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Some industrial organizations using computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM) for managing intelligent product and process data during a concurrent processing are facing acute implementation difficulties. Some of the difficulties are due to the fact that CIM – in the current form – is not able to adequately address knowledge management and concurrent engineering (CE) issues. Also, with CIM, it is not possible to solve problems related to decision and control even though there has been an increasing interest in subjects like artificial intelligence (AI), knowledge‐based systems (KBS), expert systems, etc. In order to improve the productivity gain through CIM, EDS focused its information technology (IT) vision on the combined potential of concurrent engineering (CE), knowledge management (KM) and computer‐integrated manufacturing (CIM) technologies. EDS – through a number of IT and CIM implementations – realized that CE, KM and CIM do go hand‐in‐hand. The three together provide a formidable base, which is called intelligent information system (IIS) in this paper. Describes the rationales used for creating an IIS framework at EDS, its usefulness to our clients and a make‐up of this emerging IIS framework for integrated product development.

The purpose of this study is to find the relationships among advanced manufacturing technology (AMT), innovation, export and firm performance by using data obtained from 310 Turkish manufacturing firms.

A survey study was performed to obtain data from manufacturing firms. Multiple-item scales were adapted from the literature to conduct the survey in this study. Data were collected from five cities located in the Southeastern Anatolia Region in Turkey (Gaziantep, Adiyaman, Kilis, Diyarbakir and Sanliurfa). Structural equation modeling was utilized to investigate the relationships among AMT, innovation, export and firm performance in Turkish manufacturing firms operating in several industries. The direct and indirect relations between these variables are examined in the proposed conceptual model. In addition, the complex relations including in the proposed model are assessed in detail through the mediation analysis.

Six of the proposed ten hypotheses related to manufacturers are validated by the empirical evidence from manufacturing companies in Turkey. Significant findings obtained in this study include the following: there are strong positive associations between the use of AMT and innovation and between export and firm performance. In addition, innovation mediates the relationship between AMT and firm performance and between AMT and export. Finally, export mediates the relationship between AMT and firm performance and between innovation and firm performance. It is expected that the results obtained from this empirical analysis will help decision makers and managers to construct a good technology and production management strategy for manufacturing systems.

In this study, a novel conceptual model is proposed to examine the relationships among AMT, innovation, export and firm performance via the use of survey responses from 310 Turkish manufacturing firms. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study that proposes such a conceptual model in the literature.

In order to present a significant usage of the computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) systems in the apparel and textile industry, the current literature has been observed. Although the CAD/CAM systems have also been increasingly applied to all fields apparel and textile manufacturing for the last few decades, improving the precision, productivity and the organization of the information flow, they have not been fully utilized in these industrial fields. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The paper is structured in three main sections showing the vast applicability of the CAD/CAM systems, the benefits provided by them and the future trend in their development.

Although the initial development of the CAD/CAM systems strived to completely eliminate manual and time-consuming operations, they have not been accepted in practice due to their inflexibility at making changes and the time needed for regenerating a complex parametric model. The textile and apparel industries show slow progress in acquiring the CAD/CAM systems.

This CAD/CAM technology enabled the customization in the design process according to individual needs and directed the textile and the apparel industry to moving into new directions such as the mass customization to personalization. The paper makes clear that although this technological concept is rather old, the use of the CAD/CAM systems will inevitably broaden in terms of applicability to new production stages.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the researches reported in literature on agile manufacturing (AM) and determine the avenues by which agility can be imparted in traditional sectors.

After reviewing the literature on AM, it has been found that these papers address AM along as many as 12 directions. The findings of this review are used to design a model called total agile design system (TADS).

The major finding of the exploration reported in this paper is that, the need of the hour is to sensitize the traditional sectors for acquiring design capabilities compatible for imbibing agility in totality.

The TADS model proposed has been reviewed only by 25 industry captains. However, this may not affect the credibility of this model as it is designed by referring to a large number of researches reported in peer reviewed articles appeared in leading international journals.

After designing, TADS was exposed to 25 industry captains. Their feedback was gathered using a questionnaire. The results of analysis of their feedback indicates the practical compatibility of TADS.

It appears that no researcher has identified the different directions in which AM researches have progressed. Moreover, no researcher has contributed a model to adopt computer aided design (CAD)/computer aided manufacturing (CAM) and rapid prototyping (RP) technologies in totality to achieve agility in manufacturing organisations. As this paper has overcome the absence of these kinds of researches, it is original and valuable.

Additive manufacturing of concrete (AMoC) is an emerging technology for constructing buildings. However, due to the nature of the concrete property and constructing buildings in layers, constraints and limitations are encountered while applying AMoC in architecture. This paper aims to analyze the constraints and limitations that may be encountered while using AMoC in architecture.

A descriptive research approach is used to conduct this study. First, basic notions of AMoC are introduced. Then, challenges of AMoC, including hardware, material property, control and design, are addressed. Finally, strategies that may be used to overcome the challenges are discussed.

