production

economics
ELSEVIER Int. J. Production Economics 42 (1995) 187-199

An integrated manufacturing system design: an applied approach

S. Dowlatshahi*
Information and Decision Sciences, College of Business Administration, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso,
TX 79968-0544, USA

Received 30 January 1995; accepted 26 September 1995

Abstract
This paper details a real-life proposal that describes a design of self-contained, integrated manufacture and assem-
bly for pipe valves. It presents a detailed and comprehensive analysis of part design, manufacturing operations, and
manufacturing system design. The part design is subjected to a set of DFM/DFA tests and it has been significantly
revised and upgraded. These revisions or improvements provide for ease as well as economical manufacture and assem-
bly operations. The paper explores and details the explicit information about the machining and assembly centers as
it relates to the operations and equipment utilized. The components and technologies of the proposed manufacturing
system design are explained and include: computer hierarchy, clamping fixture, transfer robot, packing robot, con-
veyer system, AGV system, part tracking, incoming part packaging, buffer stocks, quality control centers, and safety
considerations. The proposal has been accepted for implementation. Subsequently, the manufacturing system imple-
mentation is presented, a timetable for completion is provided, and future research directions are discussed. Finally,
a conclusion and assessment is presented.

Keywords: Part design; Pipe valves; Integrated manufacture and assembly; DFM/DFA; Manufacturing operations;
Robot

1. Introduction should take the center stage of all the subsequent

manufacturing activities [2]. Manufacturing system
The design of integrated manufacturing systems design in this paper considers the overall manu-
poses one of the greatest challenges for manufac- facturing strategy of the firm as well as the
turing managers. Manufacturing activities are product design.
inherently interrelated in nature. The design of
manufacturing systems should be based on a
clear and consistent business and manufacturing 1.1. The plan and objective of the paper
strategy of the firm and not on a purely technical
and engineering related function [l]. Product This paper details a proposal for an integrated,
design, as the strategic embodiment of one’s firm, self-contained manufacture and assembly facility
for pipe valves in a Design For Manufacture/
Design For Assembly (DFM/DFA) environment.
*Tel: 915 747-7759, fax: 915 747-5126, e-mail: sdowlats@utep. This paper attempts to present a complete and
edu. effective part/system design for a real-life problem

0925-5273/95/$09.50 0 1995 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved

SSDIO925-5273(95)00179-4
188 S. Dowlatshahillnt. J. Production Economics 42 /1995/187-199

facing a manufacturing enterprise and proposes an the design of parts and a manufacturing system.
applied approach to the design, manufacture, and Concurrent engineering, as it pertains to this
assembly of pipe valves. This proposal is accepted paper, attempts to coordinate design and manu-
in its entirety. The manufacturing firm, in which facturing activities. The methodology is based on
this applied research was conducted, is in the two principles:
initial stage of product and system development (a) Design products that are easily manufac-
and implementation. turable and assemblable, require less materials and
This company’s product design was roughly parts, are economically producible, require fewer
sketched. The manufacturing processes, in their processes and energy, have high reliability and are
broad terms, were contemplated. The objective of easily maintainable
this paper is to evaluate and revise the existing (b) A manufacturing process which is compati-
preliminary parts design and propose for imple- ble and capable of meeting the specifications of the
mentation a detailed and comprehensive manufac- product. A manufacturing process in which fabri-
turing system design. Every possible consideration cation and assembly concerns are properly
was given to the company’s manufacturing strat- reflected in the product design stage
egy and business goals in devising the specifics of The conceptual framework for this paper is pre-
this proposal. The focus of this paper is to present sented in Fig. 1.
detailed technical specifications with regard to The design of the pipe valve will be subjected to
product and system design. A simultaneous eco- design for manufacturability/assembly concerns.
nomic analysis was performed by another team, Manufacturing and design concerns are coordi-
the result of which will be culminated in a later nated in advance of any actual production. The
report, pending the initial evaluation and imple- product design also considers other manufacturing
mentation of some of the projects’ activities. considerations which will be outlined in detail in
The presentation of materials in this paper fol- subsequent sections of this paper. The methodol-
lows the normal progression of actual activities as ogy used here may also be used for other products,
they took place in practice. The paper consists of provided that the proper modifications are made
six distinct yet interrelated sections. Section 1 pro- for each particular situation.
vides general information and a methodological
foundation for the paper. Section 2 addresses the
part design specifications for pipe valves and the 2. Part design specifications for pipe valves
proposed changes to the original design due to
DFM/DFA considerations. Section 3 discusses the Pipe valves are manufactured in a range of seven
manufacturing operations and processes of fabri- sizes with a 3312 inch inside diameter. Cast iron
cation, machining, and assembling for pipe valves. blanks are machined to the required specifications.
Section 4 explores the components and technolo-
gies of the proposed self-contained manufacturing
system. The implementation aspects of the manu-
facturing system, along with a timetable for com-
pletion/operations and future research directions, Designlor
procurability
are presented in Section 5. Section 6 provides a
brief conclusion and assessment.

