College of Engineering

Department of Mechanical Engineering

Process planning & product costing (MEng 5322)

Prepared by Gebre F.

Feb. 2023
 Introduction to process planning

01/03/2023 2
Learning objectives
Students are able to know

 To relate the basics of manufacturing with

process planning.

 To know process planning activates.

01/03/2023 3
Introduction
What is manufacturing?
 Technologically, manufacturing is the application of
physical and chemical processes to alter the geometry,
properties, appearance of a given material to make
parts or products.

Figure 1 - Technical definition of manufacturing

01/03/2023 4
Introduction Contd.
 Economically, transformation of materials in to items of
greater value by means of one or more processing
operations.
✓ The value added to the material through processing must be
greater than the cost of processing to allow the organization
to make money or a profit.

Figure 2: Economical definition of manufacturing

01/03/2023 5
Introduction Contd.
What is a manufacturing system?
It is a system in which raw materials are processed
from one form into another gaining a higher or added
value in the process.
Inputs & outputs of a manufacturing system.
The system does not have an influence or control over all
the inputs.

The system must be flexible enough to deal with input

variations.

01/03/2023 6
Introduction Contd.

Figure 3: Inputs and outputs of a manufacturing system

11/15/2022 7
Introduction Contd.
Common Characteristics of a Manufacturing System
 Have specific business objectives to meet in the most cost-
effective manner.

 Consist of an integrated set of sub-systems.

 Must have some means of controlling the sub-systems and

the overall system.

 Need a flow of information and a decision-making

process.

01/03/2023 8
 Developing a Manufacturing Strategy
 All manufacturing systems have specific business
objectives to be achieved, which are driven by the
organizational mission statement.

 The business strategy should be developed to the

organization to meet its business objectives but be flexible
enough to accommodate change.

 The business strategy in turn is used to formulate both the

marketing strategy and the manufacturing strategy.

01/03/2023 9
Developing a Manufacturing Strategy Contd.

 The manufacturing strategy can be defined as a long

range plan to use the resources of the manufacturing
system to support the business strategy and in turn meet the
business objectives.

 Six basic decision categories have been identified to

allow the formulation of the manufacturing strategy.

01/03/2023 10
Developing a Manufacturing Strategy Contd.
1. Capacity Decisions– how customer demand is met in
terms of the resources available.
2. Process Decisions– which type of system should be
employed.
3. Facility Decisions– which layout type to use at the
factory level.
4. Make or Buy Decisions- what is to be made in-house and
what is to be subcontracted.
5. Infrastructure Decisions– considers the policies and
organization required.
6. Human resource decisions- identify the functions and
organizational structures.

01/03/2023 11
 Figure 4: Developing a manufacturing strategy
01/03/2023 12
 Manufacturing Organizational Structures

1. Sales and marketing: Provides the interface with the

market
➢ Main responsibilities
 Ensure a steady flow of orders and
 Consolidate and expand share of the market
Subsections
✓ Sales forecasting ✓ Servicing and distribution
✓ Market research
✓ Order processing

01/03/2023 13
Manufacturing Organizational Structures Contd.
2. Engineering:
➢ Sub-functions would include
 Product design
 Research and development (R&D) and
 The setting of specifications and standards

Note: The level to which R&D is carried out will depend on

the product.

01/03/2023 14
Manufacturing Organizational Structures Contd.
3. Manufacturing:
 The diversification of the manufacturing function will
depend very much on the size of the organization.
 Typical sub-functions might include:
✓ Production planning- MPS & MRP
✓ Quality assurance- to the required specification
✓ Plant maintenance- at an appropriate level
✓ Production/materials control- flow of materials and work

01/03/2023 15
 Categories of Manufacturing System

 There are two basic categories of a manufacturing

system:
a. Discrete parts manufacturing;
b. Continuous process manufacturing.

01/03/2023 16
Categories of Manufacturing System Contd.
a. Discrete parts manufacturing involves the manufacture of
individual items and can be further classified into:
➢ Project manufacture
➢ Jobbing shop manufacture
➢ Batch manufacture
➢ Mass/flow manufacture
➢ Cellular manufacturing

01/03/2023 17
Categories of Manufacturing System Contd.

b. Continuous process manufacturing- continuous production

of a product.

01/03/2023 18
Categories of Manufacturing System Contd.

Figure 5: Product variety versus quantity for traditional manufacturing system

01/03/2023 19
 Processing Strategies
1. Make To Stock (MTS):
 Product-focused manufacturing companies tend to use an
MTS strategy.
✓Produce large quantities of a few standard products
for which there is a predictable demand pattern.