Factors influencing the success of AMoC include hardware, material, control methods, manufacturing process and design. Considering these issues in the early design phase is crucial to achieving a successful computer-aided design (CAD)/computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) integration to bring CAD and CAM benefits into the architecture industry.

In three-dimensional (3D) printing, objects are constructed layer by layer. Printing results are thus affected by the additive method (such as toolpath) and material properties (such as tensile strength and slump). Although previous studies attempt to improve AMoC, most of them focus on the manufacturing process. However, a successful application of AMoC in architecture needs to consider the possible constraints and limitations of concrete 3D printing. So far, research on the potential challenges of applying AMoC in architecture from a building lifecycle perspective is still limited. The study results of this study could be used to improve design and construction while applying AMoC in architecture.

The purpose of this paper is to propose two simple tools for the kinematic characterization of hexapods. The paper also aims to share the experience of converting a popular commercial motion base (Stewart‐Gough platform, hexapod) to an industrial robot for use in heavy duty aerospace manufacturing processes.

The complete workspace of a hexapod is a six‐dimensional entity that is impossible to visualize. Thus, nearly all hexapod manufacturers simply state the extrema of each of the six dimensions, which is very misleading. As a compromise, a special 3D subset of the complete workspace is proposed, an approximation of which can be readily obtained using a computer‐aided design (CAD)/computer‐aided manufacturing (CAM) software suite, such as computer‐aided 3D interactive application (CATIA). While calibration techniques for serial robots are readily available, there is still no generally agreed procedure for calibrating hexapods. The paper proposes a simple calibration method that relies on the use of a laser tracker and requires no programming at all. Instead, the design parameters of the hexapod are directly and individually measured and the few computations involved are performed in a CAD/CAM software such as CATIA.

The conventional octahedral hexapod design has a very limited workspace, though free of singularities. There are important deviations between the actual and the specified kinematic model in a commercial motion base.

A commercial motion base can be used as a precision positioning device with its controller retrofitted with state‐of‐the‐art motion control technology with accurate workspace and geometric characteristics.

A novel geometric approach for obtaining meaningful measures of the workspace is proposed. A novel, systematic procedure for the calibration of a hexapod is outlined. Finally, experimental results are presented and discussed.

Training is one of the key elements to the success of computer‐aided design (CAD). In the past, CAD educators concentrated their efforts in design engineers and draftsmen. The trend in the manufacturing environment towards integration of computerised systems is discussed. This trend has created a great demand for CAD training tailored to the needs of users of systems that are linked to CAD.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate computer‐aided design (CAD) and computer‐aided engineering (CAE) as enablers of agile manufacturing (AM).

Based on the literature review, the importance of technology integration enabling AM has been found. CAD technology has been used for modelling baseline product; CAE has been used for deriving optimized parameters; new designs have been derived.

The feasibility of CAD and CAE as enablers of AM has been ensured.

The study has been conducted only in one automotive sprocket manufacturing organization.

The practical feasibility of generating new products through technology integration has been ensured.

Very little research has been reported on technology‐integrated AM practices. In this study, CAD and CAE have been used for enabling product development.

This study aims to develop a specialized and economically feasible educational model using a combination of conventional approach and additive technology with a precision that proves to be sufficient for educational use. With the use of computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing models in educational stages, the possibility of infectious diseases transmission can be significantly reduced.

The proposed process involves the planning and development of specialized anatomical three-dimensional (3D) models and associated structures using omnipresent additive technologies. A short survey was conducted among dental students about their knowledge of applying additive technologies in dental medicine and their desire to implement such technologies into existing curricula.

The results revealed how an educational 3D model can be developed by optimizing the mesh parameters to reduce the total number of elements while maintaining the quality of the geometric structure. The survey results demonstrated that the willingness to adapt to new technologies is increasing (p < 0.001) among students with a higher level of education. A series of recent studies have indicated that the lack of knowledge and the current skill gap remain the most significant barriers to the wider adoption of additive manufacturing.

An economically feasible, realistic anatomical educational model in the field of dental medicine was established. Additive technology is a key pillar of new specialized-knowledge digital skills for the enhancement of dental training.

The novelty of this study is the introduction of a 3D technology for promoting an economically feasible model, without compromising the quality of dental education.

This paper aims to offer the aerodynamic testing community a new procedure for manufacturing high-quality aerodynamic probes suitable for 3D flow measurements with consistent geometry and calibration by taking advantage of the additive manufacturing technology.

The design methodology combines the advantages and flexibilities of computer aided design (CAD)/computer aided manufacturing (CAM) along with the use of computational fluid dynamics to design and analyse suitable probe shapes prior to manufacturing via rapid prototyping.

A viable procedure to design and possibly batch manufacture geometrically accurate pneumatic probes with consistent calibration is shown to be possible through this work. Multi-jet modelling prototyping methods with wax-based support materials are found to be a cost-effective method when clean and long sub-millimetre pressure channels are to be cut.

Utilisation of the geometry consistency that is made possible by 3D printing technology for the design and development of pneumatic probes is described. It is suggested that the technique could lead to batch production of identical probes, thus avoiding precious time of a skilled labourer and elaborate individual calibration requirement.