways to
reduce cost, improve quality, and increase productivity. The scope of continuous
improvement goes beyond factory operations and involves design improvements as
well. Continuous improvement is carried out one project at a time. The projects may
be concerned with any of the following problem areas: cost reduction. Quality
improvement, productivity improvement, setup time reduction, cycle time reduction,
manufacturing lead time and work-in-process inventory reduction, and improvement
of product design to increase performance and customer appeal.

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell

3. (i) Explain Flexible and Programmable automation? [13]

Automated production systems are classified into three basic types:

1. Fixed automation

2. Programmable automation

3. Flexible automation

Fixed automation

Fixed automation is a system in which the sequence of processing (or assembly)

operations is fixed by the equipment configuration. The operations in the sequence
are usually simple. It is the integration and coordination of many such operations
into one piece of equipment that makes the system complex. The typical features of
fixed automation are:

_ High initial investment for custom-engineered equipment

_ High production rates

_ Relatively inflexible in accommodating product changes

The economic justification for fixed automation is found in products with very high
demand rates and volumes. The high initial cost of the equipment can be spread
over a very large number of units, thus making the unit cost attractive compared to
alternative methods of production.

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 the system can read and interpret them. New programs
can be prepared and entered into the equipment lo produce new products. Some of
the features that characterize programmable automation include:

_ High investment in general-purpose equipment

_ Low production rates relative to fixed automation

_ Flexibility to deal with changes in product configuration

_ Most suitable for batch production

Automated production systems that are programmable 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 product, the system must be reprogrammed with the

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The relative positions of the three types of automation for different production
volumes and product varieties are depicted

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Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
set of machine instructions that correspond to the new product. The physical setup
of the machine must also be changed over: Tools must be loaded, fixtures must be
attached to the machine table, and the required machine settings must be entered.
This changeover procedure takes time. Consequently, the typical cycle for a given
product includes a period during which the setup and reprogramming takes place,
followed by a period in which the batch is produced.

Flexible automation

Flexible automation is an extension of programmable automation. The concept of

flexible automation has developed only over the last 15 to 20 years, and the
principles are still evolving. A flexible automated system is one that is capable of
producing a variety of products (or parts) with virtually no time lost for
changeovers from one product to the next. There is no production time lost while
reprogramming the system and altering the physical setup (tooling, fixtures and
machine settings). Consequently, the system can produce various combinations and
schedules of products, instead of requiring that they be made in separate batches.

The features of flexible automation can be summarized as follows:

_ High investment for a custom-engineered system

_ Continuous production of variable mixtures of products

_ Medium production rates

_ Flexibility to deal with product design variations

The essential features that distinguish flexible automation from programmable

automation are (1) the capacity to change part programs with no lost production
time, and (2) the capability to change over the physical setup, again with no lost
production time. These features allow the automated production system to continue
production without the downtime between batches that is characteristic of
programmable automation. Changing the part programs is generally accomplished
by preparing the programs off-line on a computer system and electronically
transmitting the programs to the automated production system. Therefore, the time
required to do the programming for the next job does not interrupt production on
the current job. Advances in computer systems technology are largely responsible
for this programming capability in flexible automation. Changing the physical setup
between parts is accomplished by making the changeover off-line and then moving it
into place simultaneously as the next part comes into position for processing. The
use of pallet fixtures that hold the parts and transfer into position at the workplace
is one way of implementing this approach. For these approaches to be successful,
the variety of parts that can be made on a flexible automated production system is
usually more limited than a system controlled by programmable automation.

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4. (i) What are the steps involved in designing and manufacturing a product? [13]

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
5. (i) Examine job shop production and mass production [13]
Another way of classifying production activity is according to the quantity of
product made. In this classification, there are three types of production:

1. Job shop production

2. Batch production

3. Mass production

Job shop production.

The distinguishing feature of job shop production is low volume. The manufacturing
lot sizes are small, often one of a kind. Job shop production is commonly used to
meet specific customer orders, and there is a great variety in the type of work the
plant must do. Therefore, the production equipment must be flexible and general-
purpose to allow for this variety of work. Also, the skill level of job shop workers
must be relatively high so that they can perform a range of different work
assignments. Examples of products manufactured in a job shop include space
vehicles, aircraft, machine tools, special tools and equipment, and prototypes of
future products. Construction work and shipbuilding are not normally identified
with the job shop category, even though the quantities are in the appropriate range.
Although these two activities involve the transformation of raw materials into
finished products, the work is not performed in a factory.