1.2. The methodology of the paper

The foundation of this paper is based on sound

and effective manufacturing theories and prac-
tices. The use of a concurrent engineering envi- Fig. 1. Product and manufacturing system design in concur-
ronment provides the appropriate framework for rent engineering.
 S. Dowlatshahillnt. J. Production Economics 42 (1995) 187-199 189

They are then assembled into a finished product part is then sent to a deburring operation to
with vendor-supplied parts. Fig. 2 represents the remove burrs on the machined surfaces. Next the
existing part assembly drawing of a pipe valve. casting is sent through a cleaning process to
Fig. 3 represents the existing plan for the remove chips and cutting oils. The center stud and
machining and assembly operations of the pipe the flow guide are subsequently assembled to the
valves. This sequence is perceived to be the opti- casting, and the cap nut screwed in place to hold
mal procedure for the manufacture of the parts the flow guide.
prior to the start of this study. The outside face of the outlet half is machined,
In Fig. 3, the face of the inlet half that mates eight holes are center drilled, then drilled to size.
with the outlet half is machined first. Eight holes The part is repositioned, the face that mates with
are then drilled, first with a center drill, then the inlet half is machined, eight blind holes are cen-
drilled to size. The hole to accept the stud - which ter drilled, drilled to size, and then tapped to accept
holds the flow guide - is center drilled, drilled to the attaching studs. The part is deburred and
size, and then tapped. The part is repositioned and cleaned similar to the inlet half. The eight studs are
the outside face of the inlet is machined. Eight screwed in place and the diaphragm placed over
holes are center drilled. then drilled to size. The the studs.
The inlet and outlet halves are then brought
together and attached using hex nuts. The part is
then packaged and made ready for shipping.
outlet rubber diaphragm inlet

2.1. DFM/DFA considerations

DFM/DFA has received a great deal of atten-

tion under the general umbrella of concurrent
engineering. Numerous studies have addressed
theories, application tools, and systems related to
stud cop thread bolt hex nut the design, use, and implementation of DFM/DFA
screw nut programs. It is not the intention of this paper to
provide background information nor to discuss
Fig. 2. Assembly drawing of a pipe valve. recent developments in DFMDFA areas. Among

Fig. 3. The existing machining and assembly operations.

