Unit - 10

AUTOMATION
 The Realities of Modern
Manufacturing
 Globalization - Once underdeveloped countries
(e.g., China, India, Mexico) are becoming major
players in manufacturing
 International outsourcing - Parts and products
once made locally are now being made offshore
(in China or India) or near-shore (in Eastern
Europe)
 Local outsourcing - Use of suppliers locally to
provide parts and services
 More Realities of Modern
Manufacturing
 Contract manufacturing - Companies that specialize
in manufacturing entire products, not just parts,
under contract to other companies
 Trend toward the service sector
 Quality expectations - Customers, both consumer
and corporate, demand products of the highest
quality
 Need for operational efficiency - manufacturers must
be efficient in in their operations to overcome the
labor cost advantage of international competitors
 Manufacturing Approaches

 Automation
 Flexible manufacturing
 Quality programs
 Integration
 Lean production
 Production System Defined

A collection of people, equipment, and procedures

organized to accomplish the manufacturing
operations of a company
 Facilities – Factory and Equipment

Factory, production machines and tooling, material

handling equipment, inspection equipment, and
computer systems that control the manufacturing
operations
 Manufacturing Support Systems
 Business functions - sales and marketing, order
entry, cost accounting, customer billing
 Product design - research and development, design
engineering, prototype shop
 Manufacturing planning - process planning,
production planning, MRP, capacity planning
 Manufacturing control
shop floor control,
inventory control, quality control
Computer Integrated Manufacturing
 What is automation
It is a technology dealing with the application
of
 mechatronics
 computers
for production of goods and services.
Automation is broadly classified into
 manufacturing automation
 service automation

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 Automation-contd..

 Automation has been defined as “Any

development that may cause employee
displacement”
 Automation may:
o Wipe out certain jobs
o Reduce contents of certain jobs
o Combining several jobs into one.

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 Automated System

Periodic
Periodic Automated
Automated
Examples: Worker
Worker System
System
 Automated machine tools
 Transfer lines
 Automated assembly systems Transformation Process
 Industrial robots
 Automated material handling and storage systems
 Automatic inspection systems for quality control
 Three Automation Types

Programmable
Automation
Variety Flexible
Automation
Fixed
Automation

Quantity
 Fixed Automation
Sequence of processing (or assembly) operations
is fixed by the equipment configuration
Typical features:
 Suited to high production quantities
 High initial investment for custom-engineered
equipment
 High production rates
 Relatively inflexible in accommodating product
variety
 Programmable Automation
Capability to change the sequence of operations through
reprogramming to accommodate different product
configurations

Typical features:
 High investment in programmable equipment
 Lower production rates than fixed automation
 Flexibility to deal with variations and changes in product
configuration
 Most suitable for batch production
 Physical setup and part program must be changed
between jobs (batches)
 Flexible Automation

System is capable of changing over from one job

to the next with little lost time between jobs

Typical features:
 High investment for custom-engineered system
 Continuous production of variable mixes of
products
 Medium production rates
 Flexibility to deal with soft product variety
16
 Reasons for Automating
1. To increase labor productivity
2. To reduce labor cost
3. To mitigate the effects of labor shortages
4. To reduce or remove routine manual & clerical tasks
5. To improve worker safety
6. To improve product quality
7. To reduce manufacturing lead time
8. To accomplish what cannot be done manually
9. To avoid the high cost of not automating
 Disadvantages of Automation

 Lower skill levels of workers.

 High initial investment.
 Retrenchment or unemployment.
 Not suitable for short product life cycle.
 Not economically justifiable for small scale
production.
 Automation Principle
1. Understand the existing process
 Input/output analysis
 Value chain analysis
 Charting techniques and mathematical modeling
2. Simplify the process
 Reduce unnecessary steps and moves
3. Automate the process
 Ten strategies for automation and production
systems
 Automation migration strategy
 Automation Strategies
1. Specialization of operations
2. Combined operations
3. Simultaneous operations
4. Integration of operations
5. Increased flexibility
6. Improved material handling and storage
7. On-line inspection
8. Process control and optimization
9. Plant operations control
10. Computer-integrated manufacturing
 Automated Production Systems

 Automated Flow Lines

 In-line, automated processing machines linked
by automated material transfer
 Perform without need for human attendance
 Used to produce an entire component
 Also called fixed automation or hard automation
 Used when product demand is high and stable
 Automated Production Systems

 Automated Assembly Systems

 Automated assembly machines linked by automated
material transfer
 Operations are component insertion and joining
 Produce major assemblies or complete products
 Often use standard (lower cost) robots
 Product design appropriate for assembly by humans is
not fitting for automated assembly
 Automated Production Systems
 Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS)
 Kits of materials/parts for a product are loaded on the
materials-handling system
 Code is entered into computer identifying product and
its location in the sequence
 Each production machine (without a worker):
 Receives settings/instructions from computer
 Automatically loads/unloads required tools
 Carries out its processing instructions
 Product automatically transferred to next machine
 Flexible Manufacturing System (FMS)
X
Pallet
Transfer Tools
X
System
X X Machine 1

Workpiece X
in queue X Tools
X
X Machine 2
Pallet with
X Computer
workpiece X
X Tools
attached
X Machine 3
X
Load Unload
Parts Worker
 Automated Production Systems

 Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems (ASRS)

 Receive orders for materials from anywhere in
operations
 Collect the materials from locations in warehouse
 Deliver the materials to workstations in operations
 Three major elements of ASRS are:
 Computers and communication systems
 Automated materials handling/delivery systems
 Storage and retrieval systems in warehouse
 Automated Production Systems

 Automated Storage & Retrieval Systems (ASRS)

 Main benefits of ASRS are:
 Increased storage capacity
 Increased system throughput
 Reduced labor costs
 Improved product quality
 Software Systems for Automation

 Three “complex” computer-based systems

 Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided
Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
 Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
 Software Systems for Automation

 Computer-Aided Design and Computer-Aided

Manufacturing (CAD/CAM)
 CAD/CAM is a merger of two systems, CAD and CAM
(described next)
 It is the automation of the transition from product design
to manufacturing
 Software Systems for Automation
 Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
 Concerned with the automation of certain phases of
product design
 Use of computer in interactive engineering drawing and
storage of designs
 CAD systems are installed to:
 Increase designers’ productivity
 Improve the quality of designs
 Improve product standardization
 Improve design documentation
 Create a manufacturing database
 Software Systems for Automation

 Computer-Aided Manufacturing (CAM)

 CAM capability progressing slower than CAD
 Concerned with automating the planning and control
of production:
 Plan production
 Prepare product routings
 Generate N/C programs
 Fix the settings of machinery
 Prepare production schedules
 Control the operation
 Software Systems for Automation

 Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)

 “All of the firm’s operations related to production are
incorporated in an integrated computer system to
assist, augment, or automate the operations.”
 Covers the chain of events from sales order to product
shipment
 Output of one activity becomes the input to the next
activity
 Computer Integrated Manufacturing
(CIM)

 Incorporates all manufacturing-related functions

ASRS Process
Controls

Automated GT
Assembly Systems

CAD/CAM MRP II
 Software Systems for Automation

 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

 A complex set of software programs
 Integrates most of the business functions in an
organization
 Accounting
 Human resources
 Purchasing
 Production
 Logistics
 E-Business
 … and more