32 research outputs found
A case of cost estimation in an engineer-to-order company moving towards mass customisation
No full text
Criticality of Components and Specific Configurations in an Engineer-to-order Environment
No full textApplication of Module Drivers Creating Modular Manufacturing Equipment Enabling Changeability
Get PDFThe changeability of manufacturing systems can be of great importance for manufacturing companies to react rapidly and cost-effectively to market and product changes. Creating the basis for increasing the reuse and reusability of the manufacturing system then becomes critical since such capabilities would minimize the cost and/or investments that traditionally follows NPI projects and/or generally handling product variety. To accomplish the changeability of a manufacturing system one important enabler is modularity, which facilitates reusability. The basic concepts of modularity and platform architectures applied in product development can often be directly transferred to a production context though it does not necessarily imply that methods introduced as generic product modularization methods can be adopted directly with the purpose of developing modularized manufacturing systems. However, this paper adopts a method from product development literature to identify the optimal modular structure. Thus, this paper provides a methodology to apply module drivers in the design of modular manufacturing equipment, demonstrated on an industrial example.</p
Prerequisites and Barriers for the Development of Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems for High Speed Ramp-up
Get PDFIntensified global competition, fast developing technologies, and changing customer demands have resulted in a trend towards increased differences in customer requirements, increased need for customization, shorter product life cycles, shorter windows for market opportunity, and rapid new product introductions. Thus, production ramp-up is becoming a more and more important stage in the lifetime of a product, which manufacturers need to be able to handle frequently and efficiently in order to gain competitive advantage. Reconfigurable manufacturing systems (RMSs) are attractive options for handling this, as the system can be continuously reconfigured in accordance with the demanded volumes and products. However, the development of the RMS is a particularly challenging task compared to the development of a traditional manufacturing system. Therefore, the aim of the research presented in this paper is to investigate prerequisites and barriers for developing reconfigurable manufacturing. Initially, the paper presents a review of current literature on reconfigurable manufacturing with an identification of the prerequisites for its implementation. Moreover, through a long-term case study, their presence and the barriers towards their adoption and development in industry are investigated. The findings suggest multiple barriers for the successful development of reconfigurable manufacturing in industry. Conclusively, these findings are discussed and considerations for future research are proposed in order to aid the transition towards reconfigurability in industry.</p
