W1 Introduction Flashcards
What is Manufacturing (traditional)?
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.
Why is it important? (4)
Essential, Diverse, Complex, Dynamic
What is Manufacturing? (Technological)
“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.”
What is manufacturing (alternative)
“The transformation of materials into items of greater value by means of one or more processing and/or assembly operations.” Manufacturing adds value.
What do Production Engineers need to know? (3)
Standards, Legislations
Technical and business specifications
Product Design
What are Manufacturing Industries and how are they categorised?
Are enterprises or organization that produce and/or supply goods and/or services. They are categorised as Primary, Secondary and Tertiary
What are primary indutries and give some examples
Those that cultivate and exploit natural resources.
* Agriculture
* Fishing
* Forestry
* Petroleum
* Mining
What are secondary industries and give some examples
Convert the output from primary industries into consumer and capital goods:
* Aerospace
* Automotive
* Food processing
* Electronics
* Basic metals
Define consumer and capital goods
Consumer goods: purchased directly by consumers
Capital goods: purchased by other companies to produce consumer goods or provide services
What are Tertiary Industries
Provide services rather than tangible goods
* Banking
* Insurance
* Education
* Hotel
* Restaurants
* Communications
* Transportation
Manufacturing Processes and Operations (4 divisions)
- Processing and assembly
- Material handling
- Inspection and
- Operations management.
Operations Management (4 divisions)
Strategy
Design
Planning and Control
Improvement
Strategy
- 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.
Design
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.
Planning and Control
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.
Improvement
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.
Deciding factors for Production Facilities (2)
Production quantity and Product Variety
Define Production quanitity and it’s three branches
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
Define Product variety and it’s three branches
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
Job Shops (3)
- Highly flexible production * Multipurpose tools and machines * Customized products
Batch production/Cellular manufacturing (2)
- Production in stages * Variety of products from single line
Mass Production (2)
- Dedicated to standard product * Inflexible
Manufacturing Capability and factors
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
Technological Processing Capability
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
Physical Product Limitations
There are size and weight limitations for most machines and material handling devices that limit a manufacturing plant.*Size *Weight *Storage
Production Capacity
This limitation is the result of capacity planning for the factory.*Manning level *Equipment *Speed
Characteristics for Evaluation (4)
*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.
The percentage contribution of Manufacturing to global GDP has been dropping since records started a few decades ago. What is replacing that value?
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.
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?
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.