✓ Characterized by short customer delivery times.

✓ Assumes a reasonably long and predictable product

lifecycle.
01/03/2023 20
Processing Strategies Contd.
2. Assemble To Order (ATO)
 Manufacturing the sub-assemblies and parts and holding
them in stock until a customer order arrives.

 The stocking of finished goods inventory is not

economical.

 Companies employing an ATO strategy usually employ a

hybrid of process and product-focused process layouts.

01/03/2023 21
Processing Strategies Contd.
3. Make To Order (MTO)
 Many process-focused firms use an MTO strategy.
 Manufacture does not commence until the customer order
is received.

 Customer is involved in the specification of the product.

 Delivery times range from medium to long and are

based on the availability of capacity.

01/03/2023 22
Processing Strategies Contd.
4. Engineer To Order (ETO)
 ETO strategy is an extension of the MTO strategy with
the engineering design of the product based on the
customer requirements and specifications.
 Level of customer contact with the manufacturing
organization is even greater.

 Typical of jobbing shops that specialize in one-off or

one-of-a-kind production.

01/03/2023 23
Processing Strategies Contd.

Figure 6: Relationship between manufacturing system, product variety, and

processing strategy.

01/03/2023 24
Process planning
 It is the act of preparing detailed work instructions to
produce a component.
 This includes the selection of:-
➢ manufacturing processes and operations
➢ Production equipment
➢ tooling and
➢ Jigs & fixtures
➢ Manufacturing parameters and quality assurance
criteria.

01/03/2023 25
Process planning – the Design/Manufacture Interface
 For successful product design and manufacture, there
are three major functions involved, namely
➢ Marketing and sales-
✓ Marketing is responsible for
▪ Assessing the current market trends & needs
▪ Generating new product ideas
▪ Ggenerating specifications for the further
development of the existing market.
✓ Sales generate interest in the products being
manufactured and obtain firm orders.
01/03/2023 26
Process planning – the Design/Manufacture
Interface Contd.
✓ Design function
 Will take the product ideas and specifications generated
by marketing and provide a detailed specification.
✓ detail drawings
✓ assembly drawings and
✓ bills of materials

 Very often, a prototype of the product will be

developed to help validate the design and establish
which manufacturing facilities are required.

01/03/2023 27
Process planning – the Design/Manufacture
Interface Contd.
✓ Manufacturing function
 The product and process requirements generated at the
design and development stage, are then passed to the
manufacturing function.

 These will be used to prepare the detailed work

instructions required to manufacture the product.

 These will then be passed to the manufacturing facility for

execution.
01/03/2023 28
Figure 7: Main functions involved in product design and manufacture

01/03/2023 29
Figure 8: Process planning, the design/manufacture interface

01/03/2023 30
Process planning – the Design/Manufacture
Interface Contd.
 The sequential approach to the design and manufacture
of products.
 Figure 8 is a long product life cycle and requires a stable
demand for the product over a long period of time.
 Manufacturing organizations have had to consider ways
of compressing the time taken to design and manufacture
products or the time to market.
 Possible measures to achieve shorter time are:
✓Cooperative approach/Concurrent
engineering
✓Design for manufacturing and
assembly/DFMA
01/03/2023 31
 Process planning activities
 In order to be effective in the role of a process planner,
the manufacturing engineer must possess a variety of
skills and knowledge:
 an ability to interpret engineering drawings
 knowledge of materials for manufacture
 knowledge of manufacturing processes
 knowledge of jigs and fixtures
 an ability to use reference material, for example,
manufacturer’s data, machining data, tooling data,
etc.
01/03/2023 32
Process planning activities Contd.
 knowledge of the relative costs of materials, processes
and tooling.
 an ability to calculate manufacturing parameters and
costs.
 Knowledge of inspection/QA procedures and
specifications.

01/03/2023 33
Process planning activities Contd.
1. Drawing Interpretation
 The first step in preparing the process plan for any
component or product is to consult the engineering
drawings.
 Component will contain a variety of information:
✓ dimensions & tolerances
✓ geometric tolerances
✓ surface finish
✓ material specification
✓ Number of parts required
01/03/2023 34
Process planning activities Contd.
2. Material Evaluation and Process Selection
 A thorough knowledge of the materials used in
manufacturing is essential for effective process
planning.
For example

brittle materials are more suited to casting or material

removal processes.
not well suited for use with forming processes.

