Changeable and Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

403 Pages·2009·8.52 MB·English

by  Hoda A. ElMaraghy, H.-P. Wiendahl (auth.), Hoda A. ElMaraghy (eds.)

Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing
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Hoda A. ElMaraghy
Editor
Changeable and Reconfigurable
Manufacturing Systems
123
Hoda A. ElMaraghy, PhD, PEng, FSME, FCSME
Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) Center
University of Windsor
204 Odette Building
401 Sunset Avenue
Windsor, Ontario, N9B 3P4
Canada
ISBN: 978-1-84882-066-1 e-ISBN: 978-1-84882-067-8
DOI 10.1007/978-1-84882-067-8
Springer Series in Advanced Manufacturing ISSN 1860-5168
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Preface
“The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different.”
Peter Drucker (1909–2005)
Change has become a constant in today’s manufacturing environment. While change
is inevitable, it is important to take advantage of it and make it happen efficiently
through good designs and by developing effective change enablers. The advantages
of change ability are well known, and have been demonstrated by many examples
as early as the invention of the movable type printing machines.
Globalization, unpredictable markets, increased products customization and the
quest for competitive advantages are but a few of the many challenges facing man-
ufacturing enterprises now and in the future. Frequent changes in products, pro-
duction technologies and manufacturing systems are evident today along with their
significant implementation cost. One key strategy for success is to satisfy the mar-
ket need for products variations and customization, utilizing the new technologies,
while reducing the resulting variations in their manufacturing and associated cost.
This trend is on the rise in view of the paradigm shifts witnessed in manufacturing
systems and their increased flexibility and responsiveness to cope with the evolution
of both products and systems.
A host of external and internal change drivers exist that affect the manufac-
turing enterprises at various levels from strategic planning for re-positioning the
business, down to the actual production facilities to achieve a high degree of adapt-
ability. The drivers relate to business strategy modification, market volatility and
products/production variations. The changing manufacturing environment, charac-
terized by aggressive competition on a global scale, scarce resources and rapid
changes in process technology, requires careful attention in order to prolong the
life of manufacturing systems by making them easily adaptable and facilitating the
integration of new technologies and new functions. Changes can most often be an-
ticipated but some go beyond the design range. This requires providing innovative
change enablers and adaptation mechanisms to achieve modularity, scalability and
compatibility. While changes may not always be anticipated, the behavior of their
enablers should be pre-planned for all scenarios to ensure cost effective adaptabil-
ity.
v
vi Preface
Changeability is defined as the characteristics to economically accomplish early
and foresighted adjustments of the factory’s structures and processes on all levels,
in response to change impulses.
Several manufacturing systems paradigms have emerged as a result of these
changes including agile, adaptable, flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing. The
ability to cope with change is the common denominator among all these paradigms,
each of which presents a set of technological solutions to enable changes to occur
efficiently and profitably. Flexible manufacturing for example changes the system
behavior without changing its configuration, while reconfigurable manufacturing
would change the system behavior by changing its configuration.
There are two types of change enablers: hard or physical enablers and soft or log-
ical enablers. The “physical/hard” change enablers include the physical attributes
that facilitate change. These characteristics are not only limited to the machinery
but they also apply to the factories infrastructures, physical plant and buildings.
Hardware changes also require major changes at the “logical/soft” enablers level,
such as the software systems used to control individual machines, complete cells,
and systems as well as to process plan individual operations and to plan and control
the whole production. The logical enabling technologies extend beyond the factory
walls to the strategic planning levels, logistics and supply chains. In addition, manu-
facturing changes are not limited to the technical systems; they include the business
organization and employees that should also be planned and managed effectively.
The role of changeability enablers can be well illustrated, as mentioned, by the
example of the invention of the movable type printing machine. In the early days,
books were either copied out by hand on scrolls and paper or printed from hand-
carved wooden blocks, each block is used to print a whole page, a part of a page
or even individual letters. This took a long time, and even a short book could take
months to complete. The woodwork was extremely time-consuming, the carved let-
ters or blocks were very fragile and the susceptibility of wood to ink gave such
blocks a limited lifespan. Moreover, the same hand-carved letters did not look the
same. Johannes Gutenberg (1397–1468) is generally credited with the invention of
practical movable type. He made metal moulds, by the use of dies, into which he
could pour hot liquid metal, in order to produce separate letters having the same
shape as those written by hand. These letters were consistent, more readable and
more durable than wooden blocks. They could be arranged and re-arranged many
times to create different pages from the same set of letters. The Koreans (in 1234,
over 200 years ahead of Gutenberg’s feat) and the Chinese (between 1041 to 1048)
have independently invented movable type. However, it was not until Gutenberg in-
troduced around 1450 the use of the enabling printing press technology (used in his
times by the wine industry) to press the arranged type letters against paper that this
invention took off. The press enabled sharp impressions to be made on both sides of
a sheet of paper and allowed many repetitions as well as letters re-use.
Movable print is a perfect example of early applications of standardization, mod-