190 S. Dowlatshahi/Int. J. Production Economics 42 (1995)187-1%

other highly relevant and useful publications, (b) Ensure that the assembly has a suitable base
Dowlatshahi [3] provides definitions, applications, on which the assembly can be built [7].
and some examples for DFM/DFA. Additionally, (c) Design products so that the subassembly
Dowlatshahi [4] provides specific factors for attri- (assembly) does not have to be lifted or rotated [7].
butes such as: manufacturability, durability, 2. According to the original design, the inlet and
maintainability, reliability, reproducibility, etc. as outlet halves are assembled together by eight hex
a part of the overall analysis of product design. nuts. Another DFM/DFA suggestion is to avoid
Dowlatshahi [5] further argues that the greatest designs that require fasteners. Instead: (a) Design
impact and benefits are obtained by focusing and parts that can be snapped together. The inlet and
directing the manufacturability and assembly con- outlet halves can be snapped together instead of
cerns at the early stages of the product/part design. being attached by a hex nut system, which is a
In conforming with these requirements, an attempt more complex operation. (b) Design parts that can
is made to revise and upgrade the design of pipe be bonded with an adhesive. Adhesives are capa-
valves by considering and incorporating design for ble of holding the inlet and outlet halves together
manufacturing and assembly considerations in the in a useful fashion by surface attraction. Adhesive
design process. joints are often less costly, more easily produced,
It is highly inappropriate and unjustified to and better able to resist fatigue and corrosion than
proceed with the development of pipe valve manu- mechanical fasteners or welds.
facturing and assembly design without proper In the case of the hex nut system, the casting had
consideration given to DFM/DFA issues in the to be rotated because the inlet and outlet halves
design phase. A set of design improvements - had already been mated and the vision system was
independent of one another ~ for the pipe valves not capable of detecting all of the attaching studs.
are proposed. Note that these modifications The position information then had to be sent to
are domain dependent (e.g. pipe valve) and the robot and then the nuts had to be attached by
may not be generically applicable to other part the robot. The vision system had to subsequently
designs. verify that the nuts were correctly assembled.
1. If the eight attaching studs were placed in the It is, therefore, proposed that an adhesively
inlet half, most of the assembly could be performed bonded assembly be utilized for inlet and outlet
on one half. This modification can make the assem- halves. With this decision, the problem of detect-
bly easier and less time consuming. The eight ing the positions of the studs is eliminated.
attaching studs and the flow guidance can be Additionally, the results can be superior in terms
assembled at the same station. This can potentially of cost, quality, and ease of assembly when com-
reduce the cost and complexity of the manufac- pared to a hex nut system. An experiment con-
turing operation. Additionally, this proposal may ducted with the adhesively bonded assembly for
result in significant improvement in line balancing inlet and outlet halves proved that the hex nuts can
efficiency because of the inherent disparity of be eliminated with considerable ease and the new
functions that exist between the machining and joint assembly functioned properly. This design
assembly operations of inlet and outlet halves as modification is based on the following principles:
illustrated in Fig. 3. (a) Avoid expensive and time consuming fasten-
It is, therefore, proposed that the attaching studs ing operations, such as screwing and soldering [7].
be placed in the inlet half and the entire assembly (b) Design for adhesive bonding joints should
operations be performed on the inlet half. This be subjected to compressive, tensile, and shear
action is proposed to simplify and increase line forces, but not peeling or cleavage [8].
effectiveness, and to reduce the cost of the assem- (c) The assembly should be designed so that
bly operations. This design modification is based a sufficiently large bonded area is obtained thus
on the following principles: preventing failures [9].
(a) Assembly should preferably be performed (d) The assembly should be designed with
without flipovers [6]. these characteristics: thin bond lines are preferred;
 S. Dowlatshahillnt. J. Production Economics 42 (1995)
design for easy cleaning; smooth surfaces are
preferred; the width of the joint overlap is more
important than its length [lo].
3. Since the necessity for eight hex nuts is
eliminated due to the selection of an adhesively
bonded system, it is proposed that six rather
than eight flow studs be used. This action can
potentially reduce the cost and improve the ease
of assembly. This operation requires two less
cap nuts than the original design. The feed bowler
operation, to be explained later, can be consider-
ably improved as well. There is certainly a less
frequent need for the replenishment of the bowl.
The reduction in the number of studs and cap nuts
from eight to six (the feasible lower bound) will
not adversely affect the operation of the pipe
valves. Several reliability tests on the new design
were performed and all yielded favorable results.
This design modification is based on the following
principles:
(a) Minimize the number of parts in a product
[71.
(b) The greatest influences on the selection of the
assembly method are operational or economical
[ill.
4. A symmetrical assembly operation is pro-
posed for feeding and assembling the inlet and out-
let halves. This type of assembly, which can be
performed in more than one direction, reduces the
need for sensors to detect features and reduces
handling. This design modification is based on
the following principles:
(a) Parts should be symmetrical so that they may
be fed and assembled in more than one direction.
Designing a symmetrical part reduces the need for
sensors and reduces handling [12].
5. It is finally proposed that all of the thread
bolts have the same diameter with a different
length. The screws should all be the same size. The
drill diameter should be slightly larger than the
thread bolt diameter. This design modification is
based on the following principles:
(a) Design the part for easy fixturing and secure
holding during machining operations [lo].
(b) Radii, unless critical for the parts’ function,
should be large and conform to standard tool nose-
radius specifications. The radius should often be
left to manufacturing preference [lo].
187-199 191
(c) Cut-to-length parts are inherently simple,
and there is little that designers need to do to
tailor their designs to facilitate these operations
UOI-
3. Manufacturing operations and processes
First a summary of machining and assembly
requirements is presented. These requirements are
driven by the proposed parts design developed in
Section 2.1. Then, the specifications of machining
and assembly operations are presented and dis-
cussed.
The machining requirements for the valves
include:
1. Facing of the flange coupling joints on both
halves.
2. Drilling of six holes around the face of the
flanges.
3. Drilling and preparing for the flange halves.
4. All internal surfaces of the valve are to be kept
“as-cast”.
Assembly requirements include:
1. Insertion of the threaded bolt which holds the
flow guide.
2. Attachment of a cap nut to hold the flow guide
in place.
3. Insertion of six studs to accept the rubber
diaphragm.
4. Attachment of two halves of the valve using
adhesive bonding.
3. I. Machining center
One machining center will be used for each half
of the flow valve. Each center will have two four-
axis machine tools, a deburring station, a cleaning
tank, and a six degrees of freedom robot for each
machining center. Fig. 4 represents the proposed
layout of a machining center.
Each component in the machining center is
explained as follows.
3.1.1. Four-axis machine tool
A four-axis machine tool (part translation in
the X, Y, 2 axes and a rotation about the vertical
192 S. Dowlatshahiilnt. J. Production Economics 42 (1995/187-199

