Search results

This study presents a longitudinal analysis of patterns of investment in advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT) and financial performance. Investments in AMT from fifty manufacturing plants in the metalworking industries are examined. Data was collected via mail surveys administered to fifty manufacturing plants at three separate data collection times: 1994, 1996, and 1998. This study seeks to fill a void in the area of technology management, which is comprised primarily of cross‐sectional studies that do not address the dynamic nature of investments in technology. The results suggest differences in the evolutionary profile of several technologies, including e‐mail, bar coding, robotics, and computer aided design. Further tests indicate that there is a positive relationship between many of these technologies and plant financial performance. Finally, the longitudinal data suggest that there is approximately a two‐year time lag between investment in technology and performance improvements.

The key word with respect to computer‐aided manufacturing is “speed”. Almost all new developments in this high‐tech field centre on decreasing production time. First, the importance of an up‐to‐date software program that will cut decision‐making time is shown. Next, DOS extenders for 386 based systems offer increased speed but can be expensive. Finally, the effects of new developments on the labourforce and labour unions are also compared. All of these related topics are clearly enhanced by real‐life examples.

This study has analyzed strategic issues in implementing advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) in manufacturing organizations in India and their relative importance.

A survey of manufacturing organizations was conducted, and the data were analyzed using statistical tools (one-sample t-tests, correlation and regression analyses).

Improvement in product quality and flexibility of operations are the motivation for AMTs implementation. Top management support and sound financial conditions are essential for implementing AMTs. Successful implementation of AMTs helps in reducing the lead time and improving overall business performance.

The findings of this study will help organizations in the implementation of AMTs for improving productivity and business performance. The study is limited to manufacturing organizations in India.

Organizations should allocate sufficient funds for AMT applications. Organizational culture should be made conducive to the adoption of new technologies. Employees should be provided adequate training for its successful implementation.

The main contribution of this paper is that it provides a detailed analysis of strategic issues for implementing AMTs in manufacturing organizations.

Agile manufacturing (AM) refers to the capability of an organisation to quickly respond to the customers' dynamic demands. The purpose of this paper is to report a research which is carried out to explore the interfacing of computer aided design/computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) in a traditional manufacturing company with the purpose of acquiring AM characteristics.

The CAD model of an existing electronics switch is developed using Pro/E package. Then, the mold adviser package is used to design the existing mold of this component. On studying this mold, ten new models of it are designed using the mold adviser package.

The new models developed through CAD/CAM interfacing are found to possess more agile characteristics than those possess by the existing mold.

The explorative study is conducted in only one traditional manufacturing company. In this company several world class manufacturing strategies like kaizen and total productive maintenance are implemented. This endeavour mimics those pursue in majority of the companies situated in different parts of the world. This implies that the contributions of this research would be useful to majority of those companies as well.

A roadmap is developed which will be useful for practically applying CAD/CAM interfacing with the objective of implementing AM.

It appears that no researcher has examined the interfacing of CAD/CAM for achieving agility in manufacturing organisations. This paper reports a research, which is conducted to fill this research and practice gap. Hence, this research is original and valuable to both researchers and practitioners.

As an application of the computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) technology in prosthetics, computer aided socket design and computer aided socket manufacturing (CASD/CASM) is becoming an active field in the prosthetics research. In this paper, a CASD/CASM method for prosthetic socket fabrication is described in detail. This is different from other fabrication methods in its novel combination of the CAD/CAM technology with fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. Prosthetic sockets for volunteer amputees have been designed and fabricated in a FDM machine. In order to test the fabrication result, a final product was used to perform a clinical trial and some results are reported. In addition, the deficiency of the long fabrication time is addressed and some feasible solutions are discussed.

Different technologies may currently be used to produce dental prostheses, such as additive manufacturing and traditional milling. This study aims to evaluate and improve the fabrication process for hot-pressed porcelain dental prostheses and compare the use of masked stereolithography apparatus (MSLA) casting to computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) casting. The cost-benefit analysis of producing dental prostheses through various technologies, including additive manufacturing and traditional milling, has not been fully explored. The cost of materials and processes used to produce prostheses varies based on complexity of design and materials used, and long-term effects, such as durability and wear and tear, must be taken into account.

Using key elements of part costs and estimation cost models, a multivariable approach was used to evaluate the practicality of the recommended strategy and process improvement.

The research found that MSLA casting provides a higher return on investment than CAD/CAM casting, and the optimized production process could be more suitable for the size and annual demand for prostheses.

Overall, this study highlights the need for a more comprehensive understanding of the cost-benefit analysis of different dental prosthesis production methods and emphasises the importance of evaluating long-term effects on the cost-benefit analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate how the direct access to additive manufacturing (AM) systems impacts on education of future mechanical engineers, within a Master’s program at a top Italian University.

A survey is specifically designed to assess the relevance of entry-level AM within the learning environment, as a tool for project development. The survey is distributed anonymously to three consecutive cohorts of students who attended the course of “computer-aided production (CAP)”, within the Master of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Politecnico di Torino. The course includes a practical project, consisting in the design of a polymeric product with multiple components and ending with the production of an assembled prototype. The working assembly is fabricated by the students themselves, who operate a fused deposition modelling (FDM) machine, finish the parts and evaluate assemblability and functionality. The post-course survey covers diverse aspects of the learning process, such as: motivation, knowledge acquisition, new abilities and team-working skills. Responses are analyzed to evaluate students’ perception of the usefulness of additive technologies in learning product design and development. Among the projects, one representative case study is selected and discussed.

