Manufacturing Systems

Due to the increased product miniaturization, a number of new applications and market opportunities open up for mechanical micro-manufacturing. In the manufacturing process with part dimensions less than one millimeter and tolerances in the micrometer range occur so-called “size effects”. These prevent a simple scaling of processes known methods from the macro level and lead to an increased occurrence of quality deviations. In conclusion, the process capability according to ISO 21747 is affected and therefore the application of statistical process control (SPC) is more difficult. In this paper, the interaction between technical and logistical quality objectives in terms of logistical quality control are analyzed at the example of micro cold forming. Thereby, methods of statistical process control and fuzzy control are used.

Due to the increasing miniaturization in all areas, mechanical manufacturing processes of micro-components become more important. The combination of high production cycles and low manu-facturing tolerances in the micrometer range requires a comprehensive quality management, which seeks efficient processes with low quality costs. Because of the small component sizes and the difficulties associated with the handling process, the classic visual inspection retires as testing procedure. In combination with a customized micro-manufacturing surface metrology, an efficient image processing system is needed to identify surface imperfections such as cracks, dents and scratches. This paper presents different standards and applications on the basis of quality management that affect the surface inspection of micro components. By reference to a micro-thermoformed component from the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) 747, the prototypical implementation of an automated image processing system is ...

In this paper we present a short summary of the empirical studie we conducted among German logistics service providers in order to derive the diffusion of methods of Lean Production Systems in this industry. The study sheds light on the extent of the latent application of some methods so as to evaluate the preconditions of the development of a „Lean Production System” for logistics service providers.

To compete in the global environment companies in high wage countries have to separate themselves from competitors from low wage countries by offering customer specific products and services. Due to the rising complexity of these products the steering of the corresponding production systems is getting more and more resource consuming. One way to handle this aspect is developed within the Excellence Cluster “Integrative production technology for High-wage countries” at RWTH Aachen University. Objective is the set up of production systems that are able to produce customer specific products at mass production costs.

The continuing change of producer markets towards buyer markets has a strong impact on the competition between manufacturing enterprises. As a strategic answer collaborative networks such as virtual corporations, virtual enterprises or virtual factories have been discussed since the beginning of the 90ies of last century. Many models and concepts supporting the life cycle of such organisations - consisting of the creation, operation and dissolution phases - have been presented. An important aspect in the creation phase is strategic planning. This phase is supported by concepts of long-term networks like industrial clusters or regional networks which act as a virtual breeding environment and which enable the short-term creation of virtual organisations. Especially this phase needs support of strategic planning which can be seen as a part of the strategic management process. This paper shows that such virtual breeding environments can be seen as complex systems and how system oriented ...

Beginning with planning and control of traditional manufacturing systems and covering new goals of manufacturing strategy requirements like complexity management, adaptability and robustness are articulated. The paradigms of bionic, holonic and fractal systems seem to fulfill these requirements and allow the creation of new production systems.

The demographic change will be one of the big challenges for operational logistics in the upcoming years. With the aging of logistics workers, physical constraints increase especially when employment is characterized by high physical stress (e.g. like in production and logistics). That causes higher demands on the design of logistics workplaces. But how can companies react to this, taking into account that value added orientation leads to new demands to workers? Is there a chance that the increasing percentage of elder employees can properly fulfil the demands in the future? Whereas the ergonomic design of workplaces is the precondition, an intelligent labour organisation with diversified stress can preserve the worker’s ability to work.

Derived from the automotive industry an increasing number of companies - also from other industry sectors - implemented their own Integrated Production System. Relevant aspects concerning the implementation of an Integrated Production System like the motivation, the structure and the implementation strategy, as well as necessary efforts and benefits, were subject of a short survey by the Institute of Production Science (wbk) with chief managers of selected industry partners. This article summarizes the survey results and gives a short outlook to the future trend of Integrated Production Systems.

The bullwhip effect leads to instabilities in supply chains. Research on this phenomenon stresses the normative approach. This means that the causes of the bullwhip effect are identified within the structure and processes of the supply chain. However, the bullwhip effect persists even when the operational causes are under control, or when demand information is stationary and known to all parties. Most of all, the influence of behavioural decision making on the bullwhip effect has been underestimated. This is why the paper strives to shed light on this aspect by resorting to a simulation game, the supply net game, for learning inventory control in production networks. The experimental results, involving 130 participants, show that the decision pattern of counterintuitive decision making produces and reinforces what it is thought to lessen namely the bullwhip effect. This happens whenever the participants restrain from ordering while backlogs are building up or continue to order while ...

The shortening of both time to market und product life cycle in combination with an increase of cost pressure, demand a fast and flexible product development process. The idea of simultaneous engineering is to gain time by treating product, process and resources in parallel and thus discovering discrepancies faster and adjusting the necessary factors. In order to establish an efficient knowledge management a wiki platform, here acting as a social software, is introduced. It serves as a centre of navigation within the process chain and supports the communication between the subprojects. Content can be edited by any member of the research project and may be discussed and changed by others. Its fast and free implementation qualifies the wiki tool and offers a secure and easy to handle platform.