3.1.2. Six degree of freedom robot

Cleaning tank
0
A six DOF robot will be used to tend the

r
Conveyer machine tools, cleaning tank, and deburring sta-
Deburr cl, 1
tion. The robot will require a servo control feed-
I back system which has a manufacturing accuracy
four axis
machine 6 DOF Robots I 1 and repeatability of f 0.005 inch and f0.010 inch,
tool- 1 Pallet 1 respectively. The payload capability of the robot
external I 1
exclusive of the end effector should be 50 lb.
face R
3.1.3. Deburring station
The deburring station will be a custom-designed
system, capable of removing burrs around the out-
side and in the inside of the machined casting.
Fig. 4. Proposed components and layout of a machining Two wheels will be required for the deburring
center. operation. The casting will be brought up under
the rotating wheel for the respective burr. The
robot will turn the casting 180” and repeat the
action. Fig. 5 represents the proposed deburring
axis) will perform all the required machining operation.
operations on the part. This has been made
possible partially by the DFM/DFA revisions 3.1.4. Cleaning tank
incorporated in the initial pipe valve design. The cleaning tank will be a commercially avail-
One machine tool will operate on the external face able system, capable of removing chips, dust, and
of the casting while the other machine tool works machining oils from the casting. The cleaning fluid,
on the internal face of the casting, thus increasing Freon TMS, will be connected to a central distil-
the throughput of the system. The machine tool lation and filtering unit. The system will have a
operating on the internal face is the bottleneck refrigerated vapor recovery system to minimize
machine both in terms of time and cost. The loca- fluid loss. The robot will tend the cleaning tank so
tion of this machine in the proposed layout allows as to minimize the exposure of operating person-
for higher machine utilization time as well as more nel to the cleaning solvents.
efficient line balancing. The tool instructions can
be downloaded directly from the central computer.
The tool instructions will, however, have the capa- 3.2. Assembly centers
bility of direct reprogramming to accommodate
for a central computer failure or special orders. For efficiency of operations, the assembly activ-
Data as to machining times, downtime, tool break- ities are divided into flow guide stud, diaphragm
age, and other system performance data will be assembly, and adhesively bonded final assembly
transmitted to the central computer. The machine
tool will have automatic tool change capability and
enough tool storage to allow for all required tools
and replacements required for 20 h of operation.
The machine tool will have torque-measuring
capabilities so as to detect a worn or broken tool
and to replace it. The machine tool will have a cut-
ting oil delivery and chip removal system capable
of operating without attention for 20 h. Guards to
protect operating personnel from tool breakage, Wheel for deburring Wheel for deburring
flying chips, and other safety hazards will be external surface internal surface
required. Fig. 5. Wheels required for deburring operation.
 S. Dowlatshahillnt. J. Production
operations. Each of these assembly operations is
explored in detail as follows.
3.2.1. Flow guide stud and attaching studs
assembly system
The operations used to assemble the flow guide
stud and attaching studs to the casting will be sim-
ilar and considered simultaneously. This is the
direct result of placing the attaching studs in the
inlet half. By so doing, most of the assembly oper-
ations can be performed on one half. This has been
accomplished by the DFM/DFA revisions of the
initial design.
The casting will enter the system via a conveyer
and stop at a gate. A vision system will be used to
determine the position of the tapped holes to
receive the studs. The information from the vision
system will then be forwarded to a SCARA type
robot that picks the studs from a pallet and screws
the studs in place. A SCARA is chosen because of
its speed and the selective compliance feature. The
pallet system is chosen over a bowl feeder because
it avoids jams preventing downtime. A special end
effector that has three fingers to hold the stud and
an electric motor to quickly screw the studs into
place will be required. A rotation detection system
on the end effector is necessary to determine when
the stud has bottomed. The vision system verifies
that the studs have been properly assembled. If
not, the system will notify the central computer
that no more work is to be done on the unit and
it will be disposed of. If failures exceed a certain
number, the computer will signal that the unit
requires attention. Once the stud has bottomed, the
gate will rise and the casting will leave the system
via the conveyer.
3.2.2. Flow guide and diaphragm assembly system
The castings will enter the flow guide assembly
system via the conveyer and stop at a gate. A vision
system will be used to determine the position of
the flow guide stud. The position information will
be forwarded to the robot. A SCARA robot will
be used for the reasons previously cited. The robot
will pick a flow guide from a pallet and place it
over the stud. The end effector will be a vacuum
type that forms an annular ring. The vision system
will check the appropriateness of the assembly with
Economics 4.2 (1995) 187-199 193
the same actions as described previously. Once the
flow guide has been placed over the stud, the gate
will open and the casting will exit the system.
3.2.3. Cap nut and adhesively bondedjnal
assembly system
The casting will enter the inlet machining center
and will stop at a gate. A vision system will deter-
mine the positions of the studs to which the cap
nuts are to be attached. The robot arm will be
mounted with an off-the-shelf cap nut driver sys-
tem. The robot will attach the cap nuts. This will
require a feeder bowl. It is, however, felt that the
technology is sufficiently advanced to allow this
operation without excessive jams. To ensure this,
the quality of the incoming nuts must be in the
range of 100 defects per million cap nuts. The
feeder bowl must be large enough to allow 2 h of
operation between refills of the bowl. Once the
appropriateness of the assembly has been verified,
the casting will exit the system via the conveyer.
Bonds will be made by positioning a film of
liquid between inlet and outlet halves and immo-
bilizing the assembly until the adhesive solidifies.
Dry film will be a fast assembly operation which
requires no particular skill. The operation is not
messy, but curing time will be slow [13]. For this
operation the recommended adhesive type will be
epoxy. The adhesively bonded joint (with all its
potential advantages) is a replacement for hex nuts
as proposed by the DFM/DFA design revisions.
4. Components of the manufacturing system
design
Now that the part design and respective manu-
facturing operations are completed, attention
should be focused on the development of a self-
contained manufacturing system. In this section,
various components of this system are identified
and explained as follows:
4.1. Computer hierarchy
All manufacturing operations will be controlled
by a centralized master computer. The centralized
194 S. Dowlatshahilln~. J. Production Economics 42 (1995)187-199