ularity, compatibility, inter-changeability, scalability, flexibility and reconfigurabil-
ity. Regardless of earlier introductions of the movable print, it was Gutenberg’s com-
Preface vii
bination of the printing press; movable type, paper and ink that helped the invention
evolve into an innovative and practical process. By combining these elements into
a production system, he made the rapid printing of written materials feasible, which
lead to an information explosion in Renaissance Europe. The print invention is re-
garded by many as the invention of the millennium, thanks to Gutenberg, who pro-
vided the change ability and technological enablers to make it a success, which
lead to mass printing practices that changed our world.
In this book, the technological enablers of changeability are particularly empha-
sized. Many important perspectives on change in manufacturing and its different
facets are provided. The book presents the new concept of Changeability as an um-
brella framework that encompasses many paradigms such as agility, adaptability,
flexibility and reconfigurability, which are in turn enablers of change. It establishes
the relationship among these paradigms and presents a hierarchical classification
that puts them in context at all levels of a manufacturing enterprise. It provides the
definitions and classification of key terms in this new field. The book places great
emphasis on the required change enablers. It contains original contributions and re-
sults from senior international experts, experienced practitioners and accomplished
researchers in the field of manufacturing. It presents cutting edge technologies, the
latest thinking and research results as well as future directions to help manufacturers
stay competitive. In addition, most chapters contain either industrial applications or
case studies to clearly demonstrate the applicability of these important concepts and
their impact.
The book is organized in 5 parts and 22 chapters by authors from Canada, Eu-
rope, Japan and Asia. It offers balanced and comprehensive treatment of the subjects
as well as in depth analysis of many related issues. Part I introduces manufacturing
changeability, its definitions, characteristics, enablers and strategies, presents mod-
els and enablers for changing and evolving products and their systems, and discusses
the concept of focused flexibility in production systems. Part II deals with the phys-
ical technological change enablers for machine tools and robots configuration and
re-configuration and control, including new unified dynamic and control models,
and highlights the important, but less discussed, changeable and reconfigurable as-
sembly systems. Part III focuses on the logical change enablers. It presents new
unified dynamic and control models for reconfigurable robots as well as reconfig-
urable control systems. It introduces novel methods for reconfiguring process plans,
new perspectives on adaptive as well as change ready production and manufacturing
planning and control systems, and models for capacity planning and its complexity.
Part IV discusses the topic of managing and justifying change in manufacturing
including the effect of changeability on the design of products and systems, the use
and programming of CNC machine tools, quality and maintenance strategies for
reconfigurable and changeable manufacturing and the economic and strategic jus-
tification of these systems. Part V sheds light on some important future directions
such as the cognitive factory, the migration manufacturing new concept for automo-
tive body production and an architectural view of changeable factory buildings.
viii Preface
The book will serve as a comprehensive reference in this subject for industrial
professionals, managers, engineers, specialists, consultants, researchers and aca-
demics in manufacturing, industrial and mechanical engineering; and general read-
ers who are scientifically bent and interested to learn about the new and emerging
manufacturing paradigms and their potential impact on the work place and future
jobs. It can also be used as a primary or supplementary textbook for both post-
graduate and senior under-graduate courses in Manufacturing Paradigms, Advanced
Manufacturing Systems, Flexible/Reconfigurable Manufacturing, Integrated Manu-
facturing, and Management of Technology.
I hope you will enjoy reading this book, and would like to leave you with a final
thought best expressed by the following interesting quote:
“I do not know whether it becomes better if it changes.
But it must change if it should become better.”
German Philosopher,
Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–1799)
Windsor, Ontario, Canada Hoda A. ElMaraghy
July 2008
Acknowledgments
The contributions of all authors and their cooperation throughout the preparation
of their manuscripts have been instrumental in shaping this book and are sincerely
acknowledged. The important work of many colleagues in the Working Group on
Changeability of the International Academy of Production Engineering Research
(CIRP), lead by Professor Hans-Peter Wiendahl, provided the inspiration and im-
petus for this book. Several of these international experts have contributed valuable
chapters in the book.
The research support I received from the Canada Research Chairs program since
2002 has made it possible for me to conduct a comprehensive research program in
the field of manufacturing systems. It enabled me to supervise and train many re-
searchers including Post Doctoral fellows, Ph.D. candidates, Master’s students and
research engineers, and disseminate the resulting research outcomes in the last six
years in 100 referred journal and conference papers. Sample outputs of this research
appear in 9 co-authored chapters in the book. Many insightful discussions, input and
critique from members of my research group, too many to list here, have been very
constructive, and for which I am grateful.
The expert assistance of Miss Zaina Batal, the Administrative and Research As-
sistant at the Intelligent Manufacturing Systems (IMS) Center at the University of
Windsor, in the compilation, checking, verification and coordination of all contri-
butions and helping me complete this project in a timely manner is greatly appreci-
ated. Finally, the support and guidance of the Springer editorial staff, Mr. Anthony
Doyle and Mr. Simon Rees, have been very useful throughout the book proposal and
manuscript preparation stages.
Windsor, Ontario, Canada Hoda A. ElMaraghy
July 2008
ix