W1 Introduction

Question 1

What is Manufacturing (traditional)?

Answer 1

Process of converting (a product, goods, etc.) from raw materials using resources such as physical labour and machinery, especially on a large scale subject to regulations and policies.

Question 2

Why is it important? (4)

Answer 2

Essential, Diverse, Complex, Dynamic

Question 3

What is Manufacturing? (Technological)

Answer 3

“The application of physical and chemical processes to alter the geometry and/or appearance of given starting material to make parts or products; also includes assembly of parts.”

Question 4

What is manufacturing (alternative)

Answer 4

“The transformation of materials into items of greater value by means of one or more processing and/or assembly operations.” Manufacturing adds value.

Question 5

What do Production Engineers need to know? (3)

Answer 5

Standards, Legislations
Technical and business specifications
Product Design

Question 6

What are Manufacturing Industries and how are they categorised?

Answer 6

Are enterprises or organization that produce and/or supply goods and/or services. They are categorised as Primary, Secondary and Tertiary

Question 7

What are primary indutries and give some examples

Answer 7

Those that cultivate and exploit natural resources.
* Agriculture
* Fishing
* Forestry
* Petroleum
* Mining

Question 8

What are secondary industries and give some examples

Answer 8

Convert the output from primary industries into consumer and capital goods:
* Aerospace
* Automotive
* Food processing
* Electronics
* Basic metals

Question 9

Define consumer and capital goods

Answer 9

Consumer goods: purchased directly by consumers
Capital goods: purchased by other companies to produce consumer goods or provide services

Question 10

What are Tertiary Industries

Answer 10

Provide services rather than tangible goods
* Banking
* Insurance
* Education
* Hotel
* Restaurants
* Communications
* Transportation

Question 11

Manufacturing Processes and Operations (4 divisions)

Answer 11

1. Processing and assembly
2. Material handling
3. Inspection and
4. Operations management.

Question 12

Operations Management (4 divisions)

Answer 12

Strategy
Design
Planning and Control
Improvement

Question 13

Strategy

Answer 13

• Understanding the aims of the manufacturing company is the first order of business for an operations management team.
• This allows the performance of the operation to be planned and monitored at different levels of the enterprise.
• An operations strategy is then developed to guide the minute-by-minute decision making towards the company’s long term goals.

Question 14

Design

Answer 14

Design is comprised of determining the functionality, physical form, shape, composition
and software components of the produced services and products as well as the processes that are used to realise them.

Question 15

Planning and Control

Answer 15

Planning and control is deciding what manufacturing resources (i.e.
machines, people, etc.) should be doing at each given moment in time and ensuring that they
really are doing what they should be doing.

Question 16

Improvement

Answer 16

In order for a company to remain competitive in the long run, the manufacturing operations team has an ongoing duty to ensure that the systems, products, processes
and services are continuously improved.

Question 17

Deciding factors for Production Facilities (2)

Answer 17

Production quantity and Product Variety

Question 18

Define Production quanitity and it’s three branches

Answer 18

Number of units of a given part or prodcut that is produced annually in the factory.
Low Volume production: 1 to 100 units
Medium volume production: 100-10,000 units
High Volume Production: >10,000 units

Question 19

Define Product variety and it’s three branches

Answer 19

Number of different product designs
and types that are produced in a factory. There is often an inverse correlation between variety andquantity in factories; so factories either produce a great number of a few types of products, or a wide variety of products in small numbers.
Job Shop: Low Volume Production
Batch Production and Cellular Manufacturing: Medium volume production
Mass Production: High Volume Production

Question 20

Job Shops (3)

Answer 20

• Highly flexible production * Multipurpose tools and machines * Customized products

Question 21

Batch production/Cellular manufacturing (2)

Answer 21

• Production in stages * Variety of products from single line

Question 22

Mass Production (2)

Answer 22

• Dedicated to standard product * Inflexible

Question 23

Manufacturing Capability and factors

Answer 23

Manufacturing Capability refers to the technical and physical limitations of a manufacturing firm
and each of its plants. The main factors in determining the capability are:
* Technological Processing Capability
company.
* Physical Product Limitations
* Production Capacity

Question 24

Technological Processing Capability

Answer 24

The technologies that are available to the factory. Not all manufacturing, material handling or inspection technologies are available to every factory.*Material *Compatibility *Technical knowhow

Question 25

Physical Product Limitations

Answer 25

There are size and weight limitations for most machines and material handling devices that limit a manufacturing plant.*Size *Weight *Storage

Question 26

Production Capacity

Answer 26

This limitation is the result of capacity planning for the factory.*Manning level *Equipment *Speed

Question 27

Characteristics for Evaluation (4)

Answer 27

*Cost: setting up and running costs
*Rate: process operation speed
*Quality: This can often be a subjective metric and is coupled with marketing and consumer
trends. However, within manufacturing operations, quantitative measures of quality are always sought to support production.
*Flexibility: Some machines exclusively produce one product, while others can output a range
with little modification or additional investment. For example, with a 3D printing machine we
can produce a variety of geometries without dedicated tools, but in casting a new mould is
needed each time we are making a new geometry.

Question 28

The percentage contribution of Manufacturing to global GDP has been dropping since records started a few decades ago. What is replacing that value?

Answer 28

Other sectors of the economy are experiencing an inverse trend. For example services (tertiary industries) are becoming more prominent. At the same time, expenditure in Science and Research, which do inform manufacturing, is experiencing massive growth.

Question 29

The historical trend has been for products to be made with an increasing number of components (compare a Ford focus with the Ford Model T). At the same time, design for manufacturing principles encourage product designers to reduce the number of components. How can you explain these opposing trends?

Answer 29

The drivers for increasing number of components may include: increasing complexity of products, more use of standardized components, reuse in design and the drivers for reducing the number of components would be: ease of assembly and disassembly and requirement for a smaller skilled workforce.