database is initially selected so that all the infor- the engineering work station. Also, system perfor-
mation on a manufacturing activity is located in mance data will be retrieved.
one storage medium and access is provided to all The master computer will be networked to
individuals who need to query the system for terminals at shipping and receiving, ordering con-
specific information. It is, however, anticipated trol, and customer ordering so that it can deter-
that the centralized system can be converted to a mine how many raw materials are needed for
distributed system with LAN to provide less future orders, and how many materials are in
vulnerability as well as make the manufacturing stock. It will automatically issue orders for mate-
operations less susceptible to computer failure. rials if the vendors are set up for such a procedure.
The instructions will be downloaded from the This can potentially represent a savings in inven-
master computer to the machine tools, assembly tory costs.
robots, and transfer robots. These instructions will The possibility of connecting the master com-
be based on the data received from the bar code puter to a corporate computer will be contem-
reader indicating the type and location of casting plated if data concerning the system are needed at
at a station. All machine tools and robots will have another location. The proposed computer control
the capability of on-site programming for special hierarchy is presented in Fig. 6.
situations or when the central computer is down. In the manufacturing area, MAP standards
Data will be transmitted to the master computer will be specified for all machine tools, robots, and
from the machine tools and assembly stations so vision systems. TOP standards will be specified for
that system performance data can be maintained. all office systems. The fundamental concept behind
If a part is determined to be defective, it will be the proposed computer hierarchy structure is that
identified for removal at the packing operation. a complex control task cannot be effectively imple-
The terminal at the quality control center will be mented with a single-level control mechanism.
allowed to interact with the master computer so
that the quality control data can be transmitted to
the master computer. The master computer will 4.2. Clumping jixture
signal the operator if an out-of-control situation is
observed. The clamping fixture will be designed so that it
An engineering work station will be directly con- can hold the entire range of diameters of castings.
nected to the master computer so that if a design The flange of the casting rests upon three inserts
change is made, it can be directly downloaded from on the top surface of the fixture. The three points

Bar
AGV code Assembly Vlslon Machine Robot Vision Quality
reader -b-robot dC)*sysiem 1001 <a-D- C) -system conlrol

Fig. 6. Proposed computer hierarchy structure.

