Manufacturing and Automation Systems: Techniques and Technologies, Part 2 of 5

429 Pages·1991·6.446 MB·1-421\429

by  C.T. LEONDES (Eds.)

CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS VOLUME
JAMES S.ALBUS
JAMES E. ARMSTRONG
DAVID M. AUSLANDER
CHARLENE R. BENSON
STEPHENDERBY
PIUSJEGBELU
ROGER J.GAGNON
SOUMEN GHOSH
T GOVINDARAJ
G. HARHALAKIS
CATHERINE M. HARMONOSKY
SUNDERESH S. HERAGU
DEAN A. HETTENBACH
HUI-MIN HUANG
C.P.LIN
L.MARK
CHRISTINE M. MITCHELL
RICHARD QUINTERO
CHENG HAAM THAM
CONTROL AND
DYNAMIC SYSTEMS
ADVANCES IN THEORY
AND APPLICATIONS
Edited by
C. T. LEONDES
School of Engineering and Applied Science
University of California, Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
and
College of Engineering
University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
VOLUME 46: MANUFACTURING AND
AUTOMATION SYSTEMS:
TECHNIQUES AND TECHNOLOGIES
Part2of5
®
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CONTRIBUTORS
Numbers in parentheses indicate the pages on which the authors' contributions begin.
James S. Albus (n3),Robot Systems Division, Manufacturing Engineering Labora-
tory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
20899
James E. Armstrong (255), Center for Human-Machine Systems Research, School
of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
Georgia 30332
David M. Auslander (I) .Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley, California 94720
Charlene R. Benson (255), Center for Human-Machine Systems Research, School
of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
Georgia 30332
Stephen Derby (123), GRASP, Inc., Troy, New York 12180
Pius J. Egbelu (35), Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineer-
ing, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802
Roger J. Gagnon (355), Babcock Graduate School of Management, Wake Forest
University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina 27109
Soumen Ghosh (355), Department of Management, College of Business, Michigan
State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
T. Govindaraj (255), Center for Human-Machine Systems Research, School of In-
dustrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
Georgia 30332
vn
VUL CONTRIBUTORS
G. Harhalakis (307), Systems Research Center, University of Maryland, College
Park, Maryland 20742
Catherine M. Harmonosky (83), Department of Industrial and Management Systems
Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania
16802
Sunderesh S. Heragu (137), Department of Decision Sciences and Engineering Sys-
tems, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York 12180
Dean A. Hettenbach (255), Center for Human-Machine Systems Research, School
of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
Georgia 30332
Hui-Min Huang (173), Robot Systems Division, Manufacturing Engineering Labo-
ratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
20899
C. P. Lin (307), Systems Research Center, University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland 20742
L. Mark (307), Systems Research Center, University of Maryland, College Park,
Maryland 20742
Christine M. Mitchell (255), Center for Human-Machine Systems Research, School
of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta,
Georgia 30332
Richard Quintero (173), Robot Systems Division, Manufacturing Engineering Labo-
ratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland
20899
Cheng Haam Tham (1), Sherpa Corporation, San Jose, California 95134
PREFACE
At the start of this century, national economies on the international scene were,
to a large extent, agriculturally based. This was, perhaps, the dominant reason
for the protraction, on the international scene, of the Great Depression, which
began with the Wall Street stock market crash of October 1929. In any event,
after World War II the trend away from agriculturally based economies and to-
ward industrially based economies continued and strengthened. Indeed, today,
in the United States, approximately only 1% of the population is involved in the
agriculture industry. Yet, this small segment largely provides for the agriculture
requirements of the United States and, in fact, provides significant agriculture
exports. This, of course, is made possible by the greatly improved techniques
and technologies utilized in the agriculture industry.
The trend toward industrially based economies after World War II was, in
turn, followed by a trend toward service-based economies; and, in fact, in the
United States today roughly 70% of the employment is involved with service
industries, and this percentage continues to increase. Nevertheless, of course,
manufacturing retains its historic importance in the economy of the United States
and in other economies, and in the United States the manufacturing industries
account for the lion's share of exports and imports. Just as in the case of the
agriculture industries, more is continually expected from a constantly shrinking
percentage of the population. Also, just as in the case of the agriculture indus-
tries, this can only be possible through the utilization of constantly improving
techniques and technologies in the manufacturing industries. As a result, this is a
particularly appropriate time to treat the issue of manufacturing and automation
systems in this international series. Thus, this is Part 2 of a five-part set of vol-
umes devoted to the most timely theme of "Manufacturing and Automation Sys-
tems: Techniques and Technologies."