01/03/2023 35
Process planning activities Contd.
 Manufacturing engineer specifies the raw material billet
form for the component
✓ the size and
✓ any special requirements for the raw materials, for
example, heat treatment

 Based on the drawing interpretation and the materials

evaluation, a shortlist of candidate processes can be
drawn up.

01/03/2023 36
Process planning activities Contd.
3. Selection of Machines and Tooling
 Typical factors to be considered include:
☺ the size and weight of the component
☺ the physical size and construction of the machine
☺ the power and torque of the machine
☺ the number and type of tools available

01/03/2023 37
Process planning activities Contd.
 Successful processing of a component relies heavily on
the selection of appropriate tools, particularly for
machining.
 Factors that will be considered in selecting an
appropriate tool including
✓ workpiece material
✓ type of cut
✓ tool material
✓ machining data and quality/capability requirements-
surface finish.

01/03/2023 38
Process planning activities Contd.
4. Setting Process Parameters
 Once the machines and tooling have been selected,
specific parameters must be established for each
operation for each machine.
 These include calculating appropriate -
✓ feeds
✓ cutting speeds
✓ depth of cut
✓ the time taken for each operation

01/03/2023 39
Process planning activities Contd.
5. Work Holding Devices
 Work holding devices are classified into two
categories:
✓General-purpose work holders- chucks and collets
✓Specialist work holders- jigs and fixtures

01/03/2023 40
Figure 9: Example of the general arrangement of a drill jig
01/03/2023 41
Process planning activities Contd.
6. Selecting Quality Assurance Methods
 Process planner specifies the inspection criteria for critical
processing factors:
✓ dimensional and geometric tolerances and
✓ surface finish specifications
 More commonly the inspection criteria will be passed to
a Quality Engineer who decides which tools and
techniques are most appropriate.
 It is important to strike the balance between ensuring the
product quality and cost.

01/03/2023 42
Process planning activities Contd.
7. Costing
 Process planner estimates the manufacturing costs of
producing a component or product based on the
available cost and time data.
✓ used to determine the unit cost and the
profitability of the product
✓ what material to use
✓ the manufacturing processes to be used
✓ the batch size to be employed

01/03/2023 43
Process planning activities Contd.
8. Preparing the Process Planning Documentation
 There are two documents involved in the preparation of
the process plans.
✓ routing sheets and operations list
a. Routing sheets
 The routing sheet specifies the route the raw material
follows through the manufacturing environment.
 Routing sheet, figure below follows the material through
the manufacturing shop floor providing travel
information for the operators.
01/03/2023 44
 Figure 10: Example of a routing sheet
01/03/2023 45
Process planning activities Contd.
b. Operations List
 Operations list specifies each individual operation in
more detail.
✓It is usual for an operations list to be prepared
for each workstation listed on the routing sheet
✓ It will typically include:
☺ details of tooling (including work holding devices)
☺ feeds and speeds

01/03/2023 46
 Figure 11: Example of an operations sheet
01/03/2023 47
 Steps in process planning
 Study the overall shape of the part. Use this
information to classify the part and determine the type
of workstation needed.
Thoroughly study the drawing. Try to identify every
manufacturing features and notes.
If raw stock is not given, determine the best raw
material shape to use.
Identify datum surfaces. Use information on datum
surfaces to determine the setups.
Select machines for each setup.

For each setup determine the rough sequence of

operations necessary to create all the features.
01/03/2023 48
Steps in process planning Contd.
Sequence the operations determined in the previous step.
Select tools for each operation. Try to use the same tool
for several operations if it is possible.
oKeep in mind the trade off on tool change time and
estimated machining time.
Select or design fixtures for each setup.
Evaluate the plan generate so far and make necessary
modifications.
Select cutting parameters for each operation.
Prepare the final process plan document.

01/03/2023 49
Process Planning & Production Planning
 The preparation of the process plan is the first stage in
the planning and control of the manufacture of any
product.

 The focus of the process planner is to determine how a

job is to be done and how long it will take.

 Process planner must identify suitable alternatives if

production equipment is unavailable.

01/03/2023 50
 Figure 12: Operations planning activities

01/03/2023 51
Process Planning & Production Planning Contd.
 The outputs of the process planning are the main inputs
to the manufacturing scheduling along with the materials
requirements planning (MRP) outputs.

 Manufacturing scheduling is primarily concerned with the

‘when’ and ‘how many’ decisions of manufacturing.

 Capacity Requirement Planning is the other area of

production planning that requires knowledge of routing
sheets and operations lists.

01/03/2023 52
 Figure 13: Model of production planning and control
01/03/2023 53
 End of Chapter 1

01/03/2023 54