 S. Dowlatshahillnt. J. Production Economies 42 (I99.3) 187-199
will locate the part upward and downward for the
machining operations. The inserts will be made
from carbide to insure long life. The fixture is then
closed and the part is held from rotation by the
clamping force. The clamping force will be sup-
plied by a double acting air cylinder that opens and
closes on command from the robot when the
casting is in place. The carbide inserts will be high
enough to insure clearance for the fixture during
machining operations. The inserts should also be
placed at a position that is not under the through
holes drilled in the flange. The proposed clamping
fixture for the machine tools is shown in Fig. 7.
The clamping fixture is designed to allow for
clearance during the loading and unloading
process.
4.3. Transfer robot
A robot will be used to transfer the inlet half to
the outlet half. Separate vision systems will deter-
mine the positions of inlet and outlet castings. The
data will be transmitted to a rotating table under
the inlet casting so that the inlet has the proper
angular position before the robot picks it up. The
position data will then be transmitted to the robot.
The robot should be a six degree of freedom, servo-
controlled feedback robot. Due to the heavy load,
the robot must be a hydraulically actuated robot
with a payload of 50 lb excluding the end effector.
The manufacturing accuracy and repeatability of
the transfer robot must be L-O.005 and +O.OlO,
respectively.
The proposed end effector for the transfer robots
is shown in Fig. 8.
Carbideinsert
Carbideinserts(2)
I be accomplished through a command from the
Air cylinder
4.5. Conveyer
Fig. 7. Proposed components and layout of the clamping
fixture.
195
J--i
\
3 self centering
fingers
ange of
casting here
Fig. 8. Proposed end effector for the transfer robot.
The end effector will have three self centering
fingers that are driven by air pressure. The fingers
will slide in the tracks. The side to which air is sup-
plied is controlled by an air valve. The fingers will
be constructed so as to allow the casting to be
turned 180” about the horizontal axis and still ade-
quately support the casting. The end effector wil1
be designed to allow for clearance during the load-
ing and unloading process.
4.4. Packing robot
A robot will be used to transfer the completed
valve from the end of the line into the shipping
container. A vision system will determine the posi-
tion of the valve and relay this information to the
robot. The robot used should be a six degree of
freedom, servo-controlled robot. Due to the heavy
load used, the robot must be hydraulically
actuated. The minimum payload must be 1OOlb
excluding the end effector. The manufacturing
accuracy and repeatability should be kO.005 and
+ 0.010, respectively. At this point all the assem-
blies that have been identified as defective are
separated from the non-defective parts. This will
master computer.
system
The conveyer system will be a gravity roller con-
veyer with certain segments powered to ensure
proper part movement. The conveyer system will
196 S. Dowlutshahi,iInt. J. Production Economics 42 (199S)187-199

be modular so that future reconfigurations are on the original pallet of the castings. Each casting
easily accomplished. will have an attached identifying bar code capable
of withstanding the cleaning process. The incom-
ing studs, flow guides, and diaphragms will be
4.6. AGV system placed on the pallets so that the robots can have
direct and easy access to them. The pallets used for
An AGV system is utilized to increase the these parts will have the same outside dimensions
throughput, decrease the availability of unneeded as the casting pallets to ensure compatibility with
work-in-process components and subassemblies, the AGV system.
and to handle a large volume of parts and materi-
als. Initially, two AGVs will be used and others
may be added if the workload warrants it. The RF 4.9. BufSer stocks
signal will be employed to send control signals
No allowance for buffer stocks will be made
from the master computer to the AGV. The AGVs
other than those inherent in the conveyers and pal-
will be capable of operating 10 h without recharg-
lets at the stations. Each station will have an alarm
ing and the recharging from completely dead to
to indicate failure modes so that repairs can be
fully charged must be completed within 4 h. The
initiated quickly.
system must have a fail system so that if the bat-
teries are approaching a discharged condition, the
AGV can return to the charging center before run-
4.10. Quality control center
ning out of power. The AGV is programmed so
that when it is idle, it will return to the charging
This center will be provided so that an operator
center.
may perform quality control audits of the line to
verify proper operation of the various parts of the
system and to inspect the parts that have been
4.7. Part tracking
identified as defective by the inspection system. The
quality control center will be equipped with neces-
Each station will be equipped with a laser bar sary inspection items, such as microscopes,
code reader that reads a bar code placed on each micrometers, etc. A terminal connected to the
casting. The bar code will serve to identify the kind master computer will also be located in the quality
of valve being worked on; thus, the instructions control center so that the operators can load the
required by the station will be keyed to the bar inspection data into the master computer. A sys-
code. Data concerning each valve will be trans- tem kill switch is also located in the center. In the
mitted to the master computer. The data will then event that an out-of-control situation exists, the line
be archived so that long-term quality data can be can be stopped. Then adverse conditions can be
assembled and part identification can be main- corrected. The DFM/DFA part design revisions are
tained for future use in case of field failures. made at the parts design stage to substantially
reduce downstream quality problems in the manu-
facture and assembly operations of the valves.
4.8. Incoming part packaging