The first contribution to this volume, "Real Time Control Software for Manu-
facturing Systems," by David M. Auslander and Cheng Haam Tham, deals, of
course, with the essential issue of software in manufacturing systems. With the
"hearts" of many manufacturing machines based on software, the performance,
reliability, time-to-market, and design cost become heavily dependent on the
IX
x PREFACE
methodologies for design and implementation of the machine control software.
The aspects of the control software that are active in the time-critical or real time
portions of the machine's operation are examined. Basic concepts of real time
software are explored for single- and multiple-processor implementations. A case
study is used throughout to connect these concepts to real manufacturing sys-
tems.
The next contribution is "Reduction of Manufacturing Cost through Material
Handling," by Pius J. Egbelu. Until recently, the material-handling function was
one that was given very low priority by most manufacturing organizations. In-
stead of being considered as an integral component o fa manufacturing system, it
had always been presented as an undesirable source of manufacturing costs that
people wished could be done away with. The use of material handling as an
instrument to reduce manufacturing costs and improve product quality, safety,
work-in-process level, material flow, manufacturing lead time, space utilization,
and housekeeping is now well recognized. With about 50 to 75% of manufactur-
ing costs in many companies attibuted to material handling, this area is now
more clearly recognized as one that offers significant opportunites for manufac-
turing cost reduction, and companies that recognize the cost impact of this area
are taking measures to deal with it effectively. The material-handling function is
seeing the continual development and utilization of automation, perhaps most
particularly as a result of the continuing powerful advances in computer technol-
ogy. The interactions between material-handling systems and other components
of manufacturing systems continue to be explored and better understood. This
contribution is an in-depth treatment of these and other related issues and thus is
an important element of these volumes.
The next contribution is "Preliminary Design for Flexible Manufacturing Sys-
tems (FMS): Essential Elements, Analysis Tools, and Techniques," by Catherine
M. Harmonosky. Shorter product life cycles, rapid technological development,
and capital-intensive automated systems have led manufacturers to emphasize
flexibility in manufacturing systems. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMSs)
have been promoted as a manufacturing strategy that permits quick changes in
the system, allowing a company to stay competitive in a rapidly changing mar-
ketplace without large reinvestment. Good analysis of preliminary FMS designs,
including both hardware and computer communication software issues, is essen-
tial to achieve potential future gains from inherent system flexibility. Early analy-
sis can show system designers if the stated preliminary FMS design will truly
meet the specified system performance goals. It also provides essential informa-
tion for modifying initial designs while still on paper, which is naturally more
cost-effective than physical changes after installation, to achieve even better sys-
tem performance. Because of the pervasive importance o fthe FMS issue in manu-
facturing companies on the international scene, this contribution is also an es-
sential element of this set of volumes.
PREFACE XI
The next contribution is "Mechatronics Techniques in Manufacturing and
Automated Systems," by Stephen Derby. Mechatronics can be best thought of as
the techniques or processes that are the union of mechanical, computer, and elec-
trical engineering. It is sometimes viewed as a "systems" approach to product
design. The term mechatronics is relatively new in the United States, but it was
established by the Japanese in the early 1980s. This contribution discusses some
of the various views on what mechatronics means and what it can achieve for a
company and then, as a case study, looks at the requirements of an assembly
robot at the design stages. Most existing industrial robots are good examples of
complex mechatronic design. The case study explores the benefits of selectively
using the integrated mechatronic design for specific functional operations, while
keeping a few select functions entirely mechanical. The benefit of this approach
is a totally novel assembly robot design.
The next contribution is "Techniques for Machine Layout Optimization in
Manufacturing and Automation Systems," by Sunderesh S. Heragu. In a manu-
facturing system, the material-handling function includes transporting work in
process, finished parts, materials, and tools between machines or workstations;
picking parts from storage spaces in a warehouse; etc. While developing a lay-
out, it is essential that the location of machines/workstations be such that the
distance traveled by personnel or material-handling carriers between each pair
of machines or workstations be minimized. In addition, some other design con-
straints may have to be imposed. For example, due to safety or other factors, two
or more workstations may have to be placed adjacently even though the interac-
tion between these two machines may be minimal. Similarly, it may be neces-
sary to place two workstations in nonadjacent (preferably distant) locations even
if there is significant interaction between them. Or, a machine may have to be
positioned at a particular location only, for a variety of reasons. Furthermore,
factors such as width of the material-handling carrier path, clearance between
machines, etc., must be considered while determining the layout. The term ma-
chines and workstations includes not only machine tools, but also in-process
storage systems, inspection stations, etc. This contribution provides an in-depth
and comprehensive treatment of these and related issues.
