Search results

As flexible automation is demanded for products of increasing complexity, it becomes practicable to link flexible assembly cells into assembly lines.

This paper aims to address the differing impacts of automation and integration on manufacturing performance (MP) under different levels of environmental uncertainty.

Responses from 303 companies are analyzed and presented.

Under industrial (low uncertainty) environment, manufacturing system automation has significant positive impact on MP, while the impact of manufacturing system integration is not significant. Under post‐industrial (high uncertainty) environment, manufacturing system integration has significant positive impact on MP, while the impact of manufacturing system automation is not significant.

This paper emphasizes manufacturing strategy responses to different uncertainty levels of environment; either manufacturing system integration strategy or manufacturing system automation strategy plays the primary role for a manufacturing firm to achieve high performance under different uncertainty levels.

This paper strongly supports that the key to effective management of automation technology is to improve manufacturing system integration before implementation under high uncertain environment.

This paper is one of the first large‐scale empirical studies to address the differing impacts of automation and integration on MP under different levels of environmental uncertainty (EU). Another contribution of this study is the development of valid and reliable measurement instruments for MP and EU, which can be widely used in other manufacturing technology management studies.

A new approach to programming and operating multi‐sensor systems in flexible assembly automation has been developed. The concepts and strategies are described together with its application to a depalletising task.

Examines how FMS affects the accounting information system of organizations switching to FMS and the traditional accounting practices that change after organizations adopt FMS. Highlights some of the new accounting techniques such as transformation cost and activity‐based costing and also discusses the strategic impact of FMS.

Examines the use of robots for printed circuit board assembly with particular reference to the growing trend of mixing surface‐mount and through‐hole technology on to a single board. Describes the flexibility of today’s robotic cells, with one system capable of assembling a range of PCBs, making changes to board assembly by changing the software instead of the hardware. Looks at the various end effectors for robotic assembly of PCBs, including a new type of gripper which can handle all variations of circuit boards without having to make tooling or gripper changes.

Scholars have widely asserted that a firm’s manufacturing technologies must be aligned with its competitive strategy. This study tests the existence of such a strategy‐technology “fit”, determines whether good fit results in better performance, and examines the nature of fit in light of computer controlled or “advanced manufacturing technologies”. For a sample of 399 metal machining firms, a strategy‐technology alignment was found to exist and relate to higher financial performance. Advanced manufacturing technologies were found to both reinforce and alter conventional thinking about the flexibility‐efficiency tradeoff. Specific technologies were found to be uniquely bundled or combined to support specific competitive requirements.

Flexible materials are used extensively in a wide range of industrial applications including the manufacture and assembly of garment and footwear products, the packaging industry and aircraft manufacturing. These applications are often extremely labour intensive requiring fast and accurate manipulation of materials by skilled human operators. This has resulted in numerous international research and development efforts to automate certain handling and manipulation processes involving flexible materials. Much of the research has been inspired by real industrial problems, and thus has been mainly sponsored by industry. A variety of innovative techniques and methods have emerged either addressing specific industrial problems, or suggesting a number of generic solutions. This paper closely examines the international research effort of automatic manipulation of flexible materials through a classification of workpieces in terms of their broad geometric shape, industrial applications, and individual processes.

One of the most notable recent events in factory automation in the UK has been the installation by Perkins Engines of an automated line for assembly of cylinder heads. The line is remarkable because of the number of operations — it includes eight robotic assembly stations and associated peripheral equipment — and also because of the flexibility of production and high product quality.

A flexible assembly cell test bed has been installed at the Austrian Research Centre in Siebersdorf. Work is progressing to solve cell control and cost accounting problems.