Computer- integrated manufacturing: The benefits of factory automation

By -

The benefits of factory automation

Organizations which have implemented CIM techniques have benefitted in a number of ways. A recent survey com­ missioned by the DTI and carried out by Benchmark Re­ search revealed the following perceived benefits from CIM:

• Increased flexibility in manufacturing operations.

• Increased productivity.

• Reduction in lead times.

• Reduction in costs.

• Improved product quality.

clip_image002

Creating the integrated factory

To implement CIM, the DP system and the various auto­ mated manufacturing systems (see page 219) must be closely tied together by electronic links. There must be a large computer (typically a mainframe) in overall control of these systems, running special software such as the TIME software described in the next section. This same computer may also run the DP system and the various CIM systems, in which case the links between these systems will be purely software links.

The first phase may be to link the CAD system to the CAM system, to create a CAD/CAM system. In this, the product design created on the CAD software is converted by the CAM software to instructions for the factory machines, so that the settings for the machines and the tools used are automatically determined.

In the second phase, the DP system may be tied to the CAD/CAM system to create what's sometimes called an integrated factory. In this, the information from customers' orders is used to control the scheduling and loading of work in the factory, so that it automatically produces what's required. As well as this, the DP system is linked to the CAD system, so that it passes to management reports and market information for use in product design.

These key systems that make up the integrated factory are shown in Figure 10.1. Note that the links that are shown in the diagram between these systems take place via the controlling software, as explained in the next section.

At present, CAD/CAM is quite widely employed, but few integrated factories exist, apart from some in Japan.

The remaining sections of this chapter describe a range of CIM technologies and techniques, beginning with a brief description of software that can be used to control the integrated factory.

Controlling the integrated factory

One example of software for controlling the integrated factory is TIME, short for Tandem Integrated Manufactur­ing Environment. As its name implies, this system is a product of Tandem Computers, and runs on their mainframes.

A schematic of the TIME system is shown in Figure 10.2.

It consists of three modules, called Factory Manager, Docu­ment Manager, and Device Manager. These modules per­ form the following broad tasks:

image

• The Factory Manager controls the minute-by-minute progress of parts through the factory, to ensure that orders are produced at the right time and to the right specifications. The basis of this control is information on customer orders obtained from the DP system.

• The Document Manager takes the designs produced by the CAD system and passes them around the factory to the machines that require them, when they require them.

• The Device Manager is really the interface between these two managers and the factory machines. It inter­ prets the information produced by the Factory Manager and the Document Manager into the instructions that are passed to the CNC machines, robots, and other factory devices.

The following sections describe four of the main CIM techniques, namely MRP, CAD, CAM, and FMS.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

WORKED EXAMPLES ON PROCESS SPECIFICATION.

By -
Image
PROCESS SPECIFICATION WORKED EXAMPLES 6.1 A bank has the following policy on deposits: On deposits of Rs. 5000 and above and for three years or above the interest is 12%. On the same deposit for a period less than 3 years it is 10%. On deposits below Rs. 5000 the interest is 8% regardless of the period of deposit. Write the above process using (i) Structured English (ii) A decision table 6.2 An organization maintains an employee file in which each record has following data: { Employee No., employee name, employee gross pay}. It has been decided to increase the pay as per the following formula: For pay of Rs. 1000 or less increase 15%. For pay of more than Rs. 1000 but up to Rs. 2500 increase 10%. For pay over Rs. 2500 increase 5%. (i) Writ e a structured English processing rule corresponding to the above policies. (ii) Express the policies as a decision table. (i) While employee records left in file do Read Number, name , gross pay 6.3 An offshore gas company bills it
Read more

Why do we need information systems, management structure, requirements of information at different levels of management.

By -
Image
Why do we need information systems, management structure, requirements of information at different levels of management NEED FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS Information systems are needed when timely processing for fast action is needed, same data has to be processed in different ways and when organizations require innovative processing. MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE Functional areas of management are as follows: •PRODUCTION • MARKETING • MATERIALS – purchase, stores • FINANCE –Accounts • HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT(HRD) • RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (R&D) INFORMATION FOR MANAGEMENT A Production Management The following type of information is needed in production management: Strategic Information: 1)Yearly and monthly production quotas and alternate schedules 2)Policies on machine replacement, augmentation and modernization. 3)Identifying best product mix. Tactical Information 1)Identifying and controlling areas of high cost. 2) Identifying critical bottlenecks in production. 3)
Read more

The User Interface:Establishing User Interfaces

By -
Image
The User Interface Establishing User Interfaces The success factors in analysis start with the established interfaces from day one. What does this mean? You must start the process by meeting with the right people in the organization. In the best projects, the process is as follows: 1. Executive interface: There needs to be an executive-level supporter of the project. Without such a supporter, you risk not being able to keep the project on schedule. Most important, you need a supporter for the political issues that you may need to handle during the project (discussed in detail later). The executive supporter, sometimes known as a sponsor (JAD reference), should provide a preliminary schedule advising the organization of what is expected and the objectives of the project. The executive supporter should attach a letter to the preliminary schedule and send it to the project team members. The letter must put the importance of the project into perspective. Therefore, it is strongly rec
Read more