Research on an Agile Manufacturing Information System

With the more intense competition in the worldwide market, the agile virtual enterprise (AVE) will become a new organization form of manufacturing enterprise. To support the new relationship, an agile manufacturing information system (AMIS) is described in this paper which serves to assist the virtual enterprise to manage and control information flow among collaborating partners. Based on the requirement analysis of virtual information system, the architecture, functions, features and execution scheme of AMIS are discussed in detail.

Customization and Performance of Service-Oriented Manufacturing Information System: The Mediating Effect of Information System Flexibility

The purpose of this paper is to provide empirical evidence for the validity of the relationship between service-oriented manufacturing information system (SMIS) customization and performance from three aspects: data flexibility, process flexibility and system flexibility. We select some questionnaires from the third round of High-performance manufacturing (HPM) data to construct the construct, verify the reliability and validity of the construct, extract principal components, and analyze the mediating effect by using multiple chain linear regression and structural equation model. The results show that SMIS customization has a significant impact on its performance, and this effect works through its flexibility. More specifically, it is the multiple chain mediation effect composed of data flexibility, process flexibility and system flexibility. The importance of SMIS customization and flexibility to the organization is made clear, which helps practitioners understand the internal mechanism that affects SMIS performance, so as to use limited resources to improve system performance.

Role of Information Technology in Manufacturing

Manufacturing of a product is constituted of the va ri ous attributes such as quality, cost, performance, and time to market. Manufactu ring can also be understood as the entire product realization process, from spec ification through design and production to marketing and distribution. The induc tion of Information Technology (IT) in manufacturing includes the hardware that computes and communicates, the software that provides data, knowledge, and infor mation while at the same time controlling the hardware, and the interfaces betwe en computers and the tools and machines on the shop floor. The manufacturing pro cess utilizes IT in the design of products and processes, production, and manufa cturing-related business practices. IT applications applied to manufacturing helps in rapid shifts in production fro m one product to another, faster implementation of new concepts in products, fas ter delivery of products to customers, full utilization of capital and human res ources, streamlining of operations to focus on essential business needs, and eli mination of unnecessary or wasteful activities. IT can be used to meet a range of needs of manufacturing decision makers. It can be said that IT is an enabler and facilitator of radical change to culture of manufacturing which is highly co nservative for many good reasons. With increasing global competition, applications of global information technolog y is giving manufacturing unit an opportunity to increase control and enhance co ordination, while opening doors to new global markets and businesses. In some st udies conducted it ahs been shown that how information technology can produce pr oductivity gains and job losses in specific areas, whereas dynamic stability was also achieved through IT in some cases. In a study of an industry the IT has cu t manufacturers cost from eProcurement to web based supply chain management and after sales service. IT has certainly revolutionized the manufacturing and the i ndustries have completely redefined their business by switching over to World Wi de Web. This paper, attempts to review the significant advances and practical applicatio ns of information technology in the field of manufacturing.

Energy Consumption Analysis and Characterization of Aerospace Manufacturing Facilities in the United States–A Step towards Sustainable Development

In this study,information on energy usage in the United States(U.S.)aerospace manufacturing sector has been analyzed and then represented as energy intensities(kWh/m2)to establish benchmark data and to compare facilities of varying sizes.First,public sources were identified and the data from these previously published sources were aggregated to determine the energy usage of aerospace manufacturing facilities within the U.S.From this dataset,a sample of 28 buildings were selected and the energy intensity for each building was estimated from the data.Next,as a part of this study the energy data for three additional aerospace manufacturing facilities in the U.S.were collected firsthand.That data was analyzed and the energy intensity(kWh/m2)for each facility was calculated and then compared with the energy intensities of the 28 buildings from the sample.Three different indicators of energy consumption in aerospace manufacturing facilities were used as comparators to assist facility managers with determining potential energy savings and help in the decision-making process.On average,aerospace manufacturing facilities in the United States spent 4 cents for each dollar of sale on energy.The energy intensity(kWh/m2)and the power intensity(W/m2)for each facility were calculated based on the actual facility energy bills.The power intensity for these facilities ranges from 34 to 134 W/m2.The energy intensity ranged from 232 to 949 kWh/m2.We found that the power intensity could be used to estimate energy consumption when the annual operating hours of the facility are considered.and to estimate the energy-related carbon dioxide emissions.

Auto Manufacturing by Aviation Industry Civil Product Information Center of China Aviation Industry Corporation

China National Aviation Industry Corpora-tion (CAIC) has developed a complete system for production and sale of leading products mini-vehicles (including mini-cars), as well as e-conomic and luxurious coaches, tank trucks, wrecker truck, garbage trucks, motorcycles

Agile Information System Supporting Virtual Enterprise Operation

Dynamic collaboration is a relationship of companies working together for mutual benefit to bring a complementary set of competencies to gain a market opportunity. A mechanism to manage and control information flow among collaborating partners is described in this paper. Analysis of the virtual information system requirements was used to develop an agile manufacturing information system (AMIS) to create, sustain and dissolve a virtual enterprise.

STEP AP 242 Managed Model-based 3D Engineering:An Application Towards the Automation of Fixture Planning

Fixture design and planning is one of the most important manufacturing activities, playing a pivotal role in deciding the lead time for product development. Fixture design, which affects the part-quality in terms of geometric accuracy and surface finish, can be enhanced by using the product manufacturing information(PMI) stored in the neutral standard for the exchange of product model data(STEP) file, thereby integrating design and manufacturing. The present paper proposes a unique fixture design approach, to extract the geometry information from STEP application protocol(AP) 242 files of computer aided design(CAD) models, for providing automatic suggestions of locator positions and clamping surfaces. Automatic feature extraction software "FiXplan", developed using the programming language C#, is used to extract the part feature, dimension and geometry information. The information from the STEP AP 242 file is deduced using geometric reasoning techniques, which in turn is utilized for fixture planning. The developed software is observed to be adept in identifying the primary, secondary, and tertiary locating faces and locator position configurations of prismatic components. Structural analysis of the prismatic part under different locator positions was performed using commercial finite element method software, ABAQUS, and the optimized locator position was identified on the basis of minimum deformation of the workpiece.The area-ratio(base locator enclosed area(%)/work piece base area(%)) for the ideal locator configuration was observed as 33%. Experiments were conducted on a prismatic workpiece using a specially designed fixture, for different locator configurations. The surface roughness and waviness of the machined surfaces were analysed using an Alicona non-contact optical profilometer. The best surface characteristics were obtained for the surface machined under the ideal locator positions having an area-ratio of 33%, thus validating the predicted numerical results. The efficiency, capability and applicability of the developed software is demonstrated for the finishing operation of a sensor cover – a typical prismatic component having applications in the naval industry, under different locator configurations.The best results were obtained under the proposed ideal locator configuration of area-ratio 33%.