The Implications of Flexible Machine Tools in Small Batch Engineering

Abstract

The majority of employment within the mechanical engineering sector involves production in batches rather than in continuous mass production. Furthermore, over 40% of all employment in this sector is in firms of less than 200 employees, this compares with a national average of about 22% and an increasing proportion of the nation's batch engineering is thought to be done by small subcontracting firms. Mechanical engineering comprises a number of activities such as, welding, forging, casting, surface finishing, but by far the most common activity is metal cutting with machine tools. The technology of metal cutting machine tools has undergone three main phases of automation, firstly partial mechanical automation, secondly, the Numerical Control (NC) of cutting tool and workpiece movement, and thirdly Computer Numerical Control (CNC). Each of these phases of automation has had distinctive effect on shaping the skill composition and task levels labour on the shop floor.

Citation

Rawlinson, M. (1989), "The Implications of Flexible Machine Tools in Small Batch Engineering", Management Research News, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 21-21. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb028027