Various Manufacturing Systems

Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)

Part or product variety (continued)
Model variations: Three cases (continued)
• Batch production is illustrated in Figure below.

• The plot shows production quantity as a function of time, with interruptions between batches for
changeover (setup).
• In the mixed model case, different parts or products are made by the manufacturing system, but
the system is able to handle these differences without the need of a changeover in setup and / or
program.
• This means that the mixture of different styles can be produced continuously rather than in batches.
• The requirement for continuous production of different work unit styles is that the manufacturing
system be designed so that whatever adjustments need to be made from one part or product style
to the next, these adjustments can be made quickly enough that it is economical to produce the
units in batch sizes of one.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Flexibility in manufacturing systems
• Flexibility is the term used for the attribute that allows a mixed model manufacturing system to cope
with a certain level of variation in part or product style without interruptions in production for
changeovers between models.
• Flexibility is generally a desirable feature of a manufacturing system.
• Systems that possess it are called flexible manufacturing systems, or flexible assembly systems, or
similar names.
• They can produce different part styles or can readily adapt to new part styles when the previous
ones become obsolete.
• To be flexible, a manufacturing system must possess the following capabilities:
1) Identification of the different work units:
•Different operations are required on different part or product styles.
•The manufacturing system must identify the work unit to perform the correct operation.
•In a manually operated or semi-automatic system, this task is usually an easy one for the
worker(s).
•In an automated system, some means of automatic work unit identification must be engineered.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Flexibility in manufacturing systems (continued)
2) Quick changeover of operating instructions:
•The instructions, or part program in the case of computer controlled production machines, must
correspond to the correct operation for the given part.
•In the case of a manually operated system, this generally means workers who (1) are skilled in
the variety of operations needed to process or assemble the different work unit styles, and (2)
know which operations to perform on each work unit style.
•In semi-automatic and fully automated systems, it means that the required part programs are
readily available to the control unit.
3) Quick changeover of physical setup:
•Flexibility in manufacturing system means that the different work units are not produced in
batches.
•For different work unit styles to be produced with no time lost between one unit and the next, the
flexible manufacturing system must be capable of making any necessary changes in fixturing and
tooling in a very short time. (The changeover should correspond approximately to the time
required to exchange the completed work unit for the next unit to be processed.)
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Flexibility in manufacturing systems (continued)
• These capabilities are often difficult to engineer.
• In manually operated manufacturing systems, human errors can cause problems: operators not
performing the correct operations on the different work unit styles.
• In automated systems, sensor systems must be designed to enable work unit identification.
• Part program changeover is accomplished with relative ease using today’s computer technology.
• Changing the physical set-up is often the most challenging problem, and its solution becomes more
difficult as part product variety increases.
• Endowing a manufacturing system with flexibility increases its complexity.
• The material handling system and / or pallet fixtures must be designed to hold a variety of part
shapes.
• The required number of different tools increases.
• Inspection becomes more complicated because of part variety.
• The logistics of supplying the system with the correct quantities of starting workparts is more
involved.
• Scheduling and coordination of the systems become more difficult.
• Flexibility itself is a complex issue. It is recognized as a significantly important attribute for a system
to possess.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Classification of Manufacturing Systems (continued)
Part or product variety (continued)
Reconfigurable manufacturing systems
• In an era where new product styles are being introduced with ever changing life cycles, the cost of
designing, building, and installing a new manufacturing system every time a new part or product
must be produced is becoming prohibitive, both in terms of time and money.
• One alternative is to reuse and reconfigure components of the original system in a new
manufacturing system.
• In modern manufacturing engineering practice, even single model manufacturing systems are being
built with features that enable them to be changed over to new product styles when this becomes
necessary.
• These kinds of features include:
•Ease of mobility: Machine tools and other production machines designed with a three point base
that allows them to be readily lifted and moved by a crane or forklift truck. The three point base
facilitates leveling of the machine after moving.
•Modular design of system components: This permits hardware components from different
machine builders to be connected together.
•Open architecture in computer controls: This permits data interchange between software
packages from different vendors.
•CNC workstations: Even though the production machines in the system are dedicated to one
product, they are nevertheless computer numerical controlled to allow for upgrades in software,
engineering changes in the part currently produced, and changeover of the equipment when the
production run finally ends.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme
• Our manufacturing systems classification scheme is defined by four factors:
(1) type of processing or assembly operations performed
(2) number of stations and layout
(3) automation level
(4) flexibility to deal with part or product variety.
• In the table, some examples of manufacturing systems in the classification scheme are listed.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
• A sense of the flexibility and productivity of the various types of manufacturing systems is provided
in the P-Q chart of figure below.

• Type I systems, in particular manual systems, inherently possess the greatest flexibility in terms of
part or product variety.
• However, single stations are limited in terms of the part or product complexity they can cope with, as
indicated in Figure below.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
• However, single stations are limited in terms of the part or product complexity they can cope with, as
indicated in Figure below.