The incoming castings will be packaged in 4.11. Safety considerations

40 inch square pallets, allowing nine of the 12 inch
valves per pallet and a larger number of the smaller
valves per pallet. The inlet and outlet castings are
packaged separately. The pallet will be constructed
so that a robot is able to pick the castings directly
from the pallet. The finished valves will be shipped
The machine tools will have interlocking guards
to prevent operation when the guards are not prop-
erly installed. The robots are surrounded by light
curtains that will immediately stop the robot if the
light beam is broken. The pressure-sensitive mats
 S. DowlatshahiJInt. J. Production Economics 42 (1995) 187-199 197

will detect the presence of personnel or objects in than the existing part design with the estimated
the robot’s work envelope. The AGVs will have a combined time and output of 13.75 min/valve and
photoelectric detector to sense obstructions in the 70 valves/day, respectively.
pathway and bumpers to stop the AGV before
contact is made with an object. The conveyers will
have all pinch points guarded. The entire system 5. I. Timetable for completion/operations
will have signs indicating safety hazards. The areas
that require safety equipment, such as safety The first phase of implementation will introduce
glasses, will be clearly marked. Since no system can the four-axis machine tools. In this phase, limited
be made fully safe, only those individuals trained hand production of the valves will be run in order
on the system will be allowed access to the area. to gain manufacturing experience. It is anticipated
that the time required to receive the machine tools
and to make them operational for production is
5. Manufacturing system implementation four months.
During this time the assembly stations will be
The manufacturing system outlined thus far pro- designed and constructed. It is anticipated that it
poses an assembly line where overall system pro- will take approximately nine months to complete
ductivity can be enhanced. The proposed floor the construction of the assembly stations. During
plan is presented in Fig. 9. the debugging stage, the assembly stations will be
The limiting factor of the system will be the operated as islands of automation. This phase
time spent machining, cleaning, and deburring the should last three months.
inlet half. The combined time for the proposed After the debugging stage, the entire line will be
part design is estimated to be 11.20 min/valve. integrated and automated. This phase will be
Assuming an 80% availability and 20 h of opera- introduced gradually in an attempt to maintain
tion per day, with the remaining 4 h for mainte- production. The integration phase should take
nance, an output of 86 valves/day will be achieved. approximately nine months. Thus, the entire
This result is approximately 23% more efficient project should take one year and nine months to

------mm-

! ! T----r-----1
I !
Bar Feeder
Row guide

;_____--____---------::~-L-,----------L-
L--.
AGV
VS = Vision Syslem charge
- - - = AGV Track station
I

Fig. 9. Proposed floor plan, not drawn to scale.

198 S. Dowlatshahi!Int. J. Production Economies 42 (1995)187-199

complete. This proposal, in its entirety, has been
accepted by the manufacturing firm.
The manufacturing operations and their respec-
tive processing times are presented in Appendix A.
Appendix B provides the items and their units
needed in the manufacturing operations.
design, as effective as it is, is not the only viable
solution to the overall manufacturing system
design of pipe valves. Further economic and tech-
nical studies and comparisons must be made to
justify and substantiate the effectiveness of the
current system and to suggest future improve-
ments/alternatives.