Batch production:

This category involves the manufacture of medium-sized lots of the same item or
product. The lots may be produced only once, or they may be produced at regular
intervals. The purpose of batch production is often to satisfy continuous customer
demand for an item. However, the plant is capable of a production rate that exceeds
the demand rate. Therefore, the shop produces to build up an inventory of the item.
Then it changes over to other orders. When the stock of the first item becomes
depleted, production is repeated to build up the inventory again. The manufacturing
equipment used in batch production is general-purpose but designed for higher
rates of production. Examples of items made in batch-type shops include industrial
equipment, furniture, textbooks, and component parts for many assembled consumer
products (household appliances, lawn mowers, etc.). Batch production plants
include machine shops, casting foundries, plastic molding factories, and press
working shops. Some types of chemical plants are also in this general category.

Mass production:

This is the continuous specialized manufacture of identical products. Mass

production is characterized by very high production rates, equipment that is
completely dedicated to the manufacture of a particular product, and very high
demand rates for the product. Not only is the equipment dedicated to one product,
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but the entire plant is often designed for the exclusive purpose of producing the
particular product. The equipment is special-purpose rather than general-purpose.
The investment in machines and specialized tooling is high. In a sense, the
production skill has been transferred from the operator to the machine.
Consequently, the skill level of labor in a mass production plant tends to be lower
than in a batch plant or job shop.

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
6. (i) Demonstrate the significance of JIT philosophy [13]
JIT Manufacturing tries to smooth the flow of materials from the suppliers to the
customers, thereby increasing the speed of the manufacturing process. The
objectives of JIT is to change the manufacturing system gradually rather than
drastically:

1. To be more responsive to customers,

2. To have better communication among departments and suppliers,

3. To be more flexible,

4. To achieve better quality,

5. To reduce product cost.

JIT Concept

The operations planning and control system is an information system running

throughout the manufacturing environment. Although there is a common system
framework as discussed in Chapter one, systems run in different ways in different
environments. For example, dedicated special facilities are used in make-to-stock
environments; general purpose machines are used in make-to-order environments.
Dedicated production lines can be designed in a balanced way with minimal setups
in order to maximize the flow rate of the materials, while a general purpose
machine must be set up before producing a specific item. In setup operations, the
material flow is interrupted.

Manufacturing environments can be changed to make planning and control systems

simpler and more effective. For example, products are designed to have high
similarity in processing and are mixed in a dedicated production line with negligible
setups.

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 The third step “Improve the process” in the above procedure can be broken down
into following steps:

1. Observe the existing method and collect related data on the selected
process.

2. Investigate and analyze the data to generate alternatives to improve the

process.

3. Evaluate the alternatives to determine the new method for the process.

4. Install the new method and educate the operator.

5. Maintain the new method.

7. (i) Discuss about the pull type KANBAN system in detail with neat sketch [13]
Kanban is a signal to start an action.
This action can be a material or product need.
It could be even a visual sign for assistance or information request.
What is important to underline is that the signal is always visual and with
standard procedures.
The Kanban can be made in different ways:
To implement and let the Kanban works properly you have to follow the 6 rules.
1. Customer (downstream) processes withdraw items in the precise amounts
specified by the Kanban.
2. Supplier (upstream) produces items in the precise amounts and sequences
specified by the Kanban.
3. No items are made or moved without a Kanban.
4. A Kanban should accompany each item, every time.
5. Defects and incorrect amounts are never sent to the next downstream
process.
6. The number of Kanbans is reduced carefully to lower inventories and to
reveal problems.

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 Agni College of Technology
Thalambur, Chennai 600 130
Office of Examcell
8. (i) Explain 6 sigma, 5s and Kaizen in detail [13]

Six Sigma can also be thought of as a measure of process performance, with Six Sigma being the goal, based
on the defects per million. Once the current performance of the process is measured, the goal is to
continually improve the sigma level striving towards 6 sigma. Even if the improvements do not reach 6
sigma, the improvements made from 3 sigma to 4 sigma to 5 sigma will still reduce costs and increase
customer satisfaction.

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Subject In charge HOD

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