Results of the research affirm a positive relationship of access to AM devices to perceived interest, motivation and ease of learning of mechanical engineering. Entry-level additive technologies offer a hands-on experience within academia, fostering the acquisition of technical knowledge.

The survey is distributed to more than 200 students to cover the full population of the CAP course over three academic years. The year the students participated in the CAP course is not tracked because the instructor was the same and there were no administrative differences. For this reason, the survey administration might be a limitation of the current study. In addition to this, no gender distinction is made because historically, the percentage of female students in Mechanical Engineering courses is about 10 per cent or lower. Although the answers to the survey are anonymous, only 37 per cent of the students gave a feedback. Thus, on the one hand, impact assessment is limited to a sample of about one-third of the complete population, but, on the other hand, the anonymity ensures randomization in the sample selection.

Early exposure of forthcoming designers to AM tools can turn into a “think-additive” approach to product design, that is a groundbreaking conception of geometries and product functionalities, leading to the full exploitation of the possibilities offered by additive technologies.

Shared knowledge can act as a springboard for mass adoption of AM processes.

The advantages of adopting AM technologies at different levels of education, for diverse educational purposes and disciplines, are well assessed in the literature. The innovative aspect of this paper is that the impact of AM is evaluated through a feedback coming directly from mechanical engineering students.

Recognition of machining features is an essential step in the development of efficient‐automated process plans from solid modeling data. This process represents the effective interpretation of the geometric data in a computer‐aided design (CAD) model to create semantically rich manufacture‐oriented features such as holes, slots, pockets, and others that may be exploited in downstream computer‐aided manufacturing/computer‐aided process planning applications. Most successful approaches towards feature recognition have been based on hint‐based procedures operating on a 3D B‐Rep model. The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach by which features are identified in a solid model that is built mainly using sweep solid modeling operations.

Part geometric model is queried for both 2D and 3D geometric elements. Feature hints are generated by an analysis of sweep operations and their 2D sketches, which are defined prior to building the solid model. These hints are then analyzed and validated by applying a two‐phase approach: 2D validation in the sketch geometry; and 3D validation in the final constructive solid geometry tree of the solid model. Valid hints are the basis for the creation of a machining feature model that can be input to a process planning module. In addition, interaction information for machining features is extracted from both 2D hints and their 3D validation. Feature interaction information is obtained by analysis of face/edge neighborhood and their geometric relations in both 2D and 3D spaces.

This approach provides a benefit of performing the majority of geometric analysis in 2D space which is much simpler and computationally more efficient than corresponding analyses in 3D space. Only minimal portion of the analysis is computed on 3D solid models. The approach is implemented in the Java‐based prototype system and is demonstrated and tested on several real‐world examples.

The initial prototype implementation is limited to prismatic parts and linear sweep. Only hole and slot feature can be recognized due to the fact that pocket recognition appears to be trivial.

Motivation for this approach is in the fact that sweep operations from 2D sketches are very commonly used in the mechanical design process, so the approach may be applicable in practical applications of CAD.

This novel approach provides value to product designers and manufacturing planners since linear (extrusion) and circular (rotation) sweeps are very popular design engineer tools.

This article examines the impact of introducing computer technology in just‐in‐time (JIT) systems. Literature review has generally supported the notion that introducing computers within JIT production systems may enhance productivity. Also, the productivity of a computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) system may be enhanced by integrating it with the just‐in‐time (JIT) production system. This integrated production system is called the computer integrated just‐in‐time (CIJIT) production system. This empirical study provides strong evidence that integration of CIM and JIT can significantly improve a firm′s productivity and competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to present the methodology of a design process of new lumbar intervertebral disc implants with specific emphasis on the use of rapid prototyping technologies. The verification of functionality of artificial intervertebral discs is also given. The paper describes the attempt and preliminary research to evaluate the properties of the intervertebral disc implant prototypes manufactured with the use of different rapid prototyping technologies, i.e. FDM – fused deposition modelling, 3DP – 3D printing and SLM – selective laser melting.

Based on the computed tomography (CT) scan data, the anatomical parameters of lumbar spine bone tissue were achieved, which were the bases for the design-manufacture process carried out with the use of computer-aided designing/computer-aided engineering/computer-aided manufacturing systems. In the intervertebral disc implant design process, three RP technologies: FDM, 3DP and SLM were used for solving problems related to the reconstruction of geometry and functionality of the disc. Some preliminary tests such as measurement of roughness and structural analyses of material of prototypes made by different prototyping technologies were performed.

This paper allowed the authors to elaborate and patent two new intervertebral disc implants. Because the implant designs are parametrical ones with relation to lumbar bone tissue properties measured on CT scans, they can be also made for individual patients. We also compared some of the properties of intervertebral implants prototypes made with the use of FDM, 3DP and SLM technologies.

The paper presents the new intervertebral disc implants and their manufacturing by rapid prototyping. The methodology of designing intervertebral disc implant is shown. Some features of the methodology make it useful for preoperative planning of intervertebral disc surgery, as well.