5.2. Future research directions

Appendix A
Upon implementation of the system, and when
it becomes operational, complete technical and Manufacturing operations and processing time
economical analyses will need to be performed. An
analysis and evaluation of design decisions must be Inlet half/manufacturing operation Processing
made in order to determine their benefits and short- time (min)
comings. Specific issues such as line balancing and Pick and load casting 0.5
its utilization rate, overall system efficiency, pro- Mill outside face
ductivity rate, system downtime and cost, system Change tool 0.5
availability, etc. must be evaluated and determined. Center drill six holes 1.5
Change tool 0.5
These evaluations and related analyses can be
Drill six holes to size 1.1
culminated in another research paper. Unload casting, rotate 180” and load on 0.5
second machine
Mill internal face 1
Change tool 0.5
6. Conclusion and assessment
Center drill six holes 1.5
Center drill flow guide stud hole 0.25
This paper attempted to provide a complete Change tool 0.5
analysis of a manufacturing system design for pipe Drill six holes to size 1.1
valves. The analyses included the part design, man- Drill flow guide stud holes to size 0.25
Change tool 0.5
ufacturing processes, and the components and
Tap flow guide stud hole 0.25
technologies of the manufacturing system. The Unload casting and deburr inside surface 0.5
timetable for completion/operations and system of internal face
processing times were presented as well. Rotate 180” 0.25
Deburr inside surface of outside face 0.5
The focus of this paper remained on the appli-
Deburr outside surface of outside face 0.5
cation of DFM/DFA considerations wherever Rotate 180” 0.25
appropriate. The part design was subjected to a Deburr outside surface of internal face 0.5
series of DFM/DFA tests. These tests were shaped Clean casting 2
and created a new pipe valve design which is Load casting on conveyer 0.5
Assemble flow guide stud
easier and more economical to manufacture and Assemble six studs
assemble. The effect and ramifications of these Assemble flow guide
changes were also considered in the manufactur- Assemble cap nut
ing system design wherever appropriate.
Outlet half/manufacturing operation Processing
The proposed changes can potentially result time (min)
in an increase in overall system productivity and
efficiency, improved systems throughput, and Pick and load casting 0.5
increased line balancing efficiency. Additionally, Mill outside face 1
Change tool 0.5
the proposed system is flexible enough to accom- Center drill six holes 1.5
modate alternative pipe valve designs. It is, how- Change tool 0.5
ever, important to note that the proposed systems Drill six holes to size 1.1
 S. Dowlatshahijlnt. J. Production Economics 42 (1995) 187-199 199

Appendix A. (continued) References

Unload casting and rotate 180” and 0.5

VI Hill, S., 1994. Manufacturing Strategy: Text & Cases, 2nd
load on second machine ed. Irwin, Homewood, IL, pp. 93-125.
Mill internal face 1
PI Whitney, D.E., 1988. Manufacturing by design. Harvard
Change tool 0.5 Bus. Rev., July-August: 83-91.
Center drill six holes 1.5
[31 Dowlatshahi, S., 1994. A comparison of approaches to
Change tool 0.5 concurrent engineering. Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol.,
Drill six holes to size 1.1 9: 106113.
Change tool 0.5
[41 Dowlatshahi, S., 1994. A morphological approach to
Tap six holes 2 product design in a concurrent engineering environment.
Unload casting and deburr inside of 1 Int. J. Adv. Manuf. Technol., 9: 324332.
internal face [51 Dowlatshahi, S., 1992. Product design in a concurrent
Rotate 180” 0.25 engineering environment: An optimization approach. Int.
Deburr inside surface of outside face 0.5 J. Prod. Res., 30(8): 1803-1818.
Deburr outside surface of outside face 0.5 WI Sturges, R.S., 1989. A quantification of manual dexterity:
Rotate 180” 0.25 The design for assembly calculator. J. Comput. Integrated
Deburr outside surface of internal face 0.5 Manuf.
Clean casting 2
[71 Boothroyd, G., Poli, C. and Murch, L.E., 1982. Automatic
Load casting on conveyer 0.5 Assembly. Marcel Dekker, New York.
Assemble diaphragm 1
181 Kalpakjian, T., 1991. Manufacturing Processes for
Mate inlet and outlet halves 0.5 Engineering Materials, 2nd ed. Addison-Wesley, Reading,
Adhesively bonding the halves 4 MA, pp. 787-790.
Move completed assembly to shipping 0.5 191Niebel, B.W. and Draper, A.B., 1974. Product Design and
container Process Engineering. McGraw Hill, New York.
VOI Bralla, J.G. (editor-in-chief), 1986. Handbook of Product
Design for Manufacturing. McGraw Hill, New York.
[111 Nevins, J.L. and Whitney, D.E., 1989. Concurrent Design
of Products and Processes. McGraw Hill, New York.
Appendix B
(121 Laszcz, J.F., 1985. Product design for robotic and auto-
mated assembly. Proc. Robots 8 Conf. Society of
Capital budgeting items Manufacturing Engineers, Dearborn, MI, pp. 6-1-6-22.
1131Schneberger, G.L., 1986. Adhesively bonded assemblies,
Units needed in: J.G. Bralla (editor-in-chief), Handbook of Product
Item
Design for Manufacturing. McGraw-Hill, New York,
Four-axis machine tool 4 pp. 7-61-7-77.
Six DOF robot and controller 6
Deburring station 2
Cleaning system 1
SCARA robot and controller 6
Vision system 8
AGV system 1
Bar code reading system 1
Conveyer 1