The next contribution is "A Reference Model, Design Approach, and Devel-
opment Illustration toward Hierarchical Real-Time System Control for Coal
Mining Operations," by Hui-Min Huang, Richard Quintero, and James S. Albus.
As noted previously, a constantly shrinking percentage of the work force is in-
volved in agriculture, and a similar observation pertains to the coal mining in-
dustry, which accounts for over 50% of the total domestic electric power genera-
tion in the United States. Three issues, among others, need to be addressed as a
result: these are safety, advances in productivity, and production cost reductions,
all achieved through advances in automation techniques and technology. Means
for accomplishing this through a real-time control system (RCS) architecture are
XU PREFACE
presented in this contribution. RCS can be viewed as an intelligent machine sys-
tem (IMS) capable of reasoning and judging through interaction with its sensory
systems and, in turn, driving its activator systems to achieve goals. Coal mining
is a very complex operation that, typically, involves equipment, personnel, and
process plants distributed over hundreds of miles. This makes full implementa-
tion of a computer-assisted mining system a very large undertaking. This contri-
bution presents a system design methodology that will facilitate incremental
implementation and integration, leading to an integrated coal mining operation
that achieves the desired goals.
The next contribution is "Human Supervisory Control of Predominantly Au-
tomated Manufacturing Processes: Conceptual Issues and Empirical Investiga-
tions," by Christine M. Mitchell, T. Govindaraj, James E. Armstrong, Charlene
R. Benson, and Dean A. Hettenbach. The debate on the competitiveness and
productivity of manufacturing systems has focused attention on the manufactur-
ing process and manufacturing innovation. One interesting conclusion is that the
difficulty in manufacturing is due not to deficiencies so much in machines and
technology but in organizations and the use of people in production. Most re-
search on manufacturing automation focuses on the derivation of fully automated
control and scheduling techniques, e.g., optimal or heuristic analytic models or
knowledge-based systems. Although one often-expressed intention of factory
automation is the drastic reduction or total elimination of the human workforce
on the shop floor (e.g., the lights out factory), it is much more likely that in-
creased implementation of automation will lead to changes in the numbers and
skills of workers on the shop floor, rather than the elimination of people. Thus,
the factory of the future will include human decision makers on the shop floor,
but the roles and scopes of responsibilities of these individuals are likely to
change drastically as the implementation of automation progresses. While ac-
knowledging the presence of human decision makers, few researchers address
explicitly the engineering and design of manufacturing control systems that inte-
grate automation with the humans who are responsible for overseeing the effec-
tiveness of system operation. This contribution presents an in-depth treatment of
these issues and thus is also an essential element of this series of volumes.
The next contribution is "Techniques for the Integration of Manufacturing
Systems," by G. Harhalakis, C.P. Lin, and L. Mark. Current research in the area
of manufacturing systems is quite intensive in dealing with product and process
design, production planning, and job execution. However, the design of such
systems traditionally has been made in a functional fashion that emphasized "lo-
cal" solutions, using closed self-contained architectures. This, together with the
use of heterogeneous databases and incompatible computer operating systems,
has led to "islands of automation" of various engineering application systems.
Naturally, these systems suffer from data inconsistencies and lack of control of
functional interactions between them. Current and future trends for the use of
PREFACE Xlll
computers in manufacturing include the control and the integration of informa-
tion flow for production operations into a computer-controlled factory manage-
ment system. Various approaches are being developed for a generic computer
integrated manufacturing (CIM) architecture by creating a global data base frame-
work or by interfacing shop floor activities. This contribution is an in-depth pre-
sentation of these issues, and it presents an approach that develops a control
mechanism for managing and controlling the information flow among all the
manufacturing application systems and for filling the gap between high-level
production management and low-level factory automation.
The final contribution to this volume is "Advances in Manufacturing Assem-
bly Systems," by Soumen Ghosh and Roger J. Gagnon. The analytical statement
of the basic assembly line balancing (ALB) problem was first published in 1955
as a linear programming problem. The basic form of the ALB problem consists
of assigning a finite set of work elements or tasks to an ordered sequence of
stations such that precedence relations and other restrictions are satisfied and
some objective measure(s) is (are) optimized. Since the first publication, the topic
of assembly line balancing, has continued to receive attention by academic re-
searchers as well as practitioners. More recently, ALB-related issues have re-
ceived added attention for several reasons. This final contribution to this volume
is an in-depth treatment of these issues of major importance to manufacturing
systems and thus is a particularly appropriate contribution.
This volume is a particularly appropriate one as the second of a companion
set of five volumes on techniques and technologies in manufacturing and auto-
mation systems. The authors are all to be congratulated for their superb contri-
butions, which will provide a uniquely significant reference source for workers
on the international scene for years to come.