• The number of components in an assembly and the number of processing steps for a part are
reasonable quantitative measures of part or product complexity.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
• If the work unit is simple, requiring only one or a few processing or assembly operations, then a
single station system can be justified for high production as well as low production.
• As the complexity of the work unit increases, the advantages shifts towards a multi-station
manufacturing system.
• The large number of tasks and additional tooling required for more complex parts or products begins
to overwelm a single station.
• By dividing the work among multiple stations (as in division of labour), the complexity becomes more
manageable.
• If there is no product variety or very soft product variety, then a type III system is appropriate.
• As product variety increases, a type II system with variable routing becomes more appropriate.
• The charts indicate that the type III systems are the most productive.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
Type I manufacturing systems: Single stations
• Applications of single workstations are widespread.
• The typical case is a worker-machine cell.
• Our classification scheme distinguishes two categories:
(1) type M: Manned workstations, in which a worker must be in attendance either continuously
pr for a portion of each work cycle, and
(2) type A: automated stations, in which periodic attention is required less frequently than every
cycle.
• In either case, these systems are used for processing as well as for assembly operations, and their
applications include single model, batch model, and mixed model production.
• Reasons for the popularity of the single model workstation is
(1) it is the easiest and least expensive manufacturing method to implement, especially the
manned version
(2) it is the most adaptable, adjustable and flexible manufacturing system
(3) a manned single workstation can be converted to an automated station if demand for the parts
or products made in the station justifies this conversion.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
Type II manufacturing systems: Multi-station cells
• A multiple station system with variable routing is a group of workstations organized to achieve some
special purpose.
• It is typically intended for production quantities in the medium range (annual production = 102 – 104
parts or products) although its applications sometimes extend beyond these boundaries.
• The special purpose may be any of the following:
•Production of a family or products having similar processing operations
•Assembly of a family of products having similar assembly operations
•Production of the complete set of components used in the assembly of one unit of final product.
By producing all of the parts in one product, rather than batch production of the parts, work-in-
process inventory is reduced.
• As our list of examples indicates, the multi-station routing is applicable to either processing or
assembly operations.
• It also indicates that the applications usually involve a certain degree of part or product variety,
which means differences in operations and sequences of operations that must be performed.
• The machine groups must possess flexibility to cope with this variety.
• The machines in the group may be manually operated, semi-automatic, or fully automated.
• In our classification scheme, manually operated machine groups are type II M.
• These groups are often called machine cells, and the use of these cells in a factory is called cellular
manufacturing.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
Type II manufacturing systems: Multi-station cells (continued)
• When machines in the group are fully automated, with automated material handling between the
workstations, it is classified as type II A.
• If an automated machine group is flexible, it is referred to as a flexible manufacturing system or
flexible manufacturing cell.

Type III Manufacturing systems: Production lines

• A multi-station manufacturing system with fixed routing is a production line.
• A production line consists of a series of workstations laid out so that the part or product moves from
one station to the next, and a portion of the total work is performed on it at each station.
• Production lines are generally associated with mass production (104 – 106 parts or products per
year).
• Conditions that favour the use of a production line are:
•The quantity of parts or products to be made is very high (up to millions of units).
•The work units are identical or very similar. (Thus they require the same or similar operations to be
performed in the same sequence)
•The total work can be divided into separate tasks of approximately equal duration that can be
assigned to individual workstations).
• The production rate of the line is determined by its slowest station.
• Workstations whose pace is faster than the slowest must ultimately wait for that bottleneck station.
• Transfer of work units from one station to the next is usually accomplished by a conveyor or other
mechanical transport system, although in some cases the work is simply pushed between stations
by hand.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Overview of the classification scheme (continued)
Type III manufacturing systems: Production lines (continued)
• Production lines are used for either processing or assembly operations.
• It is unusual for both types of operation to be accomplished on the same line.
• Production lines are either manually operated or automated.
• In our classification scheme, the manual lines are designated type III M, and the automated lines are
designated type III A.
• Manual production lines usually perform assembly operations.
• Automated lines perform either processing or assembly operations.
• There are also hybrid systems (type III H), in which both manual and automated stations exist in the
same line.
 Various Manufacturing Systems
Analysis of single station systems
• Two analysis issues related to single station manufacturing systems are the determination of
(1) number of single stations required to satisfy specified production requirements
(2) the number of machines to assign to a worker in a machine cluster.
Number of workstations required
• Any manufacturing system must be designed to produce a specified quantity of parts or products at
a specified production rate.
• In the case of single station manufacturing system, this may mean more than one single station cell
is required to achieve the specifications.
• The problem we address here is to determine the number of workstations required to achieve a
given production rate or produce a given quantity of workunits.
• The basic approach is:
(1) determine the total workload that must be accomplished in a certain period (hour, week, month,
year), where workload is defined as the total hours required to complete a given amount of work or
to produce a given number of work units scheduled during the period; and
(2) then divide the workload by the hours available on one workstation in the same period.
• Workload is figured as the quantity of workunits to be produced during the period of interest
multiplied by the time (hours) required per for each work unit.
• The time required for each work unit is the cycle time on the machine, in most cases, so that
workload is given by the following:
WL = Q Tc
where WL = workload scheduled for a given period (hr of work / hr or hr of work / wk), Q = quantity
n-gl.com to be produced during the period (pc / hr or pc / wk, etc.) and Tc = cycle time required per piece (